How to Install Your Own Outdoor Backyard Lighting

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I just did something that made a huge impact in our yard. I discovered amazing outdoor backyard lighting that I can install myself.

How to Design Landscape Lighting

Oh my gosh. Is this lighting not the most incredible thing you have seen? I partnered with AQ Lighting and not only discovered amazing lighting but I found outdoor backyard lighting you can install yourself.

Wait. Did I say “install it yourself?”

I did.

With a little help from a friend, we installed this amazing lighting from AQ Lighting. We replaced every old/broken/damaged piece of lighting in our backyard with gorgeous copper outdoor lighting.

The copper lighting looks so awesome in the daytime. And at night? It is spectacular.

New Outdoor Backyard Lighting

How to Design Landscape Lighting

One of my favorite places to entertain is in our backyard. I have been very creative in using this space but one of my challenges has been landscape and backyard lighting, or lack thereof.

Our previous backyard lighting was old and terrible. We only had one working 20-year-old spotlight in the yard and some string lights that I got from Costco. If you can believe it, I had to go out onto the roof to plugin our string lights. Seriously?

Replacement Lighting
You can see how nice the copper lighting is compared to our twenty year old lights. I took this photo just before we took out the old black light.

Unfortunately, the old outdoor lights worked on average 50% of the time. During a recent storm, we had no lights. During a recent sprinkling of rain, we had no lights. For no reason at all, we had no lights. In the middle of the night, the lights are on! You get the point. 

I needed help. And a better lighting system.

How to Design Landscape Lighting 1

I set out to fix the lighting situation in our backyard. And, because my focus for April is Just Do It Yourself, I really wanted to do this myself! Since I was basically starting from scratch, I created a plan to light each area in our backyard.

The areas included:

  • Behind and around the pool
  • The garden along the yard.
  • The garden next to the Carriage House.
  • The fire pit area with the huge tree
  • Replacement of the Costco string lights

I thought about showing you some before photos but the photos were of our entirely dark backyard. Occasionally one of our many old landscape lights might work … but that was it!

AQ Lighting

AQ Lighting has an online business with a large collection of residential and commercial lighting for both indoor and outdoor. Their products are American Made and they also have DIY kits. The kits have everything you need to install the lighting on your own, or have your handyman, gardener, or spouse, install it.

I worked with the wonderful owners of AQ Lighting. We discussed what I wanted, how to achieve it, and what lighting components I needed. 

When the order arrived, everything was included.

AQ Lighting

Our Landscape Lighting Order

Below is a list of everything that we used to light the backyard:

AQ Lighting Materials for Landscaping Lights

The installation wasn’t hard. We hooked in to some of our existing wiring. You can see the installation on my Instagram stories and reels.

For my plan for the landscape lighting in our backyard, I started with the area behind the pool. It is a large chain link fence with vines growing on it. Behind the fence is a space that has been many things in its lifetime, a paddle tennis court, a basketball court and is currently a beach volleyball court. My husband has a regular league that plays once a week in the evenings, so the lighting will be helpful so that they don’t fall into the pool on their way to the court! 

The Final Reveal

Look at our new outdoor backyard lighting!

How to Design Landscape Lighting

I honestly cannot believe our backyard lighting looks like this. The pool reflections are just stunning!

There is something about reflections in water that is just incredible. Can you believe how the trees are reflecting in our pool water?

Is that not the coolest thing ever?

How to Design Landscape Lighting

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How to Design Landscape Lighting

The Carriage House garden area is shown below on the right-hand side. It is a beautiful English garden. There is a walkway along the edge of the garden that leads to the pool. This area is highly trafficked to get to the pool and court and we also have a fire pit and a table and chairs on the patio next to the pool. For this area, we used a combination of lighting options to create an incredible effect. We used copper area lights and spotlights and it turned out beautifully. 

How to Design Landscape Lighting 2

Giveaway!!

