Choosing outdoor lighting (that’s cute)

Choosing outdoor lighting (that’s cute)

Before the exterior of our house gets painted, we want to replace the flush-mount lighting on our front and back porches. Our current lights are forgettable at best, especially the light on our back porch that our painter called “a cheap 1970s special.” Embarrassing. Of course after he said that I immediately got online and started shopping for new ones, and I’m going to be honest here, most of the options are bad. Real bad. Gaudy, over-designed, boring, but usually very expensive. Since I’ve looked at ten million* outdoor flush mounts, you don’t have to! I’m going to break down my favorites for you.

First, here’s my criteria:

• no fake lanterns** (why are there so many lanterns?)
• ceiling flush mount, not a pendant/chandelier/sconce
• no fancy bulbs required because we leave our porch lights on 24/7
• max price of about $150
• simple, modern design that’s still appropriate for an 1890 house
• not ugly

(I may be slightly picky.)

Of the ten million outdoor flush mounts I looked at, here’s eight that I thought were pretty cute.

one: Home Depot, $117.20| two: Home Depot, $158 | three: 1-800Lighting, $77.90 | four: Pottery Barn, $129 | five: Shades of Light, $123 | six: Barn Light Electric, $141 | seven: Shades of Light, $129 | eight: Barn Light Electric, $137

* ten million is a ballpark figure
** if you have a faux lantern, I’m not picking on you. They probably look great on the right house, but seriously, why are there so many?

Have you seen lately or do you currently have an outdoor light that you think is cute? I’d love to see it!! Which of these do you like? Can you guess which one we’re probably choosing for our house?!

— Kerry