Outdoor Lighting: Designing Paradise in Your Own Backyard

Exterior Lighting Plans are a Breeze with LightForm

As a winter-and-pandemic-beleaguered populace begins to feel the warmth of oncoming spring and the freedom to enjoy small gatherings in the open air, people throughout the Northern Hemisphere are spending more and more of their leisure time outdoors. This, then, has sparked a fervour for new and renovated outdoor patios, terraces, and garden installations with a heightened attention to aesthetics, function, and comfort.

Whether you’re lighting a deck, patio, garden, or forsaken hellmouth during a ceremony on the autumnal equinox intended to raise eldritch beings from the void to devour the souls of the living, LightForm is here to help! Pictured: Cri Cri from Foscarini

The fact is that, in the past, residential outdoor lighting plans have often foregone designer lighting in favour of purely utilitarian fixtures, owing to the fact that one’s guests often spend the bulk of their time in the dining, sitting, and powder rooms rather than outside.

Now, however, the patio, the deck, and the terrace are taking over the functions these rooms serve (except, one hopes, for the powder room). As such, homeowners and designers have begun to search for outdoor lighting designs that suit their stylistic and functional needs as perfectly as the luminaires they’ve already welcomed into their homes.

We’ve explored our extensive selection of outdoor lighting fixtures and portable lamps to curate this list of eye-catching outdoor and wet-rated luminaires for your convenience and consideration.

Hipatia from a by arturo alvarez

Hipatia portable outdoor floor light from a by arturo alvarez brings an elegantly rustic tone to a veranda

The soul of Hipatia portable table lamp from a by arturo alvarez is the meticulous detail of its subtly conical shade. Named for Hypatia, a fifth-century teacher, philosopher, mathematician, and astronomer whose intellect and beauty were equally celebrated by her contemporaries, Hipatia has a light, almost ethereal presence born of mathematical precision.

Constructed of stainless steel mesh for durability and ease in cleaning, the shade is ridged through dozens of precise folds running from its handle to its base. These ridges add a rich, organic effect through the linear shadows produced along Hipatia’s exterior. The square angles of the handle contribute to its sturdiness, allowing Hipatia to be used for hanging applications, while the USB-rechargeable battery and integrated dimmable LED lamping in the base give it enough weight to sit solidly in place on an outdoor tabletop.

Hipatia is a durable, versatile exterior-rated portable luminaire

Bonbori from Brokis

Bonbori outdoor floor light makes a rich, luxurious addition to exterior gathering spaces

Designed by Fumie Shibata, the Bonbori family of lights won an Elle Deco International Design Award for lighting in 2021–a definite sign of encouragement for Czech luxury lighting brand Brokis, given that it included their first step into the world of outdoor lighting.

The Bonbori collection pays tribute to the Japanese paper lanterns of the same name that traditionally light outdoor paths to shrines and temples during harvest festivals. Also available in indoor table and floor typologies, Bonbori outdoor floor light is IP54 rated and designed for underground wiring, providing your garden, terrace, or walkway with a clean, uncluttered appearance.

Bonbori: traditional presence through a contemporary lens

Bonbori’s stainless steel column features an environmentally-friendly weather-resistant powder coating. The LED light source within this column casts a gentle glow through an inner diffuser, which then flows through laser-cut openings to illuminate the plump hand-blown glass outer diffuser. The light source is easily removable for your convenience, although it has been designed to withstand sub-zero temperatures. For maximum ease of maintenance, Brokis recommends either the Opaline or Triplex Opal outer diffuser options for outdoor installations of Bonbori’s unique and festive presence.

Circ Outdoor Family from Estiluz

Gently ethereal, the Circ family of
lights offers warmth and comfort.

The Circ family of outdoor lights is defined by the intimate, comforting atmosphere it creates. Each Circ outdoor light features a warmly glowing sphere of light, flattened on one side and contrasted with cool metal. This simple, abstract relationship creates character and charisma in all of Circ’s marvellously cozy forms.

Enjoy the dramatic lines of the Circ outdoor floor light, which offers a circular tabletop pierced by one of its supports alongside the signature illuminated sphere, or the staid and dignified warmth of Circ outdoor wall sconce with its encircling hoop. Circ outdoor table lights are perfect for an intimate outdoor dining experience, but also feature rechargeable batteries for glow on the go. And there’s even a Circ that adopts a metal hook along with this battery technology to allow you to hang Circ’s warm and luxurious shape anywhere you like.

