Garden Lighting – give your patio a little more sparkle

Garden lighting

I would normally not talk about garden lighting until the spring or summer. But with Christmas fast approaching, many of us may be relying on our gardens as a place to safely see friends or family, and that’s hard to do if it’s dark at 4pm! So I thought I’d share some last minute lighting ideas to give your patio or garden a little more sparkle!

Garden Lighting – Bunting

This LED bunting light chain from Burford Garden Company has a bit of a boho feel and will work both indoor and out, (the flags are metal). So you could get lots of use from it. It has an optional built in timer (6 hours on, 18 hours off) and a waterproof battery box.

multicoloured flag shaped bunting for a boho garden lighting effect
Picture courtesy of Burford Garden Company

Garden Lighting – a touch of glass

Want garden lighting that’s a little more substantial than fairy lights? Checkout these hand-blown glass outdoor pendant lights by Curiousa & Curiousa. They are gorgeous.

They’d be perfect for porches, covered terraces or verandas – or perhaps for creating an entertainment area in a pergola. They work well out of doors as each pendant is suspended using a metal rod and the glass shades are hand-blown and feature a specially designed enclosed LED G9 bulb.

Handblown, pink and orange coloured glass lamps from Curiousa & Curiousa create sophisticated garden lighting for this al fresco area
Image courtesy of Curiousa & Curiousa

They’re garden lighting with a real difference and they come in an array of finishes and 21 colours. So you really could get something that’s just right for you, your style or space.

As you will know from my blog about English Irises, I love championing UK talent. Well you don’t get much more talented than the people at Curiousa & Curiousa. So, even if you’re not in the market to buy, do have a look at their website; their lovely products are so skilfully made and as far away from mass produced as you can get!

Handblown, orange coloured glass pendant lamps from Curiousa & Curiousa  - garden lighting over a small garden dining area
Image courtesy of Curiousa & Curiousa

The company also makes indoor glass wall lights for use in outdoor spaces. So if you’re fed up with your wall or porch light and want something a bit different, do check them out.

Curiousa & Curiousa's glass garden lighting is also suitable for porches - here this blue lamp looks great next to a traditional front door on an old property
Image courtesy of Curiousa & Curiousa

As these pictures show, the lights look good with a really old, traditional building or in a much more contemporary setting. I wonder if I can persuade Mr F-W to change our front door light…mmm!

Curiousa & Curiousa's garden lighting in a more contemporary setting
Image courtesy of Curiousa & Curiousa

Garden Lighting – Lanterns

I love the soft flicker of candle light, and feel I can never have enough lanterns. For the most part I put tealights in all sorts of old pots and containers. But if I want to up my game then these Moorish Lanterns from Burford Garden Company are just the ticket. They have a really earthy feel.

Three coloured large lanterns in a Moorish style from Burford Garden Company
Pictures courtesy of Burford Garden Company

I also like the squarer design of their Regency Lantern

A regency style garden lantern in red

Both styles of lantern are available in red, blue or green. I see that the product details describe them as distressed. That would definitely suit my style (most things in the F-W household look pretty distressed!) Seriously though, they come with a chain; so you can perhaps hang them up from a tree branch or from a lantern stand. Alternatively you could just have them on a surface or on the ground. Positioned either side of a gate, they’d be a lovely way to welcome guests.

Lanterns – Battery Powered

Love lanterns but don’t want the faff of candles? These battery powered lanterns from Lights4fun.co.uk are a neat solution.

Garden lighting doesn't need to involve cables or candles. This is a battery powered lantern
Picture Courtesy of Lights4fun.co.uk ©Lights4fun Ltd. 2020 Image Shot by Oliver Perrott

Garden Lighting – Fairy Lights

There are obviously masses of fairy lights which you could go for. However as an insect lover these Firefly LED solar lights also from Lights4fun.co.uk really caught my eye. I love the soft golden light of this string of 20 lights. Some look a bit like fireflies, while the others have sweet little bee or dragonfly shapes. It has a discreet green cable and with an additional 3m lead wire from the solar panel to the first bulb. This means you could wind this string around lots of places – patio containers, pergolas, trellises…you name it! Obviously they won’t perform as well in winter as they do in the summer. But even if they don’t work brilliantly now, they’d be gorgeous for the summer!

a solar powered string of dragonfly and bee shaped lights
Picture Courtesy of Lights4fun.co.uk ©Lights4fun Ltd. 2020 Image Shot by Oliver Perrott

A Festive Festoon!

If you have a fire basket, chimenea – or plenty of hot water bottles – and are going to actually attempt dining outside, you could try to create this alfresco area in your garden. These Garden Trading Festoon Lights look very lovely and would work a treat.

Festoon lighted for creating an alfresco dining area

Even if you’re only going to manage a glass or two of mulled wine out of doors, this would be a great way to quickly create an outdoor entertainment area. The 20 bulbs here are on a string that’s 12.5 metres in length. Above each bulb fitting sits a circular hole so you could clip the bulbs onto hooks, branches or fence screws. 

Or for festoon lighting with a difference how about these Grey Fluted Festoon Lights from Cox & Cox. I think the fluted shape is very effective – they look like dainty dancers – and the smoke grey colour of the shades really softens the light. This festoon comes with a lit length of 4.5m and may be used inside or outside the home.

These festoon lights from Cox & Cox have grey fluted shades, creating a soft garden lighting effect

So that’s it – a few garden lighting ideas to help you give your outdoor space some va va voom. All you need now is your mulled wine, mittens and thermals! Cheers!

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