Lighting Ideas

You can get solar lamps for your lawn and garden in all sorts of shapes and colors these days. If you’re looking for something fun and whimsical, these tulip lights from Amazon are cute.

“These unique blooms are lovely by day and dazzling at night. The bright solar powered LED lights twinkle in a random pattern in the dark.”

Each tulip “bulb” is anchored to the durable hand painted poly resin stone on the bottom, and they have bendable stems, so you can arrange them as you wish. They can be used along a fence or a garden walkway or you could even put them on a table as a centerpiece.

The 5-tulip lamp is $35:

Decorative Garden Tulip Solar Lights

All sorts of solar lights have been coming on the market in the last couple of years, and these dragonflies are no exception. More for fun than anything else, they could be a nice addition along your pathway, pool deck, patio, etc. If you entertain in the summers, and parties extend into the evening hours, your guests will enjoy their whimsical pressence lighting the way. The little shadows it casts are pretty cool too.

$20 gets you one easy-to-install lamp (it looks like you just stake it into the ground) from Amazon:

Solar Dragonfly Luminary

I love solar-powered lighting, both because it’s environmentally friendly (no electricity required here!) and easy to install–wiring, what wiring? But I must admit I usually see outdoor lighting that is solar powered. This little Sun Jar can sit on a window ledge in your home though.

“Have it sit in the sun during the day and see it radiate at night. All made possible by modern technology – some LED’s, a solar panel and some ingenious thinking….This is a wonderful effect and the sandblasted glass makes it seem as if it truly emits warm sun light. It is a great little idea for an outdoor summer dinner, where you have the jars scattered around the table, or an evening at the beach where they will provide just the right amount of light, or as garden illumination, just position them at strategic points in your garden or rooftop terrace or balcony – they work equally well in either location.”

You can buy the Sun Jar from Charles & Marie for $44.

I like the idea of solar lighting–anything that uses the sun’s energy for power is okay in my book… and you don’t have to lay any complicated underground wiring for solar lamps either–but there seem to be a lot of… let’s just say… tacky lights on the market this year. Case in point: the solar toadstool.

It’s on sale at Target (not surprising) for $40, and it reminds me a lot of the Smurf houses (though I don’t recall the Smurfs living in glow-in-the-dark domiciles). According to the product description, the lamp is actually supposed to lure toads inside, where they can hang out at night instead of damaging your vegetation. I don’t know… do you gardeners have big toad problems?

Despite its solar claim, the toadstool lamp does require a battery, so keep that in mind if you decide to buy one.

Target

I’ve written about quite a few different solar-powered lamps, but check out these solar-powered pebbles. You could use them to line your walkway or driveway, so they provide some ambient lighting at night. Since all you have to do is pour them where you want them, they’d make a very simple landscaping project, but they sure could add a lot of interest to your yard at night. When fully charged by the sun during the day, they will glow for six hours after dark (I suppose here in Seattle, we might get three or four hours, heh).

Glow-in-the-dark pebbles via EcoFriend

Although solar-powered yard lamps don’t give off as much light as traditional outdoor lighting solutions, it’s hard to beat the convenience of a lamp you don’t have to run wires to, especially in the backyard. If you’re someone who regularly tramps around in the yard after dark, this might be a good choice. The shed light comes with a rechargeable 6 volt/2.5A battery that’s charged by a 3 watt, mono-crystalline solar cell (sounds impressive, doesn’t it?). The light will shine for five hours on a full charge. It’ll cost you $150 from FrontGate.

If your deck is a little dark and scary at night, but you dread the idea of a full scale renovation that includes installing underground cabling to add outdoor lighting, you could easily brighten things up with solar powered deck lights. These caps are designed to fit onto the posts of your existing deck (or they can be incorporated into a new design) without any hassle. Small solar panels on the top of the lights collect the sun’s energy throughout the day, so there’s no need to run wiring to the lamps. When dark comes, they’ll simply light up of their own accord, and provide a soft glow for hours into the night. You can get different styles and colors of lights, so you can find something that fits with your current deck.

http://www.islandpostcap.com/decklights.htm

Looking for some fun and unique outdoor lighting to brighten your yard after dark? These solar-powered flowers from HomeClick can illuminate your garden long after the sun has gone down. Small solar panels collect the sun’s energy during the day, and the flowers will put out light for up to 8 hours at night. The “Day Lily” is the flower in the picture here, but the company offers several flowers: a Poinsettia, a Sunflower, a Rose, and a few others, all of which glow brightly after dark. The price is $23 per flower.

Solar Night Industries Solar Night Day Lilly

Every time I look at lighting on the web, I find more solar-powered lights I haven’t seen before (or even thought to look for). It seems like every type of outdoor lamp you can imagine (including some you can’t; see the floating solar crocodile light I talked about last week) is available in a solar version now. It’s hard to complain. Not only is solar power better for the environment, but it means you just stick the lamps into the ground. There’s no complicated underground wiring required. Available from Alsto for $40, this 2-piece set of solar tiki torches is sure to bring a little bit of the islands to your next backyard party.

Alsto

I think this floating solar crocodile light falls into the “just when you thought you’d seen everything…” category. I’m not sure where the solar cells are on that scaly head, but somehow it sucks in the sun’s energy throughout the day, and then at night, the eyes light up. Now, I doubt this would provide enough light to entertain by, or even to keep from stubbing your toe walking down a garden path after dark, but it sure could scare the heck out of your party goers. Let it float in your pool or pond and just wait to hear the startled screams…

The price for the crocodile light is $50 at the OnlineDiscountMart.

via Tabulas