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With the warm summer months fast approaching, many of us have started to prepare our gardens, patios, and terraces in anticipation of enjoying as much time as possible outside. Whether you’re planning to host barbeques, patio parties, or simply want to turn your garden into a private oasis, one of the quickest and easiest ways to enhance your outdoor space is to make it feel like a natural extension of your indoor living space. Comfortable loungers, tables, and of course, outdoor lighting all contribute to making your backyard terrace, garden, or patio an inviting space that you’ll be able to use all season long.
In preparation for the outdoor season, the LightForm staff helps you navigate all the outdoor lighting options with their top outdoor lighting picks of the year.
Emily’s Pick: Uma Sound Lantern
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Emily can’t wait to take the new Uma sound lantern to the park with friends. As a portable, re-chargeable LED lantern that doubles as a speaker with 360-degree sound and Bluetooth connectivity, Uma is destined to be a hit this summer. Carry it to the park, place it on your patio during a barbeque, or pack it with you on your next camping trip for some campfire tunes. Uma’s beauty is also in its details: a soft but durable leather handle (in two colour options) make it easy to carry, while elegant touch volume and dim controls make operating it fun. Providing music and soft light, the Uma sound lantern is this year’s perfect summer companion.
Jaime’s Pick: Greta Floor Light
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Jaime’s top pick is the Greta floor light (specifically in Limited Edition Orange, pictured below) because its large scale and use of mixed materials make it unlike anything else in the outdoor lighting range. Made of concrete and stainless steel, the Greta floor light is, nevertheless, pretty enough for inside your home yet tough enough for outdoor use (with an IP65 rating). It’s available in light grey, black, brown, or red, and also comes in a pendant version.
Ivana’s Pick: Ipnos Outdoor Light
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Ivana’s top outdoor light is the new Ipnos outdoor floor light, designed by Nicoletta Rossi and Guido Bianchi. Withclean, simple lines, the Ipnos is an easy addition to any outdoor space because it provides a soft ambient glow without too much fuss. “By taking away no longer needed elements from the traditional lantern, we ended up with a simple metal box, supporting invisible light sources. A void that is filled by the surrounding space.” –Rossi
Alex G’s Pick: Gregg Outdoor Lights
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A minimal design and the soft ambient glow are what make the Gregg outdoor floor lights Alex G’s top outdoor lighting pick. She also loves their oblong-stone shape, which gives them a natural organic feel. Place them throughout your garden and by day they’ll serve as a unique sculptural element, while by night, they’ll provide a warm ambient glow. The Gregg outdoor light comes in three different sizes so it’s possible to create any number of arrangements for a remarkable effect: place one on a table, create a cluster in the corner of a patio, or create a row all along the edge of a deck.
Elizabeth’s Pick: Soho Outdoor Pendant
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Liz loves the large Soho outdoor pendant because of its statement-making scale. Measuring in at 15, 22, or 44 inches in diameter, this pendant creates a cozy effect by providing significant overhead coverage while also delivering a soft diffuse light. And yet despite its size it is incredibly easy to use thanks to its lightly textured material and classic shape.
Donna’s Pick: Soho Outdoor Pendant
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Donna loves the Soho outdoor light for its bold, over-sized scale. She also loves the Soho’s beautiful diffused light output, soft texture, and elegant simplicity. The Soho pendant is available in black, grey, translucent white, and now also in sand (pictured above) and sky blue.
Nadia’s Pick: Solar Outdoor Light
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Nadia’s favourite outdoor light is the Solar outdoor light because it multitasks as a table, a light, and a beautiful outdoor object. Designed by Jean Marie Massaud, the Solar outdoor light has a hemispherical body that’s stable even when tilted by 15 degrees. The angling determines the quantity of light diffused, allowing for the creation of multiple effects and atmospheres. Nadia recommends it to clients who have beautiful patio stones or detailing that they’d like to highlight in a unique way.
