8 Porch Lighting Ideas to Upgrade Your Front Porch

Here's an unwritten outdoor lighting design rule: If you get the porch right, you set the stage for getting an incredibly inviting exterior. But we know the outdoor lighting market is exploding with lighting options. When looking for decorating ideas, it's easy to get caught in a maze of stunning lights and not know which one to use.

When it comes to front porch decorating, this guide includes many front porch lighting ideas that will help you upgrade your front porch and set it apart from your neighbors.

3. Set Candle Lights on the Ground in front of the Porch for Special Occasions

To add some easy DIY charm, this is another winner in drawing a person to the porch without working too hard on your wall lights. They are also great mood setters, especially at night or in gloomy seasons such as winter.

Choose protective options such as glass votive candle holders and make it interesting by incorporating different heights, colors, and styles. If your outdoor space is notorious for attracting bugs, you can buy candle lights with bug-repellent technology.

You'd also benefit from battery-operated candles. They are safer to light and less prone to fire hazards than wicked candles. Still, you can choose wicked candles, provided they come with wind protectors and keep them away from water and other elements that could start a fire.

4. Hang an Outdoor Chandelier

If your style is classy and chic, an outdoor chandelier is the best way to crown your outdoor living décor. This idea works best for an expansive porch with outdoor seating. In this case, go for a statement chandelier and let it hang from unique hoisting hardware –such as a rope or intricately woven metal work.

While at it, obey the cardinal chandelier rule: keep indoor-only chandeliers in and outdoor-only chandeliers out. Playing with a mix of both may not interfere with décor, but it will make your lighting unsafe.

5. Use Heated Lamps

This is one of the ways to improve landscape lighting and stay warm during the colder months –or if you live in a generally cold region.

You have endless options here: from two pyramid-style lamps to echo a minimalist yet homely vibe to sleek and slender options designed to look like a tall floor lamp for heating and styling tiny porches to arc light-inspired alternatives for cozying up broader porches.

Thanks to innovative tech, you can find weather-resistant lamps reinforced with glass fiber and concrete bases. Smart heated porch lights come with off-timers, remote controls, overheating protection, and a USB port for charging your phone.

Measuring your porch will help you get lamps with the correct BTU score to warm the space.

6. Outdoor Lanterns

Old-school-inspired lighting doesn't get chicer than outdoor lanterns. It's an especially special invite for you and your guest when they're carefully arranged on your porch to invoke warmth.

Consider choosing a variety of heights and shapes to create depth, carefully choosing materials and colors that complement your home's exterior architecture. Hemp and metal are the easiest to work with because they match the old-fashioned appeal of a lantern. But you can choose glass or wood if they do a better job.

Some home surroundings can help you set a better stage for your lanterns. For example, having tree branches nearby gives you free suspension hardware and elevates your outdoor décor.

Alternatively, line them along the edge of your porch or hang them from the ceiling on either side. For energy-efficient porch lighting, choose the LED-powered variants.

7. Hang Rows of String Lights

A wraparound porch is a perfect excuse to improve your home's curb appeal with string lights. They are great additions to a porch with outdoor wall lights and help brighten the space with ambient light if you're hosting guests on the porch at night.

Styling choices depend on what you want to achieve with your patio. Assuming they're the only lighting fixture you'll use for your porch, globe string lights are big enough to serve this function.

Curtain and fairy string lights offer much less light and are perfect for a chilled-out nighttime entertaining. Whichever you settle for, ensure they drape nicely and complement instead of overwhelm your outdoor lighting.

We recommend using them on a porch with a high ceiling. This not only provides enough headroom, but it also prevents them from looking sloppy.

8. Install a Flush Mount

Flush mount ceiling lights add instant flair to a porch ceiling that's 8 feet or lower without being too quiet or too loud. You can play with several styles to create an inviting front porch.

For example, a drum flush mount has flat sides and resembles a drum. Dome flush mounts form a dome and are some of the finest ways to stay subtle. A semi-flush mount makes the world of flush mount lighting more eye-catching by hanging very close to the ceiling with a wire or a thick rod holding it together.

Some flush mounts look like spotlights and are helpful in exterior lighting meant to aid reading. Combine these porch lights with outdoor furniture to help improve the first impression of your front yard.

In Conclusion

Porches come in so many styles that choosing the ideal porch lighting is impossible without considering the porch and home exterior.

However, there are a few pointers to start you off. Small front stoops work well with downlights. These draw the eye to the home's exterior flooring and landscape. For big porches, several porch lights or a grand chandelier help make a statement while lighting the doorway. Overall, they help provide stunning aesthetics, improve security, and prevent fall accidents caused by dark entryways. If you aren’t a fan of floodlights and you want something with a little more personality, try some of the suggestions in this blog.

Urban Ambiance stocks lighting fixtures to meet all your home lighting needs. If it's stylish and functional, we have it in our collection. Contact us for more information today.