A patio loses its walls at sunset. Light the boundary and it stays a room; light only the table and everyone sits in a bright circle staring at the dark. These modern patio lights are designed to hold the edges of an outdoor room.

What is on this page

Haylen and Harper are MOD LIGHTING's long strip wall lights, 12 to 94 inches. Haylen also comes in solar, sensor, smart and RGB versions. The sconces take the door and the piers, from the minimalist Terri in stainless steel to plainer forms, and Gleam is the circular piece, in three sizes with three color settings and remote dimming.

Heights, spacing and warmth

Mount wall lights at 66 to 72 inches to the center, one pair at the door and one every 8 to 10 feet, on one line even where the level steps. Warm white at 3000K is the standard across the range. Aim for several modest sources rather than one bright one; glare is the difference between a patio people sit on and one they only look at.

Dinner, decks and late evenings

For a dining patio, put the strip lights on the house wall behind the table and a solar lamp low among the planters, so light arrives from the side rather than overhead. Where the patio meets the garden, the garden lights collection carries the same warm white into the beds, and the wider outdoor lighting range covers the rest of the house.

Work outward from the house wall; a lit boundary leaves the table needing far less than you expect.