Install outdoor lighting on your patio or deck to turn these spaces into comfortable outdoor retreats. Gentle illumination around tables and chairs creates an inviting area while task lighting over a grill highlights outdoor meal preparation. When considering deck lighting ideas, don’t forget safety. Recessed deck lights along stairs and walkways prevent accidents and create an inviting entryway for your guests.
Selecting the Best Deck Lighting for Your Home
When considering outdoor lighting, choose fixtures that blend with your home’s existing style and color palette to create a consistent exterior look. If you have large doors and windows connecting your deck to interior living areas, unify the two spaces by adding outdoor lights that match the colors and textures used inside your home. Illuminate yard seating or highlight unique specimen plants in your garden and integrate landscape features into your deck lighting design.
Once you’ve established a consistent look for your exterior lights, focus on the deck itself. Place fixtures near walkways, doors and stairs to ensure these busy areas are easy to traverse. Consider a deck lighting design that includes perimeter lighting, which invites visitors to use the entire area. Overhead lights are ideal for dining or seating areas, creating warm pools of illumination that draw people together. Consider adding task lights for work surfaces such as grills or counters. You may also want to install practical flood or spot lighting to help with mundane tasks such as taking out the trash or letting the dog out after dark.
Creating a Lighting Plan
As you explore deck lighting ideas, it may be helpful to create a lighting plan. Using graph paper and a tape measure, create a scale drawing of your outdoor space. Note important features such as stairs, railings, walkways, furniture and work surfaces. Mark important architectural or garden features you want to highlight and record the location of existing lighting fixtures. Use your finished plan to explore deck lighting designs and fixture placement options without running a single wire.
Fixture Options
You’ve created a lighting plan, considered finishes, sizes and styles and have a deck lighting design in hand. It’s time to choose the fixtures for your outdoor space.
- Post deck lights fit on top of railing posts, providing general illumination. They’re an excellent way to define your outdoor space and add ambient light to the surrounding yard.
- Recessed step lights are flush-mount fixtures you can use in walls, pathways, posts or stairs. These unobtrusive lights are one of the best deck lighting options for stairs and walkways.
- Overhead ceiling lights such as hanging, flush-mount and recessed fixtures are a charming way to brighten outdoor seating or dining areas, but they do require overhead support.
- Spot and accent fixtures focus attention on specific features. They’re ideal for highlighting a unique plant or providing extra illumination over grills or serving areas.
- Security and flood lights provide bright lighting to handle mundane tasks and can illuminate a large area with a single fixture.
- Rope lights offer excellent ambient illumination. Some of these fixtures just plug into a wall outlet, so you can use them to create unique deck lighting for special occasions and take them down when they’re not needed.
- Party lights add a festive touch to any deck or patio and, like rope lights, many of these products are quite easy to set up.
- Solar lights are an eco-friendly option that need no additional wiring. They’re an excellent portable light source for your deck or garden, but they do require a bright daytime location.
When selecting fixtures to implement your deck lighting design, you’ll also want to consider the bulbs. Incandescent and halogen bulbs provide bright illumination, but they can get hot to the touch and are energy hogs. Compact fluorescent and LED deck lighting are energy efficient and operate at much lower temperatures, making them a safer choice for low-mounted fixtures.
Switches and Controls
Once you’ve chosen the best deck lighting for your home, you’ll want to take control of your outdoor space with light switches and sensors. Consider separate controls for each type of light you install so you can adjust the illumination to match your outdoor activities. Dimmers are a nice way to compensate for changing natural light as the sun sets. Motion or light sensors can alert you to the presence of an uninvited guest or automatically turn on safety or security lights after dark.
Lighting Challenges in the Great Outdoors
When choosing deck lights, be sure to check your weather forecast. Outdoor lights face rain, wind and snow throughout the year so choose fixtures with the right UL rating for each installation location.
- Damp-rated lights are best for sheltered areas. They resist moisture, but should not come in direct contact with rain or snow.
- Fixtures with a wet rating withstand direct contact with rain or snow. They’re your best choice for walkways, exposed deck posts or garden lights.
- Lights rated for harsh conditions are sealed and resist exposure to salt water. Consider these fixtures if you live in a coastal area.
Low Versus Line Voltage Lighting
Many outdoor lights use 12V power. They’re easy to install and often less expensive than comparable 120V line-voltage fixtures. Low voltage cables don’t have to be buried or installed in conduit, and there are many low voltage fixtures on the market. Line voltage fixtures often provide brighter illumination but have strict installation requirements that may require the skills of a professional electrician.
Adding outdoor lights to your deck creates a welcoming and comfortable space for your family and guests. They enhance safety, highlight unique home and garden features and focus attention on seating and dining areas. Use these deck lighting ideas to turn your deck into a beautifully illuminated extension of your home.