ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

Deck Lighting Ideas

Updated on November 30, 2013

When it is well furnished,  a deck can be like a whole other room in your house. A deck can be a great place to spend time reading or relaxing and getting a bit of sun. It can be a good place for the kids to play or to do their homework. A deck is a excellent spot for Sunday brunch or a nice evening meal. What’s more, a deck is the perfect place to entertain a few guests.

Naturally, a deck is only good for these purposes during daylight hours, unless, of course, you have good lighting for its nighttime use. You can greatly expand the usefulness of your deck by installing a number of different kinds of deck lighting. In addition, this lighting will not only make your deck a useful extension of your home, it will also transform it into one of the most beautiful spots in or outside of your house. In fact, deck lighting is a must have accessory for any home with a deck.

Making Your Deck Comfy

Owning a deck is a unique opportunity to bring the inside outdoors on clear nights or cool autumn days. Now that you are getting your lighting situation under control, here are a few things you can do to make your deck like an outdoor room,

1) First thing's first, make sure you light every passageway for when you entertain guests at night with outdoor lighting fixtures! Don't give them a chance to fall while walking down your deck stairs.

2) Outdoor furniture can be very comfy, but nothing makes things feel homey like pillows for the outdoors. Invest in a few that really pop with bright colors for you and your guests to enjoy.

3) Your deck is like your introduction to your backyard, so including plant containers of multiple sizes make for a nice accent.

4) Getting an outdoor rug means that you can have fun outdoors without having to walk on cold surfaces, grass of dirt. Not that there's anything wrong with that - sometimes you just want to be barefoot outdoors without the feeling of, well, being barefoot outdoors!

5) For getting the feeling that you are still in your own private area, not having to contend with any eyesores that may or may not be your neighbor's yard, consider getting outdoor screens. It gives you the idea of being in your own room as well as blocks any unwanted views from elements out of your control!

6) When having a party outside, you don't have to settle for a grill. Mix it up with fun treats like fondue. Buy a small fire pit and roast marshmallows (away from the wooden deck, mind you). Buy a raclette grill and let people have control over what they eat as well as showing your knowledge of Swiss culture! There are so many possibilities!

Types of Deck Lighting

There are a number of different types of lighting for your deck, each with a unique purpose and look. As is true for inside the home, a combination of different varieties of deck lighting will do the job of illuminating your deck in the best manner possible.

Like inside lighting, deck lighting can be roughly divided into three varieties based on its function. These varieties include overall ambient lighting, accent lighting, and task lighting. Ambient lighting is probably the first thing we think of when we think of lighting a deck. You probably think about flood lights that bath the deck in a strong wash of light. Or, we may think of various kinds of electric lanterns, lights in perhaps a Japanese or Deco style that attach to the wall of your home and provide direct lighting of the deck and its environs. This kind of lighting is important to your deck and should be one of the first considerations in planning light for the deck, but it isn’t the only kind of deck lighting.

Accent lighting can also be a useful and beautiful way to enhance the living space of your deck. Such things as post lights or post caps, which fit over the post tops on your deck, can provide a lovely ambient lighting perfect for a warm summer night. These post lights provide a gentle glow to the length of your deck and can help illuminate your way along its entire length and breadth. One post light every 5 or 6 feet will do the job nicely of illuminating the deck in any season. Just as lovely are railing lights that fasten to the cross rails of your deck and provide a downward shining light to illuminate your path in the darkness.

Another nice accent lighting idea for your deck are under-bench lights. These lights fit to the underside of built-in wooden benches to create a soft pool of light that emanates from underneath. This type of deck lighting is wonderfully romantic and can make any night special, no matter with whom you may be sitting and whiling away the evening hours. Combining under-bench lights with lights set into planters is a great way to both highlight your plants at night and cast a dreamy glow across your deck.

A variety of deck lighting that can be considered task lighting are lights that are inset into the stairs or floor of your deck. These lights are, as their name implies, set into the wood of the deck to create a path of light through the dark. The lights are made in such a way that they do not catch your feet as you walk and avoid the problem of tripping you up. They are also strong enough to be walked on, even over many years.

Finally, the addition of spot lights of relatively low wattage can create interesting highlights on your deck to emphasize potted trees or plants or perhaps a table on which hors d’ouvres or drinks can be set during parties. Adding several spot lights that point in different directions across the deck can create a play of light and shadow that is exceptionally pleasing to the eye.

Deck lighting can make the deck useful after the sun goes down, as well.
Deck lighting can make the deck useful after the sun goes down, as well.

Low Watt and Solar Deck Lighting

Considering the cost of electricity these days, it is always a good idea to cut back on your energy consumption when lighting your deck. For this purpose, there are many kinds of deck lights that are designed to run on low voltage currents. This kind of lighting also provides additional safety when it is installed outside of your home. Most varieties of deck lighting can be purchased in low voltage models.

To save even more money on your energy bill, consider using solar powered deck lights. The solar cells in these lights collect energy during the day when the sun is shining and store it in a battery for use when the sun goes down. Many types of post caps and deck lanterns are made to use the sun’s energy to light your way.

So, as you can see, there are many excellent ways to light your deck and make it into a true living space for your home, whether during the day or at night. The purchase of quality deck lighting will practically pay for itself in the much greater use and enjoyment you will receive from your deck.

Are you planning on decking out your deck with lights?

See results
working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)