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trish_walters

exterior light fixture guidance

15 days ago

The house is not complete yet but I need to buy my lighting fixtures. The electrician has electric run to accommodate seven light fixtures out front and one at side door. The hardware of the front door latch is oil rubbed bronze. The door will be stained a walnut type finish.

Suggestions of style for this coastal home appreciated. Also, should all seven front fixtures match? There are two at each side of balcony slider, two at each side of front door and one on each side of garage doors with one in between.

Comments (11)

  • 15 days ago
    last modified: 15 days ago

    I was going to suggest flush or recessed lights in the ceilings above the doors, at least the front door and garage, to create a simple glow of the area instead of the glare of a bulb. So one sees the house, not the lighting. Do consider frosted glass, at least facing outward.

  • 15 days ago

    You probably want to review how various brands last on the coast. I had good luck when helping my daughter with her cute harbor community gingerbread Victorian with the open box sales on the big on line sites. A local lighting store would also have knowledge about what lasts. They usually discount some, compared to MSRP.

  • 15 days ago

    I can see how recessed lighting might have looked better at the garage, not upper balcony though. It’s too late for that since siding is in snd holes cut.

  • PRO
    15 days ago
    last modified: 15 days ago

    I like onion lights on your style home:



    or other nautical type lighting:



    However, instead of lights on the sides of the garage doors, perhaps a barn-style light over the door would give better lighting?


    I think the lights around the entrance doors should match, but the garage lights can be different.

  • 15 days ago

    Love your idea with the barn lights over garage but it’s too late to change where fixtures are. Holes are on sides of garagl

  • 15 days ago

    Holes are on side of garage doors and in between.

  • 15 days ago

    We moved into our new build in Florida in 2022 and last month I already had to replace 6 large exterior sconces on the front of the house. We are near the Gulf, but not waterfront. These west facing fixtures were the worst, all pitted, corroded and impossible to open up to change the bulbs. The hurricanes the last few years didn't help, as we got a lot of salt spray with the winds. These were decent quality lights, but obviously not good enough for the climate here.


    The replacements are made of a composite material and have a 5 year warranty. I also picked a design that has no screws/latches that need to be opened/closed to change the bulbs.

    Learn from my mistake and save money!


    My new lights are from the StoneStrong Series by Generation Lighting.

    https://www.visualcomfort.com/us/c/stonestrong?p=1

    Find a local lighting showroom that carries the StoneStrong collection.


    I have another 10 sconces around the sides and back of the house that will also need to be replaced! They aren't as bad as the front ones, with some pitting/fading/rusting and I can still open them up to change bulbs, but they will need to be replaced sooner rather than later.

  • 15 days ago

    Forgot to add, all my fixtures match ... well not right now since I had to change the front ones, but my goal is that they will all match again. The new StoneStrong composite ones are close enough in style that most people wouldn't notice the change from a distance.

    My largest sconces are at the front door, next size down for either side of garage doors and back lanai/patio and then smallest size for rear man door of the garage.

  • 15 days ago

    Matching is helpful so you don't have different lightbulbs and 10 years down the road, if some are failing, you can cannibalize them to repair the others.

  • 14 days ago

    Well, matching in terms of style, but you may want differing sizes, depending upon placement. I live on the coast of Maine, and the copper onion lights have survived nicely. The first is at least 20 years old. The second two are 8. We are half a mile from the open ocean, on a tidal estuary. We also have various floodlights on the house and they have relatively short lifespans.

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