Stylish Ways to Light Your Deck

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Types of Fixtures

The most popular types of deck lighting and areas to illuminate include:

• Steps: The best fixtures include surface mounts, flush mounts, path lights and weatherproof LED strip lights.
• Well, Spot or Uplights: These can be used to illuminate paths, create drama by highlighting plant forms, etc. 
• Downlights: Designed to be anchored to walls, eaves, patio roofs or trees.
• Balusters: Illuminated balusters for railings (balustrades) that are designed to replace existing balusters or be installed during new deck construction.
• Post caps and rail lights: Decorative lighting fixtures that can be attached to posts or rails.

Style

While most landscape lighting is contemporary and works with a variety of architectural styles, specialty fixtures are available for certain types, like colonial, craftsman, mediterranean, and mid-century modern. When it comes to lighting, resist the urge to go for an eclectic look, unless it reflects the character of your home's interior and exterior.

Inspiration

We've found a diverse selection of deck lighting designs and solutions to hopefully spark ideas for your own project.

1. Spa Deck

Architect Nick Leigh-Smith designed an ipe wood deck and surround for a London client's existing spa. Located on the fifth floor of a residential building in the Clerkenwell district, the space was built for entertaining and includes perimeter seating, an outdoor kitchen, a shower, two bars and a dance floor. As for the recessed lighting: it's waterproof LED tape, which is sold in strips in various lengths and can be cut to fit.

2. Linear Lighting

Chicago-based dSpace Studio, an architecture, landscape and design ​firm, created illuminated risers for the deck of a residential client by attaching sandblasted frosted plexiglass with a linear cold cathode light fixture. The riser was painted white to diffuse the light evenly. The planter lights are stake lights by SPJ Lighting Inc. While not LED, cold cathode is energy efficient and has a long lamp life.

3. A Stream Runs Through It

Author and landscape designer Janine Mendel of the Australian firm CultivArt recessed miniature white LEDs under this wooden bridge/deck to illuminate the stream and river stones. She recommends using warm instead of cool white lights for outdoor spaces.

4. Wicker Park

Designers like a challenge and can get really creative with urban spaces. Case in point: this rooftop garden is on top of a garage in Chicago's Wicker Park/Bucktown district. Using cedar, steel and frosted acrylic panels, Reveal Design LLC constructed a pergola with a green (living) roof which has a built-in irrigation system. The owners can view their illuminated rooftop deck from indoors and can control the low-voltage FX Luminaire LED lighting with their smartphones.

5. Al Fresco Dining

The goal: to provide intimacy to the dining space of a deck at a beach cottage in Portland, Maine without building a roof, which would block out the sky at night and sun during the day. The simple solution: Whitten Architects artfully drape Vintage Light Strings from Restoration Hardware over stainless steel cables that stretch over the deck.  

6. Adding Security and Safety

The owners of this Omaha, Nebraska home hired McKay Landscape Lighting to illuminate their front and back yards for increased safety and security. Steep outdoor steps with five areas allowing access to and from the deck called for well-designed lighting to ensure safe passage. Surface mounts were placed on the risers, right beneath the treads.

7. Sunken Deck

San Francisco Bay Area landscape design firm GrowsGreen created an outdoor space that comes alive at night, thanks to warm wood decking, low-mounted lights, landscaping lighting and fun string lights that swing from the fence to the two palm trees and over the sunken, lower-level deck.

8. Narrow Deck

Bruns Architecture illuminated the narrow terrace deck of this Milwaukee, Wisconsin home by ​recessing canister lights into the soffit/roof plane. By placing the lights discretely under the eaves, the deck is illuminated without leaking lighting into the night sky. 

9. Modern Elegance

David Schuck of Karen Garlanger Designs in St. Joseph, Michigan built this modern deck with planters using Fiberon Horizon Decking in ipe. The evenly spaced round exterior stair lights are 2-inch LEDs, which give the space a clean, contemporary look.

10. Rooftop Garden

In a narrow space where ipe decking meets sandstone pavers, R ​Design used in-floor lighting for a clean, subtle effect. This rooftop home and garden are located in the foothill city of Boulder, Colorado.

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