Outdoor patio string lighting ideas

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With a little imagination and under $100, you can transform your patio and backyard into a magical retreat. The key ingredient is string lights—with different styles including fairy lights, Edison bulbs, icicle lights, and globe lights. Almost all outdoor string lights are now available with LED bulbs, which are more energy-efficient than incandescent filaments. You can also find solar string lights, which don’t require an electrical socket or extension cord.

Tiny twinkling lights strung in trees, or wrapped around fence posts, require little installation and offer almost instant enjoyment. Hanging globe lights over an outdoor dining area or pool takes a little more set up time. But with the right hanging kit, you’ll be surprised at the beautiful effect—and will doubtless want to relax and entertain outside more often.

istockphoto.com

Make a Magical Patio

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What a difference twinkle lights can make. Emma, who blogs at A Beautiful Mess, transformed her patio into an inviting outdoor nest by twining Christmas lights around ceiling beams. One trick is to buy lights with a cord color that matches and blends into the surroundings. Emma chose brown corded lights (available on Amazon) to make the whole look seamless and elegant.

Related: 8 New Ideas for DIY Outdoor Lighting

A Beautiful Mess

Dine Al Fresco

3/14

Vintage bulbs, with their exposed filaments, bring an industrial and timeless feel to these DIY string light poles, designed by J. Sorelle for The Home Depot. Using aspen tree trunks secured into concrete bases, a single strand of globe lights (available at The Home Depot) drapes across the table for a perfect party setting.

J. Sorelle for The Home Depot

Lounge by the Chiminea

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If your outdoor seating area is under-utilized after dark, try this method for bringing light. Sarah of Thrifty Decor Chick offers some simple ideas for hanging string lights over an outdoor seating/dining area, complete with a chiminea. She favors Feit Electric’s warm incandescent bulbs, strung on a heavy, weather-resistant cord (available on Amazon).

Thrifty Decor Chick

Create a Luminous Canopy

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Have an ample outdoor space? Brent and Courtney, the husband and wife design duo behind Gray House Studio, provide a step-by-step guide to hanging a string light canopy. The critical accessory? The right lights! To span a wide grassy lawn or deck, they suggest 100-foot globe string lights (available on Amazon).

Gray House Studio

Host an Outdoor Movie Night

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Get away from your screens and set up a movie projector instead. All you need is our genius guide for setting up an outdoor theater, and some decorative string lights to amp up the ambiance. We suggest going green with solar-powered fairy lights (available on Amazon). These pretty, warm-toned lights are engineered to withstand weather conditions and work between six to eight hours on a full charge.

istockphoto.com

Go for a Midnight Swim

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Bring romance to your everyday life with a dip after dark. If you’re lucky enough to have a pool, bistro-style overhead lighting can add beauty and functionality. Of course, any electricity near water requires caution, so read up on the risks before installing your string lights safely. One option is shatterproof and waterproof solar-powered bulbs, like these by Brightech (available on Amazon).

flickr.com via Jordan Silva

Transform Your Garden Wall

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A timber wall or perimeter fence can offer protection and privacy. It can also provide a blank canvas for illumination. All you need is a string of Edison lights, with each bulb suspended on a vertical cord, like these by Banord (available on Amazon). The effect will make your yard seem bigger, brighter, and more festive.

istockphoto.com

Hang from the Trees

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For understated illumination, string globe lights (like these vintage bulbs, available on Amazon) between tree branches. The Home Depot offers handy instructions for hanging lights from your trees. You’ll have to drill a hole for a hook, which will anchor the cords in place. Attach the ends to an extension cord, plugin, and voila! An enchanted arbor for the whole family to enjoy.

Amazon

Enjoy Christmas Lights, All Year Long

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Forget tightly-wrapped branches, and add a little creative chaos to your tree lighting experience. One idea is to use icicle string lights (available on Amazon), which drip vertically down. Warm white lights look beautiful all year long, glowing through the foliage. Use multiple strings, draped organically throughout the tree branches, to make this look pop.

Related: 10 Inventive Outdoor Lighting Projects to DIY for the Holidays

istockphoto.com

Brighten the Ground

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Solar lights are ideal for yards that get a good dose of sunshine. However, instead of individual path lights, make a bright perimeter using solar string lights (available on Amazon). The benefit is greater illumination and the ability to highlight flower beds or unique features of your garden, like a teepee or fountain. Just make sure you position the bulbs and cords away from foot traffic.

Related: 10 Enchanting Landscape Lighting Solutions

Unsplash

Wrap Fence Posts

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Wrapping string lights is one of the simplest ways to add a little sparkle, outdoors. Play with contrasts: like a rustic wood fence wrapped with twinkling fairy lights. A great option is Anjaylia’s LED firefly string lights (available on Amazon), which come in extra-long lengths and are battery-operated, so you won’t need to worry about an extension cord.

