I spent hours and hours browsing the www.LampsPlus.com website when I wanted bathroom lights. I think they have tons of such products. But, also look at the Lee Valley Tools website. They have LOTS of great stuff too.

Have you asked anyone on the electrical forum? They might know if the posts generally come separate from the light.

If I was matching anything, I'd match the front door lights to the post light, if the post is going to be out front. If it will be toward the back, I'd match it to the style of the garage door light. Do you plan to have all of these exterior lights to come on with the flip of ONE SWITCH?

I really like the color of your house. The post could be the same color as your shutters if nothing else.

Show us where it will be located. I bought Portfolio from Lowes before, so you might try there.

moccasin, thanks I'll check those sites, here's a pick of where I think I'd like to put the lamp post...with some plantings around it and the sidewalks replaced with narrower brick paths and stone steps...

sorry about the rudimentary drawing!
{{!gwi}}From house

Ok, Enigma, here is the first link to
http://www.lampsplus.com/products/s_yard-post-light/

and then
www.overstock.com and do the search for post lights.

I did not find any at Lee Valley Tools.
Also, try amazon.com and ebay. I had great luck ordering from Overstock with cheap shipping and it was a fast delivery. I think it was shipped direct from the manufacturer when I bought my new kitchen sink, but the service was excellent. With LampsPlus, I've had some delays in the past, but ultimately got my lights.

Enigma, try this site. They have a lot of bronze lights. The prices don't seem bad either.

Forgot to add the link. I also saw some solar powered lamp posts. Have you looked at them?
Loretta

Here is a link that might be useful: Bronze Lamp Posts

I'm into the solar outdoor lighting. But unless you have a good sized collector panel, they do not put out much light. If you want to light the post up for security or safety, then look for a panel which you can put into the ground around the post, and not a light which has a panel built into the top of the lamp itself. Several places sell such lights, including Lowes and Home Depot. You get the lamp and the solar collector, and then you "make" your own post.

DH has a post lamp hardwired to 110 power where his brick steps come up from the driveway, and the rock wall is about 4 foot or so tall at that point. It is not solar, and it helps visitors come to the only spot they can use to reach his front door. I want to add a little house number "flag" or bar with the house number on it, to this post. It is a very traditional light, in keeping with the feel of a cape. Like your house is too, Enigma. Let's see if I can find a picture of it.

idie and moccasin, you have brought up something I was just thinking about. I went to Lowes looking for post lamps and I did find a normal pole that was the right color, no lamp unfortunately though... The salesperson there actually told me to be aware that it is apparently really really expensive to get electricity run out to a new pole. I expected maybe a couple hundred dollars but nothing too expensive! Does anyone know what might be charged for this?

Because of this (and the fuss of digging and running electricity) I would love to consider solar power (plus, no electrical bills!!!). I really can't find any out there, I thought they would be common but the few I've found look really unnatural and strange, not like normal pole lights at all. Moccasin, I'm a little confused about how to "make" a pole with a solar panel??? Are they pieces you buy and assemble or do you put it on a wooden post?

I have those small solar powered landscape lights in the garden and I don't like them because instead of the nice warm glow from my wall lights they give off a bluey light...is this true of all solar lights? I wish I knew more about them, I really love the idea!

Last year I found a solar lamp post light that had LED lighting, so used a much smaller panel to collect electricity than the old ones did. I will try to find it again. You could try searching on LED lamp post or LED solar.

Remember that Rustoleum can magically transform any light and pole with the use of a simple spray can and some blue tape.

I found a number of sites for "solar lamp posts". They give good information on the size of panel required for the amount of light wanted. Reading some of the information I didn't know that there were rechargable batteries in most of them to accumulate the solar power. You can also select the light color wanted.

I would go for solar. Adding an electrical connection could cause more issues than expected and most likely require a city approval. Solar has come a long way.

