Belvederes, alhambras, kiosks, pergolas, follies, and rotundas – all these sophisticated terms basically stand for more or less the same thing — gazebo. If for some reason someone doesn’t yet know what it is, gazebo is a structure, as an open or latticework pavilion or summerhouse, built on a site that provides an attractive view.
Outside
The key in planning lighting for your gazebo is to determine precisely what areas you want to illuminate. For example, you may place spotlights along the perimeter of the gazebo and focus them on its structural elements; preferably, both interior and exterior of the gazebo should be lit. It’s also a good idea to highlight the pathways towards the building and the entry. The best way to do this is setting up holiday lightings and hanging lanterns.
Inside
Among all fixtures, chandelier suspended by a string from the ceiling seems the most adequate for a gazebo because there’s not much room for standard or table lamps and there are no walls for wall sconces. Even though you can attach wall sconces to columns, still a chandelier seems a better idea for a gazebo. A considerably big chandelier supporting at least 20w lamp is able to provide enough light for reading or playing board games on parties. But make sure that the light beams from the chandelier fall right onto the table on which you play. For portable gazebos battery-powered models are available.
Wiring
A gazebo which sits not far away from your living home needs wiring. But be warned, that even though you may have a temptation to just run an unprotected wire into a indoor socket, you are not permitted to. Your target is to provide the structure with properly cased wiring, buried far into the ground. You can hide wiring inside the gazebo by running it along the roofline and posts. It’s unlikely you are going to power fans, vacuum cleaners and TVs in the gazebo, so you won’t need extra thick cable for a few bulbs only.
Solar Lighting
However if a gazebo is distanced from an available electricity circuit, you should build a nuclear plant nearby… or just mount fixtures with photovoltaic cells. There are numbers of different fixtures available on the market, e.g. solar spotlights to highlight walkways and entry, lamps to illuminate shrubs and flowerbeds and event solar chandelier for overhead lighting. Needless to say that this measure will not work in such places on the globe where it’s cloudy the whole year round.
More Peculiar Options
Exquisite tastes are difficult to satisfy. If you are not pleased by a simple chandelier, hanging from the top, you would probably like to check out for more peculiar ways of lighting your gazebo:
1. Wind your gazebo around with garland lights. It works especially well for special occasions.
2. Mount lamps recessed into the ceiling of your gazebo.
3. In a round gazebo, run many long wires from the roof center to the roof edges and attach numerous small lamps all along the wires.
4. Reject electricity, build a hearth inside your gazebo and kindle fire.
5. Screw a candle chandelier into your gazebo rooftop.
6. Make the roof translucent, get rid of all artificial lights at all and enjoy the natural one.
Conclusion
In sum, when planning light, make sure that all wiring is properly cased. Mind that the optimal way of lighting a gazebo inside is a chandelier, whereas outside had better be lit with spotlights set around the structure. The areas at which special attention should be paid are the entry, the walkway and the table in the very center. We hope that you found this article useful.
