Easy Outdoor Lighting Guide – 7+ Tips to Get Started Today
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Are you looking for a simple, yet helpful outdoor lighting guide? Then this post might be just the thing for you!
Whether you want to create a safely lit area to enjoy the cooler summer nights or a cozy spot to entertain people in, it helps to figure out before you start shopping what you want to accomplish. There are so many different types of lighting for your outdoor spaces out there and without a plan in place you can easily wind up overwhelmed and perhaps buy more than you have to!
So let’s start by planning.
Figuring out your Space
You want to map out your space, whether you draw up a proper map or just a rough sketch, it helps to keep your thoughts organized. You want to identify places you want to add lighting into, like your patio, pathways and even certain collections of plants.
Ratios
You want to balance your lighting appropriately. One helpful thing to consider is that you want about 70% of your lights to have a warm ambient glow, 20% of your lights to be geared toward safety and lighting up things like your steps and then a final 10% on dramatic accents.
Seasons
Depending on where you live, you may have unique requirements based on your seasons. For example, I live in the southern interior of British Columbia in Canada and we can have very snowy winters and occasionally frigid temperatures. Any lighting I choose, I make sure it’s weather-rated because otherwise I might have to replace it year after year and that can definitely eat up some of your hard-earned money.
Power Source
Battery and solar-powered lights may be the best solution if you are looking to do much of the work yourself. These types of lights won’t require adding to your power grid or needing the help of a qualified electrician to prevent overload or electrical fires.
You can also DIY most wired solutions, provided that you are not attempting to add more voltage to the circuit. For example, if you’re simply swapping out an old fixture for a new one, you can find useful DIY guides all over, but a good starting point is The Spruce’s How to Change an Outdoor Light Fixture.
When in doubt though, I highly recommend finding a local electrician. Electricity isn’t something to guess around with!!
As for Solar power, you will want to be selective on where to place these lights as you want to have them set up in places where they will receive hours of natural sunlight per day in order for them to work at night!
Brightness
You also want to consider how bright you want your lighting to be, too bright and your desired look can immediately feel off. Consider choosing warm white shaded bulbs to create a cozy or warm ambience and keep the cool white for a more modern feel.
Types of Lighting
Every light has a design purpose, that is, a specific area it’s meant for. So let’s cover the basic categories of outdoor lighting:
Landscape & Garden Lighting
When you are looking at lights that light up a pathway or shine on a particular batch of plants or trees, you are looking at more landscape type lights. For best results when it comes to pathway lighting, consider choosing a staggered look, with lights every six to ten feet along the way.
Entertaining Lighting
These types of lights are the ones you’d see on an outdoor patio or table, to make the seating spaces inviting for guests or your family. This is where you can add a few strings of lights above a table, or a few sconces along the wall of the house. If you have a covered patio, you can even consider adding a pendant light on the roof as well.
Functional or Security Lighting
These are your typical floodlights, motion sensor lights and even step and deck lights that will allow everyone to safely navigate those areas after the sun goes down.
Figuring out a Budget
Once you have a pretty good idea of where you want to cast some light, you’re going to want to develop a budget for those lights. You can either break down your budget into different categories or keep to a final total number. Loads of budgeting websites can help you figure that aspect out, but here are some general guidelines to get you started:
- Will you need to hire tradespeople? If you plan on adding dedicated electrical fixtures to your outdoor space, you are going to want to have an electrician come and evaluate your space and requirements.
- If you are just updating existing fixtures or adding battery or solar operated lights you’ll be okay as they won’t be adding to your home’s electrical grid.
- Do you need to dig into the ground to set up your fixtures? If so, you’ll want to call your local utilities number (for example in British Columbia, we’d call BC 1 Call).
- Consider a graduated plan, focus on functional or security lighting first to prevent injuries and then gradually expand lighting as your budget allows.
Where to Shop
Now that we’ve covered the planning stage and the budget, let’s talk about where you can shop for everything.
Big Box Retailers
General large stores like Walmart, Ikea, Canadian Tire, etc. often have garden departments where you can find various lighting features and the best part is you don’t have to wait anxiously for them to ship to you.
Local Hardware Stores
Local hardware stores are often great places to shop for outdoor lighting, even big box hardware stores like Rona or Lowes can provide you with options to consider.
1 Stop Lighting (Affiliate)
This is one of my favorite online retailers to head over to and check out different lighting styles. As their name suggests, they are all about lighting. They have comparable prices to many big box retailers, but way more selection!
Amazon
I am a Prime subscriber, so I often recommend Amazon for loads of things and outdoor lighting isn’t any exception. You can find loads of options that you won’t find in any stores locally. If you are looking for something that nobody else has, sometimes turning to an online retailer might do the trick!
Final Thoughts
I hope you found this outdoor lighting guide helpful and allows you to enjoy your outdoor space in any season or time of day. After you consider everything from the types of lighting to things like power sources, brightness and ratios, figure out your budget and build from there. Once you have your budget in hand, then you can start shopping. I never recommend shopping before you have a budget in mind, because it can be very easy to drain your bank account otherwise!
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Until next time, stay crafty!!
