Outdoor Lighting Guide: Sconces and Pendants

Looking for outdoor lighting for your home? Get a list of designer-approved outdoor sconces, porch lights, and more. Plus find out what you need to consider to choose the best ones for your home.

We’ve been working on the exterior makeover of our 1980’s home. It’s slow going. We spent six months or so regrading the backyard, building retaining walls, and installing a sport court. We currently are working on laying new hardscaping and landscaping in the front.

As soon as all that construction is done, though, we are starting on the house. A fresh paint job, new hardware, and new lighting is all in the plan. In preparation, I’ve been researching, planning, and gathering outdoor wall sconces and porch lights that I’m considering… And I thought you might appreciate benefiting from my research.

At the end of the post, I’m sharing all my favorite lights I’ve found at just about any price point!

The Impact of Exterior Lighting for your Home

I want to start by saying that outside lighting does more than illuminate your house. When done correctly, it adds function as well as ambiance to your home exterior, and plays a crucial role in your home’s curb appeal.

Ideally, exterior lighting is layered similar to interior lighting. I love to use various styles: wall lights, pendant lights, solar lights, string lights, and more. The overall effect is one of both function and beauty. Each lighting element comes together to act like your home’s jewelry – enhancing its natural style.

While this post does not cover pathway lights, landscape lights, or solar-powered lights, I do have a few related resources linked at the end. This post, instead, will focus on the outdoor light fixtures for your home’s exterior: front porch, back patio, garage, etc.

This post contains affiliate links. Click here to read my full disclosure.

Factors to Consider when Choosing Outdoor House Lights:

First, let me say that you should not use indoor lighting outdoors. Outdoor fixtures can be either wet-rated (which is suitable to be exposed to the elements) or damp-rated (which is safe for a covered porch, patio, deck, or similar conditions). Fortunately, there are so many different wet-rated and damp-rated sconces, lanterns, and pendants to be found. When trying to decide, here are some factors to consider:

1 – Scale

There are multiple elements at play when determining the right scale for your outdoor lighting. Here are a few guidelines to help you.

First, consider the size of the space that the light occupies. For example, a sconce set between two close doorways will be very different than a sconce on the side of a large, flat wall. (Remember, these are the BEFORE pictures!)

Additionally, a pendant hung from an 8′ porch ceiling will need to be smaller than one hung from a two-story entryway.

When choosing front porch lighting, it can be helpful to consider the size of your front door. A good rule of thumb is that the light should be roughly 1/4 the height of the door. So if your door is 80″, then you want a light that is roughly 20″ tall. If your door is 96″, though, you want a light that is closer to 24″ tall.

Pro tip: When in doubt, go bigger. Up to 1/3 the height of the door will still look great, especially from the street!

2 – Placement

If you are building a new home, you can choose the placement of your light fixtures based on the exact fixture you intend to use. However, for many of us who are simply replacing outdated or broken fixtures, we want to work with the current location of the wiring. And that has to be considered.

Moving outdoor wiring is tricky because you often have to adjust brick or exterior siding, which usually requires more trades. If your light box is beside your door or garage, you’ll need outdoor wall lights. But if the wiring is on the ceiling of your porch, then you likely need a pendant or flush mount. If you are hanging a pendant or semi-flush mount from the ceiling, you’ll want to try to leave at least 6″ from the top of the door frame to the bottom of the light fixture.

Additionally, pay attention to the height of your light box. If your light box is aligned just under your door frame, for example, you want to choose a light that hangs down below the wiring, like the first example below. You do not want one that connects to the wiring at the midpoint (see example 2 below), as this will make the light sit too high against the door frame and will not only look disproportional, but probably won’t light the doorway very well!

Finally, you need to consider the size of the backplate. Example 1 above has a small backplate and can go beside or between trimwork without a lot of wall space. Example 2, though, requires the entire fixture to fit against the wall for installation.

3 – Style

Consider the style of your home. Do ultra modern lights work on a 1930’s cottage? Probably not. Neither do elaborate Spanish style iron lights work on a mid century modern ranch. I’ve tried to choose a fairly versatile, transitional group of lights to share with you, as they tend to go well with many styles of home.

Additionally, do you need downlights (like a barn light) or lights that shine outward (like a lantern)? Barn lights can be wonderful above a garage door or to light up a door handle, but to light a patio, you’ll want something different for effective illumination. Uplights can be beautiful, but they won’t help you see the door handle.

Even within my range of favorite aesthetics, there is still a variety of styles. Whether you want a lantern, a barn light, or something more unique, I’ve gathered a variety of options below.

4 – Finish

Generally speaking, it is good to create contrast outside. This lets your lighting shine like good jewelry on your home. So if you have a light colored home, then black or dark bronze finishes can be lovely.

Or if you have a darker home, then you might consider brass, gold, or copper lighting.

5 – Cost

I put this last, not because it is the least important, but because you can truly find similar options at so many price points. Are the all made with equal quality? No. But most styles, colors, and sizes can be found at whatever price point best fits your budget. And I believe in making wise budget-conscious choices!

Beautiful Outdoor Lighting at Every Price Point

Here are some of my favorites with a dark bronze or black finish. Just click any image below to shop!

And here are some beautiful options with a lighter brass, gold, or copper finish:

FAQs about Outdoor Lighting

Do all the outdoor fixtures on a home need to match?
I like them to complement one another without exactly matching. Think of it like bedroom furniture: it’s much better when the nightstands coordinate with the bed rather than matching it exactly. However, you usually want your nightstands to match… Similarly, it is wonderful to have matching symmetrical pairs of exterior lights, but it is fun to complement other elements with similar styles and finishes.

What about lighting driveways, yards, or a pool area?
Typically for large outdoor areas, you will need some kind of floodlights. The outdoor lights I gathered are more focused on lighting the exterior of the home than outdoor spaces.

I hope that was helpful! Don’t forget to save this for later reference.