Nautical Inspired Lights
From the Inside, Out
Outdoor lighting continues to grow in popularity as homeowners seek to extend their living spaces and reconnect with nature. As beautifully designed, high-quality lighting products become more accessible, it’s easier than ever to create outdoor environments that mirror the comfort and sophistication of interior spaces.
Spending time outdoors enhances well-being and fosters a sense of calm and connection. Whether you have a garden, balcony, terrace, deck, or patio, thoughtful lighting design can elevate your space and make it feel like a true extension of your home.
A seamless transition from indoors to outdoors starts with a layered lighting approach—combining ambient, accent, and task lighting to bring depth, function, and atmosphere. Every outdoor area has unique features and dimensions that can be highlighted with the right designer lighting, creating inviting spaces for relaxation, entertainment, and everyday living.
How to Design an Outdoor Paradise with Lighting
When summer goals include spending evenings lounging in the yard, the incorporation of outdoor lighting will enhance the beauty of the environment. As with indoor spaces, lighting can set the mood. It also has the ability to increase feelings of safety and security. The following recommendations will assist in creating your personal outdoor sanctuary.
- Check for a waterproof rating – When it comes time to select outdoor lighting fixtures like outdoor table lights, it is of utmost importance to look at a fixture’s IP Rating to ensure that its mechanical casings and electrical enclosures will perform against exposure to dust, dirt, and moisture. An IP Rating of IP65 and higher is suitable for outdoor use. For more information on IP Ratings check out the blog post:
- Consider lighting for security and wayfinding – Lighting functions as excellent security feature for your property. It is an effective deterrent of suspicious behaviour. More illumination is not necessarily more effective however; emphasis should be on placement. One approach, for instance, is to illuminate darker pockets of space. In terms of wayfinding, task lighting in the form of bollards can be used to illuminate pathways and steps to ensure safe passage from one site to another. Tech Lighting’s Revel 42in Bollard Outdoor fixture uses a soft, ambient glow to illuminate landscaping and is task-applicable for wayfinding on paths. Outdoor floor lights are also a great way to illuminate your garden or terrace.
- Highlighting the best features – As with interior spaces, emphasis can be placed on an outdoor environment’s best features, creating beautiful focal points. Whether it’s the exterior of your home or the surrounding property, architectural features or a particular tree or flowerbed, seating nook or water feature, accent lighting can be used to draw the viewer’s gaze. The Torcia Double Head Outdoor Floor lamp by Matteo Ugolini for Karman provides two adjustable spotlights that can be conveniently positioned to highlight multiple features in your outdoor environment.
- Laying down the plan – The process of laying down the plan starts with creating a rough sketch of your outdoor environment. Pencil in the placement of fixtures where additional light is desired for ambience, and safety, tasks such as wayfinding and accent feature highlighting purposes. Tag each one for each purpose. Ensure that you consider the environment from every possible viewing angle. Outdoor lighting can impact the atmosphere of adjacent interior spaces. Think quality over quantity of lighting.
- Selecting the fixtures – It is important to coordinate the lighting with the surrounding visual elements when choosing their style. If the outdoor furniture is contemporary or minimalist in design, a contemporary or minimalist fixture would be appropriate. If the outdoor elements incorporate the use of old barn wood, a more traditional fixture would work, nautical themes also have coordinating fixtures to compliment them.
When you are ready to purchase your outdoor lighting fixtures, LightForm’s knowledgeable staff will be ready to assist! Looking to illuminate your outdoor space in a hurry? Shop our collection of quick ship outdoor lighting.
Curious to learn more about outdoor lighting? Here are some of our more popular blog posts:
Staff Picks: Our Favourite Outdoor Lights
How to Elevate Your Outdoor Living Space with Outdoor Lighting