Category Archives: Outdoor Lighting Ideas

Outdoor Lighting Ideas, Outdoor Living Spaces, Outdoor Safety Tips

Create a Safely Lit Outdoor Area at Your Home

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Do you ever arrive home after dusk, blinded by darkness outside your home? Not only does this leave your fumbling for keys to unlock the door and falling over obstructions that may lie in your path, it also creates a dangerous scenario that leaves you venerable to thieves, robbers, and other harmful hiders. Create a safe and illuminated environment with outdoor lights. There are many styles and options to choose from that add functionality AND beauty. Here are just a few of the many great lights available for the outside of your home.

  • Solar Step Light: Perfect for lawns, gardens, and pathways, these stepping stones create sure footing with glow of light. They easily support up to 350 lbs of weight and harness the sun’s energy to power their efficient LED lights. There is no wiring to install and no operating costs – just beautiful style and a secure path.

Solar Stepping Stone

  • Security Light: If you need a stronger, steady light, security lights are a great solution. They bathe the outside of your home in light and create a safe area. Solar security lights offer the added function of saving money and electricity. The security light below can be set to light up upon detection of motion or set on a timer to illuminate before you arrive home. Installation is simple so you can have it installed instantly upon receipt.

Solar Security Light

  • Outdoor Lanterns: If your goal is to add light in the most elegant way possible, outdoor lanterns are for you! You can choose from electric lanterns, which operate off of standard household bulbs, or flame lanterns, which burn fuel. Many lanterns also come with planter flower pots around the bottom to add a beautiful gardening opportunity. Citronella oil, long known to ward off insects, can be burned in flame lanterns. In addition to a new source of light, you will repel flying pest from your home.

Islander Park Flame Lantern with Planter

Outdoor Lighting Ideas, Outdoor Living Spaces

Light Up the Night with Decorative Patio Lamps

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Catalina II Patio Lamps         Starlight Lanterns

Outdoor rooms are the best place to spend time on cool evenings during summer, whether alone or with company.  When daytime temperatures soar, it’s a relief to look forward to more refreshing air when the sun goes down.  Proper lighting is a priority, though, when you’re spending more nights outside on the patio or deck.

When looks matter, decorative outdoor lamps are the ideal choice for providing lighting in your outdoor spaces because they are safer than indoor lamps.  With weighted bases, weather resistant materials, and weather-proof grounded cords and plugs, outdoor lamps are perfect for use on decks, patios, and in outdoor rooms.  Their stylish designs complement indoor as well as outdoor decor, though, so they can be used effectively and beautifully in interior spaces, too, if desired.

Taking advantage of the cooler evening temperatures this summer can be more meaningful when enough light is available to do more than just sit and relax.  Enjoy a book, work on a hand crafting activity, or share smiling conversation with family and friends.  Shedding a little light opens up more possibilities for your outdoor spaces.

Environmentally Friendly Ideas, Indoor Living Spaces, Innovative Solutions, Outdoor Lighting Ideas

Green Energy – For the Planet AND the Pocketbook

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Energy Saving Green Logo
“Going Green” is a trend that is gaining momentum every year and has become a lifestyle choice for many Americans. Not only does it allow you to do your part in conserving our precious resources, but it can also save you hundreds of dollars a year in utility costs. Making small changes can yield huge differences. Replacing just one regular light bulb in your home with an energy-efficient light bulb will reduce that outlet’s energy consumption by 75% and save you up to $40 a year! Imagine the difference that you can make if you replace all of the bulbs in your home. Another important energy-saving tip is to make sure that your doors and window are properly sealed. Drafts and broken seals can waste hundreds of dollars a year in heating and cooling cost and waste unnecessary energy. You will also want to make sure that you are using energy-efficient appliances. Seventeen percent of your household energy is spent on large appliance operation (refrigerators, clothes washer and dryers, and dishwashers). If you are not using an EnergyStar certified appliance, consider upgrading. It will save you money in the long run.

Solar power is also a great way to save energy in and around your home. If you are not ready to install solar panels on your roof and rely solely on the sun, you can still implement small uses of solar power around your home. Consider using Chinese Solar Lanterns or Umbrella Solar Lanterns at you next outdoor party instead of traditional lighting sources. Add solar powered path lights to your driveway or sidewalk. Consider investing in solar swimming pool heaters in place of traditional heat sources for your pool.

Green power is here to stay. More and more people are realizing that making these small, but powerful, changes are a necessary step toward protecting our plant AND our pocketbooks. Start making your home energy-efficient today and you reap the benefits for many years to come.

Chinese Solar LanternsUmbrella Solar Lanterns

Source: US Department of Energy (http://www.energysavers.gov)

Environmentally Friendly Ideas, Innovative Solutions, Outdoor Lighting Ideas

Smart Solution: Burn the Midnight Oil with a Solar Shed Light

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Problem: You regularly work on projects in your storage shed, garden shed, or greenhouse, but once the sunlight begins to fade, you are forced to abandon your work until the next day.  Interrupting a productive work cycle can be immensely frustrating.  What if the train of thought you were riding the previous day doesn’t come chugging back into the station?  Many projects ultimately go unfinished for this very reason.

Solution #1: Hire an electrician to run an electrical line from your house to the storage shed.  Unfortunately, this means tearing up part of your yard in order to accommodate the wiring.  Oh, and another thing…electricians don’t come cheap.

Solution #2: Attach an LED solar shed light to your storage shed, garden shed, or greenhouse, and get back to work.Solar Shed Light  Solar lights require no special wiring since they get their power from the sun, and there are no set up costs or operating costs beyond the initial purchase of the light.  Simply mount the accompanying solar panel to the sunniest side of your storage shed, and it will soak up the sun’s rays during the day.  The solar shed light then uses that stored energy to properly illuminate your task inside the storage shed until you are ready to pack it in for the day.

Thanks to smart solutions like the solar shed light, you can be the one who decides when work is finished instead of living at the mercy of the setting sun.

Outdoor Lighting Ideas, Outdoor Living Spaces

Before & After: Design Details Make the Difference

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Any living space can be turned from bland and unappealing to comfortable and inviting, and it rarely requires expensive choices like remodeling or a complete decorating makeover.  In most cases, a fresh and beautiful look can be achieved with the addition of a few simple and inexpensive details.  Here is a good example:

Before Outdoor Curtains

The photo above shows a fairly standard wall that serves as a boundary between properties.  The homeowner has attempted to soften the appearance of the wall by adding some beautiful potted ferns, but the plants don’t successfully break up the wide, visual expanse of stone.

With the addition of outdoor curtains and mounted light fixtures, though, a dramatic improvement can be seen:

After Outdoor Curtains

The vast and unappealing wall becomes a softer and more elegant focal point.  Even the potted plants, which before looked washed out and ragged against the drab stone backdrop, pop out in front of the outdoor curtains and add more visual texture and interest to the scene.

Many times, all that a living space requires to improve its appearance is the addition or alteration of a few details.  Before investing in an expensive remodel or decorating overhaul, it’s worth the time and money to first think on a smaller scale.  A very little change, as seen here, can often go a long way to improve a living space.