Alex H’s Pick: Klein Outdoor Bollards
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Alex H’s top outdoor light is the Klein LED bollard, a clean and architectural light that provides soft, functional outdoor lighting. Alex’s eye for subtle design elements appreciates the Klein’s smart illumination technique: because light reflects back onto the bollard as well as down onto the area you are illuminating, the bollard looks like an elegant line of light in the dark. This also means the Klein does not produce to any light pollution at night since the light is directed downward.
Amy’s Pick: Swell Outdoor Pendants
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Amy loves the new Swell outdoor pendants because their elegance and cool factor make them unlike your typical outdoor rated lighting. She also loves the Swell’s versatility: hang one on its own, create a cluster, or connect them in multiples like a string of patio lanterns. This last option is great when you have a larger area to light but only have a single outlet. Swell is a modular LED pendant with a luminous brass interior. Its hand-spun aluminium exterior is comes in white or black and in several shapes.
Alex L’s Pick: Santorini Outdoor Lights
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Alex L loves the new Santorini outdoor lighting collection for its casual-fun aesthetic and incredible versatility. This collection of customizable outdoor lamps allows you to create multiple compositions: you can choose how many shades to place on the diffuser, along with their order, position, and direction. The hanging versions can be hung from the ceiling, either individually or clustered together, or they can be strung up like a garland (patio lanterns for the design-conscious). The colours—white, grey, and mustard—are outdoorsy but still stylishly urban. Casual yet unique, the Santorini outdoor lighting collection is great for those looking to make an understated statement.
Gillian’s Pick: Santorini Outdoor Floor Lights
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For Gillian the lovely Santorini floor lights transport her to a beautiful patio, relaxing with friends and a cocktail under the warm light of these versatile lights. Gillian loves their sunny yellow colour and how the fixture is so simple, yet offers so much versatility. The Santorini also work as wall lamps or standing lamps (with the addition of a simple accessory) and as fixed-stem wall or ceiling fixtures.
Ben’s Pick: Micro Spotlight
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Never one to overlook the hard-working but quiet wallflower, Ben’s top outdoor lighting pick is the often overlooked Micro outdoor spot light. Though spots may be an underrated class of outdoor light, tiny spot lights can create striking visual impact with an almost imperceptible footprint. Ben loves the Micro because it has great optical, finish, and accessory options. Simple, effective, indestructible (almost)—what more could you want from an outdoor light?
Eric’s Pick: Crisp Outdoor Wall Lights
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Eric loves the rugged look of the Crisp outdoor wall light and feels it would complement any kind of outdoor wall, be it brick, concrete, or wood. Available in white, frosted, copper, or chrome, the Crisp provides a soft ambient glow that creates a pleasing atmosphere for your patio parties. Check out our previous ode to the elegant Crisp.
Cheryl’s Pick: Dojo Outdoor Lights
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Cheryl loves the Dojo outdoor light because this Japanese Zen-inspired object serves as a table for her summer drinks while also casting a flattering ambient glow. Its delicate, light-casting grills are made of anodized aluminium and its diffuser is encased in a weatherproof protector, making it very hardy (IP54). Buy the Dojo now at 50% off!
Richard’s Pick: Fil de Fer Outdoor Light
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Ever a proponent of overcoming the indoor/outdoor divide, Richard favours the elegant Fil de Fer outdoor LED floor light. The Fil de Fer’s delicate appearance makes it hard to believe this light is hardy enough for your patio or garden, and yet with an IP65 rating, it most certainly is. The Fil de Fer creates an entirely new class of outdoor lighting, one that shows the new potential for outdoor LED lighting: what was once only interior decoration can now be used outside to enhance your starry nights. Fil de Fer is made of natural aluminium wire and it comes 50, 70, or 100cm in diameter so you can use it as subtly or as dramatically as you wish.
Hopefully our staff picks for the year’s top outdoor lighting gives you some great ideas for making the most of your own outdoor space. Connect with us or visit our Edmonton, Toronto, Calgary, and Vancouver lighting showrooms to see outdoor lighting in person and to learn more about the lights discussed in this post.