What You Need to Know About MOD Lighting's Outdoor Lanterns

Outdoor lanterns are important lighting fixtures for setting the visual tone of your home. They flank the front door, anchor the garage, hang from the covered porch, the warm glow welcoming guests and establishing your design style before they even step inside. Most outdoor lanterns get one thing consistently wrong: they're too small. An undersized lantern disappears from the street and doesn't match the strong visuals of modern homes and yards. Our collection of outdoor lanterns are built to last through every season, while complimenting your architecture and yard.

Where Outdoor Lanterns Belong

Outdoor lanterns do more than just illuminate. Used well, they tell you where the door is, where the path leads, and that someone thoughtful lives here.

Most homes need lanterns in at least three places:

• The primary entrance: one or two, flanking the door
• Any secondary or side entry: often a smaller version of the front
• The covered outdoor living space: a porch, a pergola, a covered patio, a balcony used in the evening

Beyond those essentials, the lantern becomes a design tool. Post-mounted lanterns along a driveway or pathway set the rhythm of arrival. Hanging lanterns under a pergola transform a backyard from functional to inviting. A single well-placed lantern near a seating area in the garden or patio gives the space a warm glow and somewhere to gather in the yard after dark.

Types of Outdoor Lanterns

Wall-mounted lanterns. The default for front entries, side doors, and garages. Sold singly or in pairs and sized to the door they flank. This is the most-used category and the one that gets sized wrong most often.

Hanging lanterns. Suspended from a covered porch ceiling, a pergola, or a portico. Good for deep entry overhangs, covered outdoor rooms, and any space where wall-mounted lanterns would feel undersized. Hanging versions need clearance overhead, at least seven feet from the floor to the bottom of the lantern.

Post-mounted lanterns. Installed on a freestanding post at the end of a driveway, along a walkway, or at a yard perimeter.

Tabletop and portable lanterns. Sized for patios, balconies, and outdoor dining tables. Battery-powered or solar versions move with the evening, from the dinner table to a reading spot to the edge of the patio for a late conversation. These are a good option for tree lights that you can easily remove in case of weather. Use these as a supplement to hardwired lanterns, not a replacement.