An outdoor café with Circ M-3726X-M and Circ M-3727X-M portable outdoor table lamps

The vitality, gentleness, and warmth of the Circ family of outdoor lights, paired with their extreme versatility, make them a natural addition to classic and contemporary wet and outdoor lighting plans, whether intended for a vast, brick patio, a small, cozy garden, or a luxurious master bathroom.

Left: Circ A-3722X-W outdoor wall sconce lights a line of bicycles.Right: Circ M-3725X-W outdoor lamp table in a cozy garden nook.

Don’t Touch from Karman

Vital and intriguing, Don’t Touch from Karman has a character entirely its own

Karman head designer Matteo Ugolini devised the ironically-named Don’t Touch outdoor floor light to have an enticing tactile allure. Evoking slender reeds swaying in water, Don’t Touch is a bold and vivacious decorative floor light perfect for use pool-side or along a garden wall, or as a striking statement piece on a restaurant patio, dividing space from space.

Don’t Touch begins as a techno polymer base, from which emerges a forest of round PVC stalks. A warm integrated LED shines up and outwards from the centre of the base, reflecting along and between the stalks to escape in a battle of light and shadow. The direct upwards light can be used as a wall wash–a visual triumph of Don’t Touch’s inner light–or, if you prefer, the included silicone O-ring accessory can be used to bind the PVC stalks at the top, restricting direct light but intensifying the reflections that escape the sides.

Simple details are what gives Don’t Touch its breathtaking presence

Resembling solid rays emerging from a pool of light, this lively and charismatic floor light makes an exciting addition to contemporary exterior lighting plans. By uniting the artificial and the organic in a glorious expression of life, Karman and Matteo Ugolini have created a breathtaking and joyful luminaire in Don’t Touch.

Let’s pause for a moment to reflect upon this depiction of Don’t Touch outdoor floor light,
a paradigmatic example of Karman’s signature whimsical-yet-terrifying images.

Cestita Alubat from Santa & Cole

Rain or shine, Cestita Alubat outdoor table light from Santa & Cole adds a touch of friendly elegance

Originally designed by Miguel Milá in 1962, Cestita swiftly became an international icon–and a paradigm in Spanish lighting design. An entire family of lights joined Cestita (and its larger sibling, Cesta) and, in 2020, Milá once again expanded the family with Cestita Alubat outdoor table light from Santa & Cole, completing a journey that had long been anticipated.

Combining a warm, softly rounded opal diffuser with a simple natural wood frame, Cestita was inspired by the traditional lanterns that illuminated rural estates, open terraces, and the Spanish coastline. And yet, no member of the Cesta family was rated for outdoor lighting use in such open environments… until Cestita Alubat.

By combining a polyethylene diffuser with a new structure of aluminium that nonetheless honours the wooden original’s simple and organic lines, Milá has created a Cestita that can withstand the elements and look good doing it. Cestita Alubat embodies the same timeless and essential presence of the Cesta family, but stronger, more durable, and–thanks to a USB-rechargeable battery first integrated in Cestita Bateria–entirely portable. Classic and contemporary at once, Cestita Alubat is the perfect companion for enjoying a glass of sangria in the garden.

Cell Collection from Karman

Cell’s vital, energetic presence is a welcome addition to any exterior application, day or night, floor or pendant

Essentiality lies at the heart of the Cell collection from Karman. Matteo Ugolini drew on the two-thousand-year-old traditional Chinese lantern for inspiration. Although they may not fly in the way that their historic forebears did, this characteristic lightness is well-represented through the negative space created by the enlargement of the framework into an outer structure as it contrasts with the inner cylindrical diffuser. Made of methylcrylate for the outdoor variants, this diffuser offers a soft, pleasant glow that catches the outer framework for a divine visual complexity.

General beauty, meticulous detail.

Cell is a perfect contemporary lighting solution for softening straight visual lines in your patio or terrace’s design scheme with its gently-rounded edges and warm, effusive light. Or use Cell as a subtle wayfinding light along garden paths and walkways.

Available for outdoor use in wide and narrow profiles for both floor and suspension light typologies, the Cell family of lights offer a joyous yet dignified presence to your outdoor lighting plans.

Cell outdoor floor lights from Karman also make marvellous additions to powder rooms and bathrooms.

