There’s something very relaxing about going out on your outdoor deck in the evening after a long day at the office or a lazy day at home. While the setting might be perfect during the day, you might find you need some deck lighting when the stars come out. If that sounds like a familiar problem, then we’re here to help.
We’ve come up with ten inspiring outdoor deck lighting ideas for your home. Before we share our ideas, I'd like to briefly discuss what types of outdoor deck lighting you can use.
What types of outdoor deck lighting can you use?
There are many different types of lighting fixtures you can use for your decking. The types of lighting fixtures you might use include:
- Spot, well, or uplights: used to highlight features. For example, a plant or an architectural feature.
- Deck lights: light fixtures that can be attached to posts or rails.
- Recessed lighting: lighting fixtures that are embedded into the flooring of your decking.
- Downlights: anchor to trees, the eaves of your house, a wall, etc., to directly or indirectly light up your decking or create a beautiful moonlighting effect.
- Step lighting: light up your steps with recessed lights, surface mounts, or path lights.
Now that you’ve learned the different types of light fixtures you might use on your decking let's dive into our guide. Here are ten outdoor lighting ideas to beautifully capture your decking.
1. Niche Lighting Over Your Deck
There are times when you're outside at night on your decking, and you don't need much illumination. In fact, too much lighting can spoil the mood, which is why you might use dimmers. The reverse is also true. It's hard to have a meal on your decking when you can't see the plate on the table.
Spotlights over the deck are one way to highlight key parts of your outside space. You should strategically position the spotlights over key areas of your decking, for example, your BBQ, table, etc. You can create just this effect with our CAST classic niche lights.
2. Attach Lights to a Tree
Outdoor lights on the trees in your garden can be a real highlight any time of the year. You can attach various types of lighting to your trees to make them a focal point of your garden. It's also possible to use lights attached to your trees to illuminate your decking.
Of course, you need to have a tree growing close to your decking for this to work. It's a good deck lighting option, though, if you have the right setting.
You can also highlight the features of your garden to create a nice ambiance while you’re on your decking. Our CAST tree lights offer a beautiful way to do just that.
3. Recessed Overhead Lighting
Recessed overhead deck lighting is a nice way to highlight your decking without making the light fixtures a key focus. You can tuck the recessed lighting into the eves of your house, or the roof of your porch, assuming your decking has a roof.
4. Use Under Table Lighting
There's a good chance that one of the central features of your decking is your table. It's where you gather around with your friends, family, or loved ones to sit down, eat food, drink, play games, and more.
If you want to make the most of your outdoor space, it makes sense to use lighting to illuminate this central feature. Done tastefully, under the table lighting not only looks great, but it's also practical, as it can help people see what they're doing.
5. Recessed Floor Lighting
Lighting the floor of your decking is a beautiful way of illuminating your space. Recessed floor lights are often used as guiding lights. For example, you can use our beautiful Source by CAST recessed lights in the floor or risers of the steps of your decking.
6. Deck Stair Lights
Deck stair lights provide a subtle illumination to your decking in the evening. It's also an effective way to highlight the stairs, which you might have to use in the dark.
It's important to consult an expert before setting up deck stair lighting. If you're going to be implementing a deck lighting project, make sure to check your city's building code regulations.
7. String Lights
String lights are a versatile addition to any type of decking. They provide soft lighting and can help highlight key parts of your decking or the garden. You can hang the string lights around your deck railings, coil them around a tree, or do something else entirely.
String lights are easy to install. You'll probably need to replace your bulbs more frequently than the other lighting options on this list, though.
8. Deck Railing Lights
Deck railing lights are a type of perimeter lighting for your decking. You can create a nice effect by adding downward-facing lights under the railing posts. It helps highlight the border between your decking and the garden.
9. Deck Post Lights
As I mentioned at the start, you can also have deck post lights. Deck post lights are attached to the posts. These lighting fixtures can become a feature in and of themselves, like our beautiful deck and wall lights.
10. Outdoor Lanterns
Outdoor lanterns can add a warming glow to your outdoor decking and create a magical atmosphere. A beautiful lantern can also become a key focal point.
The nice thing about outdoor lanterns is you don't need to plan your lighting. Apart from securing a power source, there is no installation needed. Unlike the other outdoor deck lighting ideas on this list, you can easily move these lights around.
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