Summerhouse Lighting Ideas to Brighten Your Space

As with your home, office or shed, numerous lighting methods can be utilised to add different amounts of light, hue and even style to your space.

In the following article, I explore the various summer house lighting ideas and inspiration available.

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The types of summerhouse lighting that you can choose from will very much depend on whether you have an electricity supply to it.

Although not essential, having electricity will certainly increase the options and designs available to you for your summer house lighting ideas. Not only that, you will also have the luxury of being able to charge your phone, play music or even install a small fridge for a chilled drink on hot summer days and nights!

How to Light a Summer House Without Electricity

If you do not have electricity installed, here are some options that I recommend for your summer house...

Invest in Solar Panels for Your Summer House

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If you are looking at the long term and are an advocate of renewable energy, solar panels are a great option for generating the electricity that you need to power your summerhouse.

There is no getting away from the fact that the cost of installing solar panels is not a cheap option, but as a long-term investment, you may be surprised at the cost savings and the obvious benefit to the planet using solar power, albeit a small gesture in the whole scheme of things.

Be aware though that they cannot simply be fit and forgotten about, cleaning and maintenance of solar panels is very important to keep them fully optimised.

Add Skylights to Your Summer House

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Natural light from skylights or sliding glass doors is an obvious win-win. No ongoing costs of electricity or replacing batteries, and better ambient lighting to read, work or relax in.

As a bonus, skylights also serve to aid airflow within your garden room, negating the need for having to leave a door open constantly.

The downside to only having a natural light source is that, although there is plenty during the summer months, in winter the daylight is more limited. So, when it comes to summer houses, an additional lighting method will inevitably be needed by late afternoon.

Use Battery Powered Lights

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Battery powered lights used to be very standard in design, function and only have poor battery life. These days you can find pretty much any type of battery lights, from fairy lights and pendant lights to hanging stars and candles.

As long as you buy the correct ones, battery-powered lights can also be used both inside and out, so you are not restricted to just lighting the interior of your summer house.

The only problem with batteries, as we all know so well, is that they have to constantly be replaced! Therefore, there is always a possibility that your summer house may get plunged into darkness without warning!

With this in mind, my next selection may be the perfect compromise between solar panels and battery-operated lights for your summer house...

Fit Solar Lights to Summer Houses

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These solar lights are great for any summer house lighting, shed or other garden building space. As they have a small dedicated solar panel to collect sunlight, they can be used both indoors and outdoors and don't need any expert fitting. They also come with a handy remote control for even the most lazy among us!

The LED bulbs used in these solar power lights are energy efficient and, as they are LED bulbs, the brightness and lighting modes can be altered using a remote.

Create Mood Lighting With Candles

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Using candles or tea lights for your summer house lighting is perfect for creating a relaxed feel and atmosphere in the evenings, or to generate a beautiful romantic ambience to share with a loved one.

Although candles are great for creating a soft diffused light, they are not good for reading, crosswords or knitting.

Even if you add many candles at different heights and of differing sizes, it will create a beautiful warm light, but you still won't have a comfortable ambient light.

Summer House Lighting Ideas for Electric

If you already have a mains electricity supply to your summer house, you are already a step ahead and can go straight onto our lighting ideas. If not don't worry, adding an electric cable is certainly something that can be done with a bit of planning, expert help and advice.

Here is some useful information I found on installing an electricity cable to your garden building.

I strongly advise that you always seek professional help before undertaking anything electrical yourself, especially when it is for use outdoors. Much better to be safe than sorry.

Outdoor Wall Lights

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Outdoor wall lights fitted to the front and/or sides of your summerhouse create a beautiful evening atmosphere around your garden room and help you to find it after a few drinks, in the dark!

There are many functional and decorative outdoor wall lights to choose from, regardless of whether you require uplighters, downlighters or directional lighting.

Just make sure that whatever summer house lighting you choose, they are fully waterproof and suited for outdoor use.

Summerhouse Ceiling Lights

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Ceiling lights often do the bulk of the work when it comes to garden room lighting, whether that be inside or outside, so it is important to choose the right brightness capability and the best size for your summer house.

There is no point in having a large chandelier for a pokey small garden room, or a single ceiling downlighter for a large summerhouse.

Some of the various options available for ceiling lighting are spotlights, pendants, chandeliers, recessed downlights and flush to the ceiling light fittings.

Accessorise Your Summer House With String Lights

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Most fairy lights that you can buy today are suitable for both indoor and outdoor use, so feel free to not only have them inside your summerhouse or garden room but also on the external faces.

They will not only cast a subtle magical light on your space but will also be the perfect backdrop on a warm summer evening with friends and family.

Some great summer house uses for string or fairy lights, due to their flexible nature, are framing a window, wrapping around ceiling beams, attaching to a mirror frame or creating a feature light wall.

Don't Forget the Garden Lights!

Outdoor lights for garden lighting can often make or break the overall ambience and feel of your whole outdoor space. The days of just adding a couple of staked solar-powered lights and hoping that will do are long gone.

Here are some of our favourite garden light ideas for the outside of your summer house...

Maihaha 32X1W LED Garden String Lights (electric)

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Using these Maihaha Festoon string lights in your lighting scheme will create a warm and romantic atmosphere that will help you and your friends feel cosy and relaxed. They have specially designed dual ring hanging hooks that can hang onto a wall, fence, railing, patio or porch

WdtPro 6pk Solar LED Patio Lights

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These LED solar-powered lights are great outdoor ornaments for your garden, the unique hollow-carved design creates a beautiful decorative lighting pattern on the ground at night, with their warm white light.

50 Solar LED Bee String Lights

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Being waterproof, these string bee LED lights are perfect for outdoor use, easy to use and have 8 mode settings; combination, wave, sequential, slow-glow, chasing/flash, slow fade, twinkle and static, bringing you a mixture of visual enjoyment.

Sunnow 3pk Hanging Mason Jar Solar Lights

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Another great solar-powered option for a subtle outdoor lighting effect outside your summer house is these beautiful internally lit mason jars.

Once the solar panel on the lid has charged the batteries and night arrives, the automatic sensor of the LED lights will automatically illuminate the jar.

Simple to use and hands-off for you!

15m Mains Powered Hanging Bistro Lights

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These Bistro hanging lights are perfect for creating an atmosphere in any garden or summer house, especially lined up to create an entranceway to your summerhouse. You can also easily extend them by up to 20 strands, by using the handy end-to-end connectors.

My Final Thoughts

These summer house lighting ideas for your garden building are a very important part of your lighting scheme, as without them, you may just end up with a glorified shed! Not the cosy, interesting or atmospheric summer house that you are after.

Whether you have an electric supply to your garden house or not, there is a wealth of summerhouse lighting ideas that can be used to light both the inside and outside of your space.

Feel free to mix and match any of the summer house lighting ideas that I have collated and the products that have been recommended for you, to create the perfect place of escape for you and your family.