Enigma, all that I know can go in a nutshell, sorry to say, BUT I HAVE IDEAS AND OPINIONS. hehehehe

First off, if you are up north, do you have a lot of ROCK?
In the case of my DH's house, you cannot dig anywhere w/o turning up ROCKS and some are huge. (We have NO ROCKS here, so I have serious ROCK ENVY, but no way to bring them south.) He put the power line in when he built that rock wall, so it was all underground.

I'm not sure where your electrical panel might be located, but probably around the spot the overhead power cables come to your house--near your driveway and garage? The cost could run from getting a larger breaker box and power supply (old homes had 100 amp service, but most now have 200 amp service or greater, and that means a lot of work for your power company and fully licensed electrician.

I'm all for solar too, like emagineer is. LEDs are the latest thing because the actual light emitted is greater. If those don't have the color you want, you can always filter the glass surrounding them! Put some cellophane inside the lamp if necessary.

I'm still thinking you could get a Toro system which has a solar panel stuck into the flower bed, and then low voltage cable that can be concealed 4 inches or so underground for a string anywhere from 50 feet up to 150 feet.

The cable can run up the middle of a metal pole to the lamp. OR, you can route a groove into a wooden lamp post and then use cable tacks to hold the low voltage cable in the groove as it runs up the wood post. In your neck of the woods, you don't have to worry about termites, but make any pole a treated wood. It can be painted white or black too.

I think you can also just find the lamp you like and then wire it to 12 volt instead of house power, and put in the size of socket you like.

Several years back, I had a really fine solar panel which I mounted on the roof of my cottage at MoccasinLanding. It ran to a fairly large storage battery, which I mounted onto a shelf underneath the carport. The battery was mostly out of the weather, Then from the storage battery, there was a 12 volt cable attached to a motion detector and spot light. This was very bright, and it only came on when it detected any motion within its coverage area....which was the walkway to my front door. With this setup, you could have a brighter bulb because it did not stay on all the time, just when someone was moving into your yard. In my case, this light was the only one working during several hurricanes that hit Mobile. What a comfort it was too. I think it cost about $75 including panel, battery, and light.

The point I'm making, consider all the options open to you and which would maximize your investment.

I have to say that I have been convinced! We don't have any power in the front yard to my knowledge (no outlets and even our electrical service to the house is in the back). I would love to not have to pay an electrician, I would love to be able to install it sooner rather than later and not dig an electrical line for it (also I don't like electric lines in the ground since I dig so often for planting). I spent several hours looking for solar lights, I'm still looking! They either seem to be on the unattractive side or the very expensive side, hopefully I'll find the perfect one!

So I've been rethinking just a little, looking at my "drawing" above, I'm a little concerned that in a lot as small as mine the corner picket fence, lamp post and stone column may be too many different "things" sticking up out of the yard. Should I consider a solar light that attaches to a pillar and just mount one on top of the pillar I have? That look is a little more custom/contemporary than I prefer...should I just knock down the pillar? It does make a nice place for our address numbers and separates our yard from the neighbors but I've never been a huge fan of it...I could build another corner fence instead, but is that too "frame-y"?

I tend to redesign and rethink constantly, thanks for bearing with me, I love all opinions, brutal or otherwise!

Your house is just adorable. And love the yard!

I think a lamp would look nice in the spot you picked. I was thinking that I would like to get one instead of putting regular lights around the yard. There are a couple in my neighborhood that look so pretty at night. I also like the ones with 3 lights on one pole.

Enigmaquandry, I do like the lamp post in your yard. Because it is taller and thin, it does not "fight" with the fence and post, but "tops off" the yard. It leads the eye to the center of your landscape, and to your front door. In decorating or flower arranging, threes are very pleasing, especially with a center, taller, item. I say go for the light post. A light on your brick post would draw the eye to the garage and confuse people about the yard/house/driveway. The center post light will cast light on the driveway, too, but emphasize the walkway to the door and the front door, inviting them in.