Lighting Your Decks
04/09/2008 Lighting Your Decks
Don't limit your deck lighting scheme to a paltry porch light. Deck lighting should encompass more than just a little bit of necessary illumination. It should make your deck shine!
Depending on the shape and style of your deck you can provide just a few accents, or you can go the whole way with post lights, recessed lighting and broad illumination for the whole area.
Post lights are just what they sound like - lamps or bulbs that fit on or in a post. There are a hundred different designs. Many top a post with a stylish housing that adds the perfect finishing look to your deck. Others are actually embedded into the side or top of the post. Still others may simply attach to the side to provide illumination for the deck area and an illuminated accent to the post.
Recessed lights are similar to what you may have seen in some movie theaters, along each side of the aisle at the base of the seats. They may be placed along the base of posts, or just line a section of the deck where it meets the house. More commonly, they will outline the entire deck to provide both practicality and beauty. There, they can show where the edge of the deck is to prevent accidents and add color and design to the overall look.
Ambient light to cover the surface of the deck and the area above it can be provided in several ways. Even the long-familiar wall sconce or lamp is now far from just a mundane utilitarian device. As they give light, they add style and a certain look to the whole deck area.
Outdoor wall lamps come in every conceivable design, from Victorian to ultra-modern, from a metal shade on a swinging arm to Disney characters. Whatever your desired look to add a touch of elegance or personal style to the deck, there's a wall lamp design available to suit.
Accent lights are similar. But their goal is less to provide overall illumination even when it's also a style element. They use light itself to create the style. Certainly the cover design plays a role in what the final result looks like. But the accent is there to do just that: provide an accent to the house or deck, not to draw attention to itself.
They may be the more-or-less standard indirect, up-the-wall accent of the sort that might just as often be seen indoors. But they can also accent other exterior features. The deck itself might be stained a cedar color, calling for highlights provided by accent lights. Or, accent lights might provide a small spot of illumination to the point at which the post meets the deck or cap. In this way, they can overlap the function of post lights.
Whichever component you choose to implement, and a good deck lighting design can easily incorporate them all, keep a consistent style across all elements. Your deck can be a showplace with a look all its own.
