Creating an inviting outdoor oasis was once a major challenge with the small scope of products available on the market. Yet these days, outdoor decorating is just as fun as curating a thoughtful and beautiful space indoors! Weather-resistant fabrics have come leaps and bounds throughout the past decade, and now, we’re able to craft outdoor dining rooms, living rooms, and lounge areas fit for any high design interior space.
Outdoor lighting in particular has seen a major refresh in the last few seasons, making it a cinch to pull together a space that can be enjoyed all day and all night, too. Whether you’re looking to create a reading nook under the stars, or you plan to host a Memorial Day cookout for the entire neighborhood, these ambient lighting ideas will have you experiencing creative light bulb moments all season long.
The concept of creating an intimate space in an outdoor room that’s as “tall” as the earth’s atmosphere may seem daunting, but it’s easy to create that cozy effect with clever lighting. Try stringing globe lights in an overlapping pattern across the top of the space to bring the “ceiling” down to a more manageable height. Lining the perimeter of the outdoor space with lanterns and flickering candles finishes the seasonal room off in romantic style.
If you once thought that a hanging chandelier was another decorative lighting feature destined to be “indoors only,” we challenge you to think again! Hanging a lantern above your outdoor eating or seating area is a surefire way of adding customized character to your deck or patio, and is perfectly safe for outdoor living thanks to solar powered capabilities. Supplement your chandelier with additional string lights to create a highly functioning outdoor lighting system guaranteed to light the way to a good time with friends and family.
As we all know, seasonal entertaining isn’t always at home. So what do you do when you have a sunset picnic planned and no way of installing a permanent lighting system to keep the dark at bay? Consider stowing a few strands of LED string lights plus a transformer into your picnic basket. These portable lights can be draped over a tree branch or laid around the perimeter of your picnic blanket for functional and pretty ambiance in a flash. And if that’s not quite enough, toss one or two charged rock shaped LED solar-powered floor lamps into your basket just before heading out the door for extra lighting come sunset!
For more inspiration, visit the IKEA Spring brochure.
via BHG Style Spotters