Create Your Perfect Outdoor Living Space

Lights can help create your patio, pool area or garden into a space that has a whimsical feel, with soft lighting that creates a cozy atmosphere when you are hanging out in your back yard with your family or entertaining your friends.

With online stores like TheLAShop.com, you don't have to wait for Christmas to buy twinkling lights or rope lights to turn your yard into a wonderland.



Using rope lights, which hold up relatively well to weather conditions, can be one way to add lighting in a softer way to your outdoor living space. You can buy rolls as long as 150 feet at TheLAShop.com in colors ranging from plain white, to blue, to multicolored. You can join these lights together so you can surround the top of your fence in lights.

You can also use regular Christmas lights to wrap around bushes and trees, bringing attention to them. You can line the inside of a patio umbrella, gazebo or awning with white Christmas lights to have a soft light while you are sitting outside. Hanging Christmas lights, even in the summer, can give you brightness to entertain without the harshness of regular outdoor spotlights.

To add lights all around your property, you can get solar powered LED patio lights.  These small lights have a stake so you can stick them in the ground anywhere you want them. There are no wires to run or batteries to change. These lights charge during the day and come on automatically at night. You can line a walkway or your garden with these lights or help use them to bring notice to trees or rocks in your yard that you may not be able to see. You can buy these lights in different colors, designs, and brightness so they can be used in almost any situation to add subtle light to your space.

For those areas that aren't too dry or may have a lot of bugs, Tiki torches and citronella candles not only create an island feel, but also help keep away the insects. Place a Tiki torch with citronella oil every couple of feet around where you are entertaining.  Put citronella candles on tables and other surfaces.  It is a natural way to keep the insects away that smells nice and can help eliminate the need to slathering in bug repellant.

Finally, your pool can also be a source of fanciful lighting that makes it an object of beauty at night when you aren't swimming.  You can buy floating candles or lights for your pools.  These lights range from glowing spheres to flowers, to LED disco balls that help create a beautiful light show.  Don't be afraid to use these wonderful accessories to turn your pool beautiful.

Updating the lighting in your back yard can create a calm, relaxed place that people will love to be in.  Gone are the days of a bug zapper and a couple of spotlights to illuminate you back yard.  Now you can have softer lights, reminiscent of the best of the summer.

This is a guest post by Vanessa Erin.