Adding outdoor lighting to your home is a great way to bring style, ambiance and safety to your front- or backyard. Whether you’re looking for string lights to add to the patio, a lantern for your front porch or illuminating flood lights, we’ve got a wide selection to choose from. There’s a lot to consider while looking for outdoor lighting ideas, from the style to the features you most care about. So if you’re unsure where to begin, allow our lighting guide to help.
Where to Use Your Outdoor Lighting
We carry several different types of outdoor light fixtures suited to illuminating different parts of your home. For example, if you’re looking for patio lights, usually a wall sconce or a hanging pendant does the trick. If you’re trying to illuminate a landscape, small stakes that you stick into the ground work well, as do stately lamp posts arranged around your property. One of our favorite (and most fun) ways to brighten up a yard is by hanging string lights from a deck railing or even in a tree. While you figure out what’s right for your space, check out this primer on some of the different types of outdoor lighting you can find on Houzz.
- Hanging Lights: Hanging or pendant lights are ideal for front entryways or above an outdoor seating area. They’ll create a more formal, elegant look to extend your style outside. And the options are nearly limitless, from traditional lanterns to contemporary hanging globes.
- Flood Lights: Ideal for installing above a garage, on your side yard, or by a patio door, flood lights illuminate your home’s exterior and provide extra security and safety. This style of outdoor lighting often comes with a motion sensor.
- Wall Lights and Sconces: These are perfect for arranging on either side of your front door, particularly if there isn’t space to hang a pendant light. They come in a wide range of styles and sizes to suit a variety of spaces.
- Flush-Mount Lights: This type of outdoor lighting is installed directly up against an outdoor ceiling. They work well with gazebos or archways, as these structures have enough ceiling surface space to support them.
- Landscape Lighting: Designed to disperse around a pathway, a deck or a large lawn, landscape lighting is ideal for illuminating a larger space. At Houzz, you can find inground lighting, path lights, deck lights or stair lights to suit your space.
- Post Lights: Another option for a large backyard or long pathway, post lights are much larger and more visible than landscape lighting, but can add an elegant touch to your home’s exterior.
Choose the Features You Care About
There are a lot of options when it comes to picking out features for your outdoor lights. Of course, with a fixture that’s exposed to the elements, you’ll want something that’s not only attractive, but durable. Whether your priority is finding environmentally-friendly lights or something that’ll offer more safety and security after dark, it’s possible to find outdoor lighting to fit. While browsing, you’re likely to come across a lot of industry terms, so we’ve provided a handy primer on what each of these means below.
- Solar: Solar lighting is a great option to use outdoors. As long as your lights are positioned to soak up a lot of sunlight during the day, you won’t have to use any power to light your yard at night. You’ll save money on your energy bills, while also lowering your carbon footprint.
- LED: Another energy-saving option, LED lights last longer than incandescent bulbs and run using less energy. Some of these lights appear white or bluish in color, although it’s possible to look for those with a warmer color temperature.
- Motion Sensor: Whether you’re concerned about security or you just want the convenience of automatically having light when you walk outside, motion-sensor lighting can be a great choice.
- Dusk to Dawn: Dusk to dawn lighting automatically turns on after sunset and turns off once the sun comes up. If you know you always want a certain outdoor light on at night, like your porch light, this feature can be really useful.
- UL Listed: If a light is UL Listed, this simply means that it’s been tested and rated for safety and functionality. For outdoor lights, you’ll want to make sure they’re UL Listed for wet locations, so that rain or snow won’t be a problem.
- Dark Sky: This term refers to lighting that’s designed to illuminate the ground below rather than the sky. It’s made to reduce light pollution, particularly in suburban or urban areas.