Unsplash

Add Sparkle To Your Porch

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For a contemporary look, white LED string lights (available at The Home Depot) look good all year long, especially when paired with bright white railings. Worried about extra energy costs? LED technology uses a chip rather than a heat-producing filament, so you'll use a fraction of the electricity of traditional incandescent bulbs—with less heat produced too.

Hampton Bay for The Home Depot

Drape the Pergola

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The beams of your pergola are ideal for stringing up globe lights (like these weatherproof bulbs, available on Amazon). Loosely drape the cord in long loops, from beam to beam. It’s best to space the lights evenly, but don’t worry about perfection. This look is all about casual outdoor dining and relaxing under a subtle glow.

Amazon

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10 easy ideas to update your patio - WikiStroy

10 easy ideas to update your patio Updating a patio, an outdoor seating area that is traditionally located in the backyard, does not require much effort and material costs. Refresh your playground to attract family and guests with these simple ideas from RMNT. https://www.wikistroi.ru/story/landscapedesign/10-prostykh-idiei-chtoby-obnovit-patio https://www.wikistroi.ru/story/landscapedesign/10-prostykh-idiei-chtoby-obnovit-patio/@@download/image/vkPf7WQB.jpg

Updating the patio, an outdoor seating area traditionally located in the backyard, does not require much effort and material costs. Refresh your playground to attract family and guests with these simple ideas from RMNT.

Yes Yes. Often this is enough to make the patio very attractive again. Sweep up the trash, wash the deck, flooring or concrete area with a hose, wipe the garden furniture from dust, put a vase of flowers on the table, shake off the covers on the benches ... It's not difficult at all, and the view of the seating area will be completely different.

Sometimes this is not enough to spend as much time on the patio as possible. Install Beach umbrella , stretch a piece of dense fabric in the form of a sail , build a canopy to rest comfortably in the shade even on a hot afternoon.

You can not have a brazier to fry kebabs, but a bowl, a fire pit. You will admire the live fire and the patio will become much more attractive and functional. Just remember the rules for kindling fires in your area, because, as the Rmnt.ru portal wrote, for the wrong placement of a street hearth may be fined .

For example, paint an outdoor fireplace, lay out bright pillows, arrange bouquets of flowers, change the tablecloth on the table to a brighter one. It will help to add colors to colorful dishes, for example, some other decorative elements. Do not be afraid that the patio will become too colorful. After all, this is a playground in nature, the design of which can generally be changed depending on the season.

The patio will immediately turn into an analogue of a home living room. Carpets that are designed specifically for outdoor use , now there are quite a lot, it’s easy to care for them. You will put it in a garage or a barn for the winter, there are no special problems with such an addition to the recreation area. The main thing is to choose a carpet that is suitable for your patio in terms of size, color and pattern, and will please the eye throughout the warm season.

For example, hang a picture on the wall of a house or a fence, a beautiful panel that you can do with your own hands. Let there be something unusual on the patio, not carrying any practical function, but beautiful. This is also a technique from interior design, which can be used on the street.

It can be a screen, a trellis with climbing plants, a slatted structure, or a solid wall of planks or pallets. Provide privacy, separate the seating area from the rest of the site, get an accent detail that will immediately catch your eye. Do landscape screen with your own hands is not difficult, and the effect is very noticeable.

For example, replacing a single street lamp with a whole garland of string lights. It is very impressive and you can use the patio on moonless evenings. You can hang unusual lamps in wicker lampshades above the table to make outdoor gatherings even more cozy.

Seating is available on every patio, furniture is indispensable. But you can choose not an ordinary bench, but a real outdoor bed, there are round-shaped ones with soft mattresses and fabrics designed for outdoor conditions. A sofa can also be built with your own hands from pallets, for example. Put soft pillows on top and it will be very comfortable for the whole family to relax on the patio.

In containers so that you can later transfer it to the house or to the glazed veranda. If annuals are used, choose those that bloom all summer. Flowers can be hung under a canopy in a flower pot - a very beautiful option. There are never many plants on the street, they will definitely decorate your recreation area, turning the patio into a green oasis.

Do-it-yourself dacha lighting ideas with photo: lamps, lighting

Light up your outdoor space by choosing the best garden lamps for your dacha or country house. We also talk about the features of installing garden lighting.

Carolina Plavina

Freepik

Every dacha or private home needs a focal point. With the help of properly placed lighting, you can emphasize individual parts of the garden, give it character and atmosphere, mark paths and borders.

