Light Up The Patio On Summer Nights With An Amazing TikTok Idea

Summer is a season for outdoor enjoyment, bringing homeowners outside to enjoy evenings under the stars. While there are many ways to light up your yard at night, a TikTok user idea from @miolooks offers a great way to make even the simplest patio shine and sparkle using inexpensive LED light strips. The lights not only offer a cool space-age dance floor look to the patio but also provide enough light to easily move around in the space after dark.

LED strip lights are a great, inexpensive option to maximize your outdoor living space. They come in various lengths, sizes, and varieties, many with the option to set both color and flashing or racing patterns via remote or app. Many strands are also durable and waterproof, making them great for outdoor lighting needs. You can even sync some light sets up to a Bluetooth speaker to flash in coordination with music or sound.

To create this fun patio, simply wrap the lights around the perimeter of paving stones or other garden surfaces using the adhesive strips that come with the lights. You can also use waterproof glue that will withstand weather to permanently secure the lights to any surface or stake them into the ground using small U-hooks. The lights will illuminate the space around the pavers and any rocks or pebbles between them. For an even brighter glow, you can use white gravel or clear or iridescent pebbles between the panels to enhance the light.

While @miolooks uses inexpensive colored LED light strips from Amazon for $20 a strand, there are also lights designed specifically with landscaping in mind available from Amazon. One option (costing about $60 for a pack of four) comes with attachment hardware and creates a more intense spotlit area along fences and retaining walls for a high-end look. LED lights are also available with solar power sources from Amazon for under $20, which is perfect if you do not have immediate access to electrical outlets in your outdoor space.

LED strip lights can be used in many ways and placed anywhere you need a little extra glow, including on the backside of signs, address numbers, and outdoor decorative accents like window boxes and planters. You can also run them along porch railings, windows, or doors. LED strips have a very long burn time, and when they are finally tuckered out, they can be easily removed and replaced with new ones.

For a clever way to elevate your backyard, use them to outline a pool, hot tub, fire pit, retaining walls, or under the edge of stairwells and shallow steps to help make them more visible in the dark. For a fun accent and extra lighting, wrap them around the perimeter of your balcony or under benches and low seating to illuminate the space underneath the ground. You can also use them to subtly illuminate trees by wrapping them around the base, tucked amid grass or rocks.