Summer Lighting Tips – Ideas for Summer Living

Outdoor Lights

Don’t miss a moment of fun sunny weather with these 5 summer lighting tips for outdoor lighting, entertaining, and living.

1. Less is More

Don’t overdo it. Less really is more, with well-planned lighting creating dramatic shadows and visual interest throughout a setting. As Mark Raissen, Director of Lighting Design for Lamps Plus, points out, “Too many lights in a seating area will leave guests squinting and unable to properly see the rest of the space.”

2. Use Subtle Light for Entertaining

Outdoor rooms, especially dining areas, benefit from subtle, indirect lighting that helps create a restful mood. “We’re seeing more and more use of outdoor lanterns, pendants, and especially ceiling fans equipped with light kits to illuminate seating and dining areas,” says Raissen. Use a dimmer with these fixtures; turn to full light when cooking or preparing food, dim it down for eating and relaxing.

3. Landscape Lighting

Use in-ground, low voltage landscape lights to define your yard space. “These lights can help make a small yard seem bigger,” Raissen says. Properly placed, this type of lighting will also establish children’s play areas, garden pathways and other bits of visual interest at night.

Employ landscape lights with a photocell unit or a timer so they will turn off during the day, saving you money and extending the life of the bulb. Or check out the many other types of landscape lighting at Lamps Plus, including the latest energy efficient, LED designs.

4. Take a Look from Inside Your Home

What’s it look like from the inside? Consider how patio spaces, gardens and pathways look like from inside your home. “Light gardens or shrubbery that can be seen from living or dining rooms give a room-expanding view to the outside at night,” says Raissen. Think path lighting for garden areas, or use solar outdoor lighting for a quick and easy style update.

5. Landscape Lighting Kits for a Quick Fix

Need a quick and easy fix? Try a landscape lighting kit that plugs directly into any outdoor outlet. These kits typically consist of several ground spot lights strung together on a single cord. Arrange them in a garden to cast dramatic shadows or place around the perimeter of a patio to set a festive mood. Another time-saving solution is solar landscape lighting. Solar designs are often available in sets of 2, 3 or 4 lights and feature auto on-off dusk-to-dawn operation.