Drylight Collection from Masiero

Classic style and dignity, innovative materials and applications. Drylight STL6 outdoor floor lights

If the tradition and subtlety found in Cell isn’t your style, you may be glad to find that outdoor entertaining can be opulently gorgeous with Masiero’s revolutionary Drylight collection. Venetian-style chandeliers available as wall, floor, table, and–of course–a range of suspension variants, the Drylight family of outdoor lights is proud, distinctive, and bold in its elegance.

Drylight A2 outdoor wall sconce and Drylight STL6 outdoor floor light

Masiero devoted years of research and development to devising their patented DRYLIGHT® technology. This allows Drylight’s divinely intricate forms to resist not only wind, rain, snow, and hail, but also dust, extreme temperatures, and the discoloration that often accompanies exposure to the sun’s UV rays. This strength and durability also makes the Drylight family of lights ideal for adding class and distinction to wet-rated interior spaces such as bathrooms and powder rooms. The entire Drylight collection is also available in crystal, but it is not recommended to use this material for outdoor applications.

Drylight features integrated LED lighting in either classic white or, for a fun and funky touch, remote-controllable RGBW. Easily installed and low-maintenance, the Drylight family makes a marvelous statement light and a luxurious addition to any home or hospitality lighting plan.

With available remote-controlled RGBW LED lamping, the Drylight collection can be fun, elegant, or both!

Hampton from Original BTC

Outdoor Lighting solutions like Hampton wall sconce and Hampton pendant light also make
perfect luminaires for indoor applications, especially wet-rated spaces like bathrooms.

Acquired by Original BTC in 2010, Davey Lighting had its own long and proud history of producing rugged yet beautiful designer lights. These industrially and nautically inspired lights were a legacy of Davey Lighting’s past as part of Davey & Co., when they supplied British trading vessels with lights and fittings.

Like all Davey Lighting designs, Hampton outdoor pendant light and wall light are sturdy, distinguished luminaires, with simple forms engineered from the finest materials. A hand-blown opal glass diffuser accented with ceramic and weathered brass fittings, Hampton outdoor wall light is a delightfully simple luminaire. Hampton suspension adds a soupçon of complexity to the mix with the addition of a decorative support chain of weathered brass, which points once again to the nautical influence in Davey Lighting’s designs.

As durable as they are elegant, Original BTC’s Hampton outdoor lights add a touch of nostalgic charm to porches, patios, and bathrooms.

Kanpazar from B.lux

A resort courtyard in the Dominican Republic featuring Kanpazar 150 outdoor floor lights.

The lithe, techno-organic form of Kanpazar makes this family of floor lights a bold and confident addition to any outdoor lighting plan. Kanpazar’s simple form suggests luminary topiary, crafted as carefully and skillfully as the forms Alice may have found in the Queen of Hearts’ gardens.

From left to right: Kanpazar 150C (plug-in), Kanpazar 150A (hardwired)/150B (plug-in), and Kanpazar 150D (hardwired)

Teardrop-like in shape, the Kanpazar family was designed by Jon Santacoloma to complement a wide range of decorative styles. The addition of a flower-pot-like base to Kanpazar 150C emphasizes the organic value of its form, while Kanpazar 150D uses a chrome column to lean into the line’s futuristic and technological influences. The Kanpazar line’s abstract form brings it extraordinary versatility, giving it a breathtaking presence whether used to illuminate a porch, a walkway, or as a luminary spacial divider on a restaurant patio.

Kanpazar 150B outdoor floor lights brings a hint of magic to an industrial setting on this port-side patio

Designing an outdoor lighting plan can be a challenge, but the benefits are well worth it. In addition to adding aesthetic beauty and complexity to exteriors, the comfort and well-being you and your guests feel in your skillfully-lit garden or patio will enhance gatherings and soothe the mind during solitary enjoyment. Illuminate your exterior with savings on a wide range of brands during LightForm’s Outdoor Lighting Sale, or contact us for a consultation at one of our offices and showrooms in Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver, Toronto, Winnipeg, and Kelowna.

A handful of the luminaires available up to 25% off for a limited time during LightForm’s Outdoor Lighting Sale

And remember: outdoor lights also make ideal luminaires for wet-rated indoor environments like bathrooms and powder rooms! To learn more about selecting lights suitable for outdoor and wet-rated indoor applications, check out our blog posts on IP ratings and designing your bathroom lighting plan!

Left: Flindt wall and ceiling sconce from Louis Poulsen. Right: In the Tube 100-500 pendant and wall light from DCWéditions

Header image: Calypso SO pendant lights from Contardi