What It Means If You See A Home With An Orange Porch Light

A porch light is a great way to enhance your home's front porch without breaking the bank. It's also an ideal way to bring ambiance to the front of your home, even if you only have a small area to work with. Once you have decided on your lantern or style of light, the next step is choosing which color light you want to go with. You may not have known, but actually, there can be a lot of significance about which color someone chooses for their porch. Different porch light colors carry various meanings.

In particular, if you're walking by someone's house and see they have an orange porch light, this can represent a significant movement, mean the homeowners are welcoming friends, or that they are celebrating Halloween. Whether or not you intend to convey a particular message, it's important to look into what the colors of porch lights mean so you don't end up communicating something you don't want to communicate — for example, giving off a spooky vibe in the middle of August.

Though orange is a bright and cheerful color, sometimes it can be associated with tragedy. As reported by WRTV, a porch illuminated with an orange light could be representing the "Light Up Delphi" cause, which was begun after two teenage girls, Liberty German and Abigail Williams, were murdered in Delphi, Indiana in 2017. The orange light symbolically served to show the public's effort in trying to find the murderers of the two girls. At the time, businesses sold orange light bulbs so the public could show support, with all proceeds going to the families of the victims. As of 2023, some still turn their lights orange each March to remember the victims. 

On a lighter note, an orange porch light can create a welcoming ambiance and make people feel at home, making it an ideal choice if you're hosting a party or having guests around. In general, as a color orange is bright and bold, and can be said to symbolize optimism and friendliness.

Another obvious connotation people often make with orange lighting is Halloween. Aside from black and purple, Halloween decorations usually feature a garish orange hue, presumably because orange is the color of pumpkins. This is great in October, but, if you want to turn your porch light orange for other reasons, not so much. If you want to avoid connotations with Halloween, it's best to stick to one orange light like a traditional lantern outside your home.

String lights are pretty, but they could give off the vibe that you have forgotten to take down your Halloween decorations rather than the intended welcoming vibe. If you do want to string up fairy lights, perhaps mix them with lights in other colors to avoid a Halloween-specific look. Functionally, orange light is also helpful for the time of year when it gets dark easily. An orange porch light will cast a warm glow over the front of your home and help you feel safe while still in keeping with a cozy look.