Home Ideas Gazebo lighting ideas: 15 ways to make your gazebo glow

Gazebo lighting ideas: 15 ways to make your gazebo glow

Give your garden a day to night glow up with these shiny, happy gazebo lighting ideas.

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Gazebos are the perfect way to create a relaxed garden retreat in any outdoor space. Take your gazebo up a notch with our fabulous gazebo lighting ideas so you can make the most of your garden, day and night.

It’s never been easier to showcase your gazebo with different lighting options. Whether it’s for an alfresco evening party or as a way to create a welcoming glow outdoors, there are so many inspiring gazebo lighting ideas to try out.

Gazebo garden lighting can be purely decorative or a practical addition so you can stay outdoors after dark – or both.

Gazebo lights ideas

From strings of twinkling fairy lights to sophisticated, built-in strips, read on for our round-up of great gazebo lighting ideas.

Here are 15 illuminating ways to add sparkle and shine to your gazebo.

1. Inject a fairytale mood

Gazebos are popular structures for wedding days and special events – and it’s easy to see why. When dusk falls, decorating an open-sided gazebo with simple white bulbs will create the most magical fairytale setting for eating and drinking when the sun goes down.

You can easily replicate the look at home by hanging strings of outdoor lights above a garden table. Plant climbing plants around the base of each pillar or column and encourage natural foliage to grow haphazardly around the gazebo. Entertaining guests alfresco just got epic.

2. Go for a laid-back lighting design

The beauty of lighting a gazebo with bulbs and fairy lights is that you can’t really go wrong.

String up long lengths of twinkly lights across the roof and sides of a gazebo and entwine them with pretty bunting and lace flags. Wooden gazebos and pergolas are an easy base to attach your lights – especially if they are solar and don’t require an electrical connection.

3. Group garden lanterns

For an extra cosy vibe, layer up gazebo lighting ideas with clusters of garden lanterns. Choose a design to fit in with your garden décor from painted metal fisherman-style lanterns to boho rattan and bamboo. Moroccan lanterns with a pretty fretwork design will create interesting patterns around the gazebo.

Your choice might also depend on how you want to illuminate things. Pick real candles for a warm, romantic glow. Altenatively, choose eco, energy-efficient solar lanterns or battery-operated LED lanterns for a reliable source of light.

4. Channel a festive mood

Take inspiration from the festive season and decorate your gazebo with hundreds of multicoloured string lights. This type of lighting can be picked up all over the high street. We love the rainbow glow that can be achieved for very little and for maximum impact.

Max out on the Christmas vibe by outlining trees with masses of colourful lights too. Let it glow, let it glow, let it glow…

5. Dine in the dark

One of the best uses of gazebo lighting ideas is to define an alfresco eating zone. In the warmer months, socialising outdoors with friends and families is such a pleasure – and garden lighting can extend your time outside.

Here, comfortable seating set under and outside of a simple wooden gazebo is brought to life with paper lanterns. If you want the lights to be plugged-in versions, contact your local electrician to get some quotes for the work.

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6. Invest in solar lighting

Solar garden lights are a hassle-free – and energy-efficient – way to add sparkle and glow to your gazebo. So, take advantage of the sun’s power and research your different options. Seek out strings of solar festoons, stake lights and lanterns for a layered lighting scheme that will add so much ambience outdoors.

Make sure the solar panel is in direct sunlight and can absorb the sun’s rays as fully as possible. You might need to fix the solar stake into the ground – or else attach it to a tree or the top of a gazebo column. Expect up to eight hours of light from your solar lighting before they need to recharge the next day.

Solar lights can be used all year round but won’t be as bright in the colder months. If possible, pack up and store solar lighting in the winter – they might last longer this way and not get damaged by the elements.

7. Go for an indoor/outdoor look

Channel a sophisticated lighting scheme in your gazebo with a series of outdoor pendants that reflect your interior décor. Harnessing the indoor/outdoor mood is such an amazing design trick to extend your inside living space.

These oversized outdoor pendant lights look fabulous with a huge, low-slung garden sofa and rug. Trust us, you might just want to live outside all year long!

8. Light up an outdoor kitchen

An outdoor kitchen within a gazebo is a truly luxurious addition. Seek out experienced kitchen designers that can help you design the kitchen gazebo of your dreams – and don’t forget lighting.

Just like indoor kitchen islands, outdoor versions need good task lighting over preparation areas. These oversized rattan pendants the classic, modern rustic look of this charming gazebo.

9. Add candles for extra glow

Candles are one of the simplest gazebo lighting ideas – and will help you achieve a really special glow.

Mix up rows of tealights with larger pillar candles, protected from the elements with hurricane lamps. For a DIY, budget-friendly lighting hack, repurpose old jam jars. It’s a vintage lighting scheme that costs peanuts.

10. Go for integrated lighting

Blow the budget with built-in, recessed lighting operated by remote control for an extra touch of luxury.

Choose mood-changing multicoloured and white lighting options so you can adjust the colour and brightness depending on how and when you are using your gazebo.

Check out our cost guide to installing exterior lighting to see if it fits into your budget.