Brighten the Night with Cafe Lights and String Lights

We just got some Adirondack chairs and a fire pit to enjoy in back of our new house. Nothing as ambitious as this outdoor fireplace, but I want to do something a little more than the chairs on the grass we have now.

This time of year it stays light really late, but when it gets cool enough to really enjoy our fire pit, it’s going to be really dark back by the brook where I want it.

I am figuring out how to add some light that will look good day and night.

We had string lights for the porch of our log cabin. I used to have to replace them nearly every year until I bought Enbrighten cafe lights. They are still there and still working, but I can’t take them. The cabin is a vacation rental now and people use the lights.

My Southern Living magazine came yesterday. The feature Home School Lessons in Southern Decorating got me planning again. The article shows four ways to use string lights attached to poles.

We have lights on our porch here, but the cafe and string lights add more ambience than the lights on the porch fans. Using poles, I can use the lights around our fire pit.

Here are some of the ideas I have been saving.

Porch

We plan to hang cafe lights on the edge of the porch. We have been very happy with the Enbrighten lights we got for the cabin, so we plan to use them here at the house.

I like the fairy light strings, too.

Our lot is on the corner, so one side of the porch is open to the road. I am thinking about curtain lights for that end of the porch. I think it would be a pretty way to add some privacy.

The little fairy curtain lights don’t add much light, but they could add some privacy on that side of the porch.

Pergola

I had a pergola at the back door at a previous house and I did something like this for parties. I used inexpensive lights, so I took them down between parties.

I like the way they draped the lights here. It would add more light by making the lights closer.

These lights are attached crossing the pergola beams. These are Solatec String Lights. I have zero experience with Solatec.

The lights are installed pretty close together, so you would get quite a bit of light.

Deck

This deck has the lights coming from by the back door. The photo doesn’t show what they are attached to on the other side, but it could be a pole or a tree.

Poles

This is what the Southern Living article is talking about. The lights are suspended from poles.
A number of light strings can radiate from one pole.

These lights are from Lemontec. I don’t know anything about the brand Lemontec.

The poles keep the lights high enough. They look like they run to the tree on the other side.

Here the lights hang from cable.  A metal cable can be tightened more than the powered cable the lights are on.

Enbrighten Lights have a hole above each bulb. A metal cable can run through the hole to drape the lights along a tightened metal cable.

The Enbrighten Cafe Lights are available to change from white to colors with a remote control.

Trees

It looks like they just ran these from tree to tree. There really aren’t enough trees where I am putting mine.

Fence

We had our lights running along the top of a fence.

This is a different idea. Metal eye rings are attached to the privacy fence. String lights run from the roof edge to the fence rings.

It looks like the lights are just draped to the eye rings and back.

These are really cute. Not a permanent lighting solution, but decorative, really decorative.

Camper

My kids have string lights on the awning on their camper. They are solar, so they can use them anywhere, any time.

String Lights, Cafe Lights and Fairy Lights on Deep Discount Lighting >
Enbrighten Commercial Grade LED Cafe Lights on Deep Discount Lighting >