Having a terrace is a real asset. But in order not to turn those few square meters outside into a wasted and dull space, good lighting is essential. Follow our advice to avoid the 5 most common mistakes and create optimal lighting for your patio.
1. DISREGARD THE FUNCTION OF YOUR PATIO
As for the house, on the terrace, the lighting must be adapted to the activities you are going to carry out there. Is your terrace a dining area, an outdoor lounge area or a play area? Depending on these scenarios, set up the appropriate lighting: a pendant lamp above a dining table, floor lamps for an outdoor living room and ceiling lights for a play area.
2. BRIGHTEN UP YOUR PATIO
The terrace must remain a convivial space. So do not overdose the lighting at the risk of obtaining an icy atmosphere! So, avoid spotlights or any dazzling lights. Conversely, to create a beautiful atmosphere, prefer indirect or semi-direct lighting.
3. NEGLECTING THE MOOD LIGHTING OF THE TERRACE
Certainly, general lighting is useful on your patio. But as with a living room, mood and accent lighting is welcome to enhance the space. Vary the type of light fixtures to get rewarding lighting on your terrace with outdoor lamps and spotlights for example.
4. BE SATISFIED WITH A SINGLE LIGHT POINT OUTSIDE
As for the interior of the house, vary the lighting on the terrace. Ground spotlights, wall lights, streetlights provide lively lighting and adapt the light output according to the atmospheres you are looking for.
5. MAKE THE WRONG LIGHT INTENSITY
To be pleasant, the terrace must be sufficiently illuminated. Be sure to use the correct number of lumens depending on the area to be illuminated. Choose luminaires with good diffusion, in particular glass.
6. WHICH OUTDOOR LAMPS TO CHOOSE FOR A PATIO?
To illuminate your terrace, play with the original and stylish lighting. They will set the decorative tone of your outdoor space and will also respond to your various outdoor activities. Bohemian style for a dinner or lounge for an aperitif, zoom on the good choices of lamps.
Lamps suitable for use on the terrace
You don’t light your terrace in the same way for a dinner or an aperitif. As with the interior, for a well-lit dinner, you need overhead lighting. For example, hang solar suspensions on your parasol for a very cozy atmosphere or run a garland. If you have sconces on the walls, choose sconces with direct lighting. For an aperitif with friends, prefer lamps and outdoor floor lamps to ask for a very soft lighting.
Lamps to add style to your patio
The lights are your allies to give a style to your space. Recreate the bohemian atmosphere of a tavern with colored garlands and colorful lanterns. For a retro feel, opt for wall lights that will give your patio a timeless country look. Finally, if you want to give a design boost to your outdoor space, then opt for polyethylene table lamps and LED lamps in changing colors which provide a designer lounge atmosphere.
FOCUS: polyethylene for designer garden lamps
Outdoor lamps with molded shapes, seamless, design, durable, unbreakable and emitting a diffused and soft light, a utopia? No, polyethylene, the proof by 3!
Innovative lighting
Polyethylene invades our gardens to offer contemporary and innovative lighting. Lightweight, resistant, waterproof, the material supports creativity to transform the look of our exteriors and propel our gardens into a new decorative era.
Easy-going luminaires
Flexible, light and recyclable, polyethylene makes it possible to design lighting differently. The garden light is no longer frozen, it is mobile because it is easily transportable, in particular thanks to long power cables or batteries for more autonomy.
A diffused and soft
light These luminaires become strong decorative elements like real light sculptures. The lamp becomes the decor and adopts new shapes, it is the entire polyethylene shape that becomes a diffuser to emit a soft light, white or colored.
Easy-going lamps and decorative lighting sources
Finally, for a well-lit terrace, it is necessary to add additional lighting. LED spotlights to be recessed into the ground for example, clever lamps such as solar lamps and decorative portable lamps . These nomadic and autonomous lamps are rechargeable on rechargeable batteries or equipped with a long power cable, which allows you to move them at will. In record time, they transform the lighting of your patio by providing additional light sources.
7. CHOOSE THE RIGHT WALL LIGHT FOR YOUR TERRACE
Plated, suspended, with arms or half-wall, there are a multitude of exterior wall lights with very different luminous renderings and lighting. Almost essential for lighting an outdoor terrace, several criteria must be taken into account to choose the wall lamp suited to your space.
A wall light to add style to your patio
Do not underestimate the decorative power of your wall light. This luminaire is a capital element to give a tone and style to your terrace. For a retro design decor, choose charming rust-finish metal wall lights, a symbol of farm buildings, or even more industrial-look wall lights for an “exterior of a Provencal house” spirit.
To transform your terrace into a design space, opt instead for stylish wall lights with clean shapes in stainless steel or black metal.
The right wall light according to the use of your terrace
The shape of the wall light is decisive on the rendering of the luminous flux. For a terrace reserved for alfresco dining, plan wall lights with direct lighting and therefore suspended. This type of wall lamp diffuses a very practical overhead lighting to illuminate a dining table, while offering good power and good light distribution. For a more intimate feel and mood lighting, prefer plated wall lights. With their opal diffuser, they generate very soft lighting, perfect for a lounge terrace…
The right outdoor wall light according to the desired lighting
For general lighting, opt for wall lights with good light diffusion. They provide powerful lighting thanks to their 23-watt energy-saving bulbs and white reflectors. For decorative lighting, choose wall lights with very graphic light rendering such as mixed wall lights which offer a luminous flux concentrated downwards and upwards, thus enlivening your walls with designer light spectra.
Finally, do not forget to choose wall lights with a protection index suitable for outdoor use: IP44!