You can’t always take a tropical vacation, but you can bring the same feel to your backyard with tropical landscaping ideas. The right outdoor lighting can transform a mediocre backyard into an island paradise. Whether you want to entertain guests with a beach-side vacation atmosphere or you enjoy relaxing in a trendy backyard, these 5 unique outdoor lighting ideas take you to a tropical paradise.
Illuminated Tropical Plants
You might not have the opportunity to go to a tropical retreat, but you can bring the retreat to your backyard with tropical plants. Palm trees, ferns, and other hardy tropical species help create the atmosphere you’re looking for with your tropical landscaping ideas. Once the plants are in place, spotlights showing off the plants puts a strong focus on the tropical elements in the yard. For extra emphasis, move from standard white lighting to other colors, such as green or blue. If the lighting is too overwhelming with other yard design elements, place it behind tropical bushes and flowers instead of directly pointing it at trees.
Pool Illumination
The perfect blue waters of the Caribbean might not be in your pool, but installing pool lighting can emulate the effect. These lights illuminate the pool from below, creating a brilliant blue focal point in your tropically themed backyard. Different lighting levels can be used in the pool and hot tub areas, to provide an easy visual indication of different water temperatures. In addition to making the pool look stellar, it also helps improve pool safety when you’re having late night parties. It’s hard to accidentally fall in when the entire pool is lit up.
Mood Lighting
Long walks on the beach are often moonlit, starlit, or fire lit. Emulate this look with mood lighting installations in your backyard. Mood lighting can be as subtle as back lights for shrubs and other plants, or as bold as multiple colors accenting garden features such as fountains. Supplement your mood lighting with a fire pit or torches to add to the beach-themed appeal. Adjustable mood lighting is also flexible for a variety of entertainment opportunities. Sometimes you want a bright, sunny beach feeling, and other times the overcast beach on the edge of a storm fits the mood better.
Walkway Lights
Want to keep the lights out of your pool and plants, but you still want to add some lighting to promote a tropical feel? Incorporate walkway lights to create an illuminated pathway to the relaxation areas. Use lighting levels that are similar to a beach sunset to add to the appeal. Solar lights work well for this purpose, and color films can change the lighting from a standard backyard to a tropical trendsetter easily. If you’d rather have walkway lights that aren’t set into the ground, consider getting hurricane lights installed along the path.
Furniture Lighting
Instead of illuminating your yard, consider illuminating your furniture. Outdoor furniture can add a significant amount to your backyard’s tropical appeal, with modern lines and bright colors bringing the beach home. From there, getting an underlight installation for your furniture helps it stand out in the backyard. Consider using lights that cycle through multiple colors if you’d like a more eye catching display. These lights also help cut down on the amount you might stub your toe on your furniture when enjoying your backyard at night.