Article Contents

General Patio Lighting Guidelines

For best results, use a combination of different garden lights to bring out the texture, depth and drama of walls, fences, steps, patio edges, foliage, trees and water like this made in the photo.

Do the base first, then add house wall lights and spotlights to create a layered look, but don't go overboard with area lighting. For example, be careful with the decoration of the walls on the terrace. The best atmosphere can be created with garden lanterns, candles and tea lamps.

Do not light everything around. To help you plan your scheme, experts advise highlighting the most eye-catching elements and providing targeted lighting where needed. Hang garden lamps above the dining table or near the entrances and exits from different areas of the garden.

Overhead lighting works well at the far end of the garden, where you can aim the light at the fence to make the space appear larger, while downlighting can be used to highlight features like a tree, or placed above a table to provide light for eating or relaxing.

Simple Garden Lighting Idea: Create a shadow by placing a lamp in front of a sculpted plant or object for a dramatic effect.

If you're landscaping a garden, planning your lighting design early, advises award-winning garden designers, as all cables usually need to be routed under solid landscaping and planting.

Don't forget the borders - drawing attention to them can create a complex scheme for a modern garden. By the way, you can learn interesting ideas for decorating borders from our other article. You can create this effect by installing strips of waterproof LED rope lighting along the bottom edge of the curb. It's also great for any patios, decks or terraces.

Finally, choose LED garden lights over halogen lights as they are highly energy efficient and have a much longer lifespan. We recommend choosing warm white over cool white as it adds a softer glow to your outdoor space.

What kind of lighting to choose for your home

Solar garden lights

Solar lights are a fantastic garden lighting option as they can be both functional and decorative. Not only are they more energy efficient, saving you money in the long run, but they are also easy to install and can stay in place for a long time.

Although solar powered garden lights don't require electricity, they rely on a constant supply of strong sunlight so you can't always rely on them. Some outdoor solar lights take up to eight hours a day to fully charge. Therefore, solar lamps with a battery backup or rechargeable via USB port are great for cloudy winter months.

If the weather gets wet and windy, it's best to remove the solar lights until conditions improve, as fragile wires can easily break.

Solar lights come in almost every form, including fairy lanterns, string lights, lanterns, path lights and wall lights. Place them where you'll be spending time on a summer evening, and hang solar-powered lights where you can see them from inside the house - they'll come in handy when it gets too cold to go outside.

Garden string lights

Fairy garden lights and string lights, otherwise known as garden string lights, are key elements in making your garden space attractive. In the case of garden lanterns, the power source can be battery, plug-in, or solar.

If you want to decorate some plants, choose battery-powered lights with a timer (make sure they are in a protected area) or solar-powered lights. The flexible wire will allow you to easily shape them into the desired shape. Plug-in lights are the best option if you are using extendable filaments that can be extended to cover hundreds of meters for a magical effect.

Garden Lighting Ideas: In winter or summer, a garden full of twinkling lights is a magical sight. Garden garlands are very decorative and colorful, so you can really decorate your garden with them. They perfectly illuminate any space, radiating not a sharp and bright light, but a soft warm glow.

You can also separately illuminate the fairy houses of the fairies, which you can find out about by clicking on the link.

Run the garlands through plantings for best results, but you can also wrap garlands around trees or along fences. Another idea is to hang string lights back and forth over your seating area to create your own starry sky.

Outdoor wall lights

Practical and functional outdoor wall lights to highlight the area around your home, garden or balcony, or even your barn. Garden wall lights are either solar-powered or mains powered. Mains power guarantees guaranteed light in the country, but a solar panel can be a good alternative.

Popular options for private homes are luminaires with PIR motion sensors - these are often used in front of a building. The sensor will greet visitors and is good for security, as well as lighting paths or gates.

Lawn and flower bed lighting

Draw attention to the texture of the ground with low-level lighting. Combine top and bottom garden lights on elements, define paths and borders with LED strips. Ground lights (especially flat, round ones) are ideal for decking and can be easily placed around steps, garden paths and patios for instant attraction and atmosphere.

Peg or stake lights are also great for ground lighting. They are easy to install and make a great decorative piece, especially when placed among garden beds or foliage. You may need floor spotlights to highlight a path or illuminate a specific area of ​​the cottage, and lanterns on poles or lampposts are ideal for illuminating the entire garden.

Please note that some floor lamps, especially recessed ones (in deck or paving), require wiring and cable connections must be waterproof. If you are considering this option for your garden, make sure it is installed by a qualified and licensed electrician.

What to pay attention to when installing country lights

1. Make sure that the cables are well protected from rodents, squirrels and foxes.
2. We advise you to install electricity for lighting directly from the house, and you can also install a new outdoor socket.

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