Yesterday I got an email asking for ideas on decorating your patio with string patio lights and and patio party lights. The writer was just graduated from law school and was in a very nice, brand new home with her husband. She was going to have a deck party and invite 20 friends over for a social occasion. I told her not to worry, today my best patio lights blog would offer a few tips to set the perfect mood for an evening get together outdoors.
My first thought is to illuminate the dark corners near the home and in the yard – well at least the ones that are near the area where people will be hanging out, talking, eating, and drinking. I recommend illuminating the super dark corners with solar landscaping lights where soil or rocks/earth are available for driving stakes into the ground. This will be the area at the edge where your patio meets the grass.
In the corners near the concrete, use solar patio lights and reflect them up towards the home. It would be great if you can have these be built in to the patio. Obviously, my emailer did not have the time to do this, but certainly worth a thought for later.
Around the patio tables, I recommend using soft patio umbrella string lights to wrap in and around the patio tables and the deck railings if available. I would go with traditional soft white patio lights and not get fancy because yellow and blue colors can turn south in a hurry.
And this is all the lighting you’re going to need for your basic outdoor party for 20 people. For a bigger event, I’d go with flood halogen lights and error on the side of being bright but 20 people still falls on the side of an intimate setting so you want to make sure not to kill the mood and atmosphere.