Deck Lighting
This photo shows our current post cap lights
I found myself fantasizing about putting up the Halloween decorations this past weekend – and it isn’t even August yet.
As I’ve written about several times this summer, everything seems at least a month ahead of schedule this year with all of the warm weather we had in the spring that turned blistering hot at the end of June, it really feels like it should be the end of August already.
The oak trees dropping their leaves all over the Party Deck, which makes it look like fall, doesn’t help either.
It is only mid-July and our 100 degree weather has returned, but I am looking forward to cooler temps in the next couple of months, which means more time spent on the deck. It’s even too hot and humid to sit out there for very long at night.
I love the ambiance of outdoor lighting. In the city, we were one of the first houses on the block to put out landscaping lights and our first full summer living here full time, in 2008, we put these lights up on the deck rails.
Like the electric ones we put up in the city, these solar ones also had a limited life and we’re now looking to replace them.
We also put up some solar step lighting that have lasted, so we purchased some more of those this past weekend to go on the stairs at The Belle Writer’s Studio. When the days shorten, I’m often coming in before the sun rises and leaving after the sun sets and with two books in the works, I’m sure that will be the case this fall and winter.
Having that extra lighting on the stairs will help.
New Post Cap Solar Lights from DecksDirect.com
I found these deck lights online yesterday and plan on replacing the cheaper plastic ones we installed in 2008 with stained glass solar lighting. Hopefully, they will last a bit longer.
Any suggestions on outdoor solar deck lights? We do not want to have to wire electric.
What a cool idea. We've had solar lighting before outside and it didn't end up being as bright as regular lighting. What are your thoughts on that?
No, it's not bright, you're right, Kristen. But we don't need a bright light shining. I just need something along the stairs to help with the flashlight and also so I can find my keys. If it's bright lights you need, i don't think solar is the way to go.
Interested to hear about how your new lights work out, Kerri. My wife and I are stripping and painting our front porch when the weather gets more reasonable and she wants to get a few of those.
I will follow up, Mat, when we get them ordered and installed.
We used to have those solar ones that you shove into the ground. We thought that they would help people back out of our very long driveway (previous house) and not get mired in our yard. Instead people just drove over the lights.
I haven't thought about replacing them. I've just gotten used to a dark yard.
Backing over them? Wow.
Love the Craftsman-style stained glass. They will look fab.
Thanks, Melanie!
I love the look of outdoor lighting; there's something about it that makes a house so inviting. Unfortunately, it's been too humid lately to sit outside much at night.
I love it too, Sheryl. It is been way too hot here to do anything outside, even at night.
We've had our solar lights around the landscaping for a long time. Once in a while we have to replace the little "storage" batteries, but they've lasted really well otherwise. We bought them at a garage sale in a fancy neighborhood near us, so I'm not sure where the originated.
I think one of the mistakes we made was not replacing the batteries as they went out, Roxanne. I think they became gunky in there and now the lights will not work.
Holy smokes! I was going to ask if that's a real spider in the photo, but I see a web so it must be…? Ok, trying to focus on the lighting…
I love the look of those solar caps — really beautiful. I don't have a deck (it's in my dream list of things I'll do to the house when I win the lottery), but I would definitely install those on a deck.
LOL, I wondered if anyone would say anything about our little friend!
I took this photo a couple of years ago, so spidey is long gone. Hopefully, you'll get to build your deck soon, Jane. They are so very nice.
Those lights are charming. There's no deck sitting here in the fall, so I won't be purchasing them, but i do like the way they look.
Thanks, Heather.
I must admit to being too scared of ticks to sit outside for long. Those new caps solar lights are beautiful We don't have a deck I could use them on, but I would try to get some if we did.
Maybe you should consider building a deck, Alexandra. They make it really nice, the only thing you have to worry about then are the flying bugs.
We now buy outdoor solar lighting that we view as disposable. $1.50 each and they last a season. We were buying more expensive ones and they lasted just as long.
That's what I'm afraid of with these, Brette. We shall see.
These are charming. I'm going to check out the price. Might work on my deck!
They are a little pricey, Irene. I hope they work out for you!
My late partner was a lighting designer by trade, and had a degree in landscape architecture, so landscape lighting was always his specialty. Our yard benefitted greatly–but, yes, all of it is electric (the solar ones will never quite achieve the same intensity, especially with all the grey skies we get in Ohio in the winter). My biggest challenge since he died has been to figure out which BULB is which, though, when they go out. These lights make for excellent and inexpensive security, too, by the way–compared to a dark property, I like the mission style end caps on the deck rail, though.…same style as the globes I had in the ceiling fan fixture in my former massage studio (which Fred found for me).n
You were very lucky to have a person with such expertise design the lighting for your home, Benjamin. I would imagine it would take a bit of figuring out now that you don't have him to assist anymore. Thanks for your comments.
The lights you have chosen are beautiful! I don't have lights on my deck, yet, because we don't live there full time and have a theft problem. I do use them inside the windows to make it look like someone has just ran an errand and has left a light on inside. They glow nicely behind the curtains and make the cabin look lived in.
That's a great idea, Carol! We never had a problem with people breaking in up here (thankfully), but they did have problems with that at the end of our road toward the point on the lake. We didn't install the lights until we moved here full time, though.
Kerri — I have no comments on your solar deck lights, but this is a great idea. I just got hired in the resort area where our cabin is, so our move to smaller living happened sooner than later. We need to find a solar solution to outdoor step lighting too — so that when the days get shorter, I'll have an outside light to come home to.
That's fabulous, Sheryl! I'm very happy for your move! Let us know how it is going.