7 Amazing Ways To Illuminate Your Outdoor Composite Decking

If you are looking for ways to embellish your patio so you can enjoy it to the highest at every time of the year, Brazilian Lumber brings you 7 amazing ideas to illuminate your outdoor composite decking.

You don’t need much money, just a bit of creativity and the wish to enjoy stunning and bright nights outdoors with your loved ones.

Enjoy Your Patio With Our Tips To Add Light

Winter can be an easy excuse to take refuge inside your home and leave the patio of your dreams that you worked so hard to achieve. Nevertheless, cold weather can also be enjoyed outside with a good blanket, a cup of coffee or hot chocolate, a fire pit, and a beautiful illuminated outdoor composite deck.

Clever use of deck lighting means you’ll enjoy your space throughout the year, regardless of the season.

Your decking area is as important as your indoor spaces. That being said, adding lighting  to it is crucial, like the ones you would have inside your home. If you have a decking area, treat this space like another room and use it for entertaining, dining, and relaxing.

Why Composite Decking is A Great Choice

More durability, low maintenance, better workability, and greater resistance to the elements are some benefits of choosing composite decking for your projects, especially outdoor ones. Although there is a fear that composite decking may not be as nice and organic-looking as natural wood, thanks to modern technology, that is no longer an issue. 

Composite decking is the fastest-growing alternative to wood decking on the market. Its major advantage is that it comes in a variety of colors, has an affordable price point, and can easily be installed.

Wood-plastic composite decks, invented around the 1980s, consist of wood fibers coated with plastic. Both the plastic and wood used are often made from recycled materials, making composite decking an environmentally friendly option.  

In addition, this material is free from the pesticides and other harmful chemicals commonly used to create and maintain domestic (pine) wood decking.

That’s why Brazilian Lumber is pleased to share with you all the incredible options we offer as authorized distributors of Trex, Timbertch, Newtech Wood, Norx, Zuri, Azek, Endeck, and For Us Plastic Wood. 

Deck Lighting Ideas

If you already have a decked area, there’s much you can do to refresh its lighting. For inspiration, we’ve compiled the best ways to bring a glow to your decked space. Take a look!

1. Spark up a fire pit for a warming glow.

Fire pits are one of many fantastic deck lighting ideas to illuminate your outdoor composite decking that makes an attractive feature for the garden. It’ll give you extra warmth, allowing you to spend more time outside, and cast a lovely flickering glow.

Some options can also be used for cooking, so if you want to double up, ensure you find the best BBQ for your space.

Perhaps not the brightest light source, but it’s the warmest and is undeniably beautiful! A tall light will make a fabulous feature to any outdoor zone, creating a living room feel.

You can complement the fire pit with additional lightings, like the ones we will show you below. 

2. Hang Festoon lights.

One of the most straightforward deck lighting ideas to illuminate your outdoor composite decking is to hang some festoon lights. Drape them from two anchor points, such as from the boughs of a tree. If you do not have a tree to hang them from, you can always add a pole to your fence in order to reach the height needed to hang lights.

Suppose your decked area is at the bottom of the garden and needs further illumination. In that case, you can introduce it with portable lanterns, candles, and solar-powered decorative lights.

This is a beautiful way to disguise or brighten deck rail ideas. Always an extra!

3. Carry a beautiful lantern everywhere you need it.

You’ll be surprised by how much glow a handled hanging lantern will release. Genuine gas versions are rare, but you can readily pick up solar-powered ones or battery powered versions.

Remember that you can hang the lanterns, too! They’ll look great in a mix of colors and positioned from an overhead pergola at varying heights.

4. Add lights to the underside of a patio umbrella.

If you’re running short of places where you’re going to hang lights – there’s no nearby tree, fence, or another highpoint – this is your lifeboat. 

Every outdoor space can have an umbrella or garden brolly; you can use yours to bring in those extra garden lighting ideas. Wrap exterior lights around its shaft and entwine them through the ribs and stretchers of its canopy.

Solar-powered or battery-operated, these are inexpensive and a great way to introduce lighting wherever you need them.

5. Install permanent downlights.

If your garden has an exterior brick wall – either the back of the house or as a boundary wall you can benefit by using it to mount permanent downlighters.

A professional electrician can install them and provide you with a switch inside your home to operate them.

A great idea is to mount them above a sofa or whatever seat you have against the wall, lighting the area for reading and relaxing as the night draws in. Also, look how pretty it looks!

6. Lighting along the deck edge.

Adding strip lighting or inserting permanent lights to your outdoor composite decking can create a focal point in certain spaces. Deck lighting is the perfect way to finish a decked area and allows for showcasing garden paths and frame zones in your outdoor space. 

They can be inset into the tops of boards, or set into fascia boards to give an impactful finish. And strip lighting can be placed under an overhanging edge; these lights work best when illuminating steps and edges.

7. Hang solar-powered bulbs from trees.

You don’t need to spend a fortune to illuminate your garden beautifully. There are plenty of affordable solar-powered or battery-operated lights available. These hanging solar-powered light bulbs are a fantastic example of an inexpensive deck lighting idea.

Whether in a string of multiple lights or single bulbs, hang them from the boughs of trees, along fence panels, or the struts of a garden pergola. How pretty would these look, hanging off a tree on a winter night?

If you liked the tip about lighting the plants, another good idea is to add push lights into flower pots!

What Is The Best Way To Light A Deck?

You can do plenty of things to light up an outdoor composite deck. 

What’s most important is you think about what you’ll use the decking for and where. Sanel Konyar, the Interior Designer and Founder of Interior Kollection, recommends: “Aim your light carefully. If you wish to create feature lighting, you don’t want the lights directed at eye level. You want to create a welcoming, soft ambiance, not make your guests feel as though they are under a spotlight beam.”

“Low-level lighting is also great to create ambiance and can be used to guide guests along paths and steps. There are a vast array of solar lights that are perfect for this, and can be moved around to suit your needs and layout with ease,” Sanel resumes.

How Bright Should Deck Lights Be?

The beauty of decking lighting is that you can achieve a look that suits your decking needs. 

When deciding how bright your lights should be or what color temperature to choose, check out local recommendations for your environment. For example, if you live near the beach where turtles nest, you should be sure to use red lights with a low visible light spectrum and special fixtures to shield as much light from the beach as possible.

Remember that the more bulbs you have, the brighter the illumination, so think about where you want the light to be positioned – festoon lights will spread light in smaller pockets of glow. In contrast, a spotlight or downlight will direct its glow more precisely.

For subtle, intimate lighting, you can use candles (faux are a great alternative to real flames), lanterns, or even a small fire or chimney. Sources of heat, such as fire pits, heaters, and tabletop fires, allow you to enjoy your garden comfortably when the temperature outside is not ideal. Plus, the flames provide beautiful and warm lighting for those dark evenings.

Play with your imagination and create the outdoor composite decking of your dreams.

Light Up the Night

Create a completely outdoor composite deck with the proper lighting. You can find the best decking lights for decks, porches, and railings in TimberTech and MoistureShield. They offer the perfect selection of complimentary outdoor composite deck lighting options to add ambiance, elegance, and safety to your outdoor environment.

Choose your favorite style and complete your deck design with the glowing ambiance of great lighting!

To sum up, lights for outdoor composite decking provide beautiful and plenty of alternatives suitable for all kinds of budgets.

And last but not least, remember that Brazilian Lumber is a dealer or distributor for many of the best brands. Hence, customers have plenty of options when shopping from us.