I am really excited to be able to offer, together with AQ Lighting, an amazing giveaway. AQ Lighting has put together a My100YearOldHome DIY kit (valued at $500) that includes the items shown above, and more. The giveaway kit includes everything you need to light an area similar to the Carriage House garden (or a $500 credit).

The kit includes a transformer, 15ft cable (transformer to 1st fixture), T cables needed for install, jumper cables for install, 8 install stakes, 5 copper area lights with warm white LEDs and 3 raw copper spotlights with warm white LEDs. The winner may also select a $500 credit on an order from AQ Lighting instead.

The giveaway is limited to US customers only. To sign up for the giveaway, head to my Instagram and enter the giveaway on the post with the backyard lighting photo. To enter, follow @my100yearoldhome and @aqlighting. Also, leave a comment on my Instagram telling me what area you would like to light in your yard!

Entry begins today and a winner will be announced on Tuesday morning at 9am PST.

How to Design Landscape Lighting Yourself

Here are some photos I took of the new lighting before it got dark.

Landscape Lighting
Landscape Lighting

Links to the Items Shown in This Post

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Install Your Own Backyard Lighting

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18 Comments

  1. Your lighting is just beautiful!
    I’m trying to find away to put lighting in our rear yard. Our home is new and while we have spent two years landscaping with more going in this year, our trees are just not large enough to put lights in. Maybe I will look into uplighting.
    Thank you for all your great suggestions and ideas!

  2. Leslie, You had me at American Made. I feature Made in USA products frequently. Perfect timing. Our yard looks like a mullet right now. Neat in the front and a hot mess in our backyard!

    laura in Colorado (we are practically neighbors).

  3. Oh I just love this! I’m scanning through this article to see if you have a link as to how you actually did it! I want to try this too!!

  4. I love how your backyard looks! I thought it was gorgeous before but the lighting really makes it. We have a home that is almost 100 years old and there are always projects. My husband says we have more charm than we can afford! When you write that YOU had installed the lights, I had to check it out!

  5. I am a daily reader and am always inspired by your ideas and posts. I would love to enter the giveaway, but unfortunately do not use Instagram. Best of luck to those who have a chance to win. It looks like a great company.

  6. This is really fabulous. I am inspired, as I have wanted to do some lighting in our yard. Love the long string lights, that will be the first thing I tackle. I was able to do your instagram, but only able to follow on the lighting company, did not see anything to do the giveaway. Not having a lot of skills there, not sure either one accomplished the sign up.Beautiful photos though.

  7. Your lighting is sublime. The reflections in the pool are everything! What a difference lighting makes. I’m inspired. 😍

  8. Beautiful yard and very good choices for lighting it. It takes careful planning to have it looking so good. Would love to have a chance to win the package, but I am not on instagram. Sigh.

  9. Leslie, this lighting is just off the charts!!! Love how you can see your whole back yard now. I have a 3/4 acre lot that I’m clearing right now & this lighting would be a game changer. Thanks for giving us a chance to win!! You LIGHT 💡 UP MY LIFE & INSPIRE ME SO❣️

  10. Was there a link to how to do it yourself or just to their website? hmmmm I love the lighting and the copper looks wonderful!
    Great job!
    We have 2 smaller sized dogs so lighting up the backyard is a must so we can keep them safe. I’m looking into some copper lighting to add in that area. The running of the wires and power is a problem.

    1. I am glad you enjoyed the post. I highly recommend AQ Lighting. Their products are amazing and they are wonderful to work with.

  11. Hi, What an impressive post! The way you sum-up this topic briefly, shows your professionalism. I Got the latest collection of Stairs – Step Lights at the lowest price last week. Spot Lighting enhanced the safety and beauty of my fences and walkways.

  12. I’ve always been a fan of tactical gear, and this blog provides a fantastic resource. The in-depth guides on tactical training and the reviews of varioustactical lights including low voltage options, make it a one-stop destination for all things tactical.

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