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In our small garden room ideas, we shared ways to make the most of your space. But no matter how you plan to use yours, you can’t go without good lighting. Let’s go through ceiling, wall, and corner lights, so you can see which one will make your humble retreat shine.
Garden Room Lighting Ideas
If your garden room is a log cabin, the walls move a little over time. Rigid cable conduits don’t like that; they can cause cracks and other serious damage to the cabin. (Find out more about log cabin expansion and contraction.)
Given this, battery lights are easier and safer to install, but you will have to recharge or replace over time. Or if you must use conduits, try to have them go along a single board rather than pinning multiple ones into a fixed position, and have some flexible excess cable where the different parts meet.
Now onto your options:
Ceiling lights
For lighting above your head, the two best options are pendant and flush-mount lights.
Pendant lights over a desk or table throw some light where you need it without filling the whole room. They’re great to have for work or craft areas, or for simple leisure like reading and writing.
Flush-mount lights are good too if you want the room lit up all over without anything hanging down. You might want to consider this if you have low ceilings or a compact garden room.
Or mix both: a pendant for the main area or darker corners and a flush-mount to spread brightness across the room.
Tip: apex roofs have the highest point along the middle. These are better able to support lights that hang down. Sloped pent roofs have a slightly lower ceiling along the middle, so they’re better suited to lights that don’t come down more than a few inches.
Wall lights
Wall lights are also nice to have for shedding light on tricky spots. A small sconce can make a corner cosier or sit above a desk for extra light while you work. Track lights along the walls look smart for highlighting a specific part of the room.
If you can, add a motion sensor near the door, too, for late-night trips when you don’t want to fumble for a switch.
Corner and floor lights
Even with ceiling and wall lights, some corners stay dim. A floor lamp in a shadowy spot, like next to a chair, can make a difference in setting the mood. Uplighters also work in corners, bouncing soft light off the walls. LED strips along a corner or behind furniture add subtle, indirect light that looks cool, if you ask us!
Cabled or Battery-Powered Garden Room Lighting?
Cabled lights suit ceiling or wall lights you use all the time. Simply turn them on, and you don’t have to worry about them (unless the bulbs need changing). Though you might have to hire an electrician, especially if you’re not confident about wiring.
Battery-powered lights are better for flexible or occasional spots. This includes the corners, shelves, or areas where you might want a bit of extra glow. You’ll need to swap the batteries sometimes, but it’s easy enough.
Overall: mains for the main areas and batteries for the extras.
Feel free to hang ceiling lights, put up wall lights, as well as corner and floor lights if that’s the vibe you’re going for. Just don’t attempt to DIY the cabled lights if you don’t know how. Again, it’s best to get an electrician to install them for safety.
If you know your way around basic wiring, these guides can help:
- How to Install Lighting in Your Log Cabin?
- How To Light Your Shed: Natural vs Artificial Lighting Solutions
Pendant and table lamps from our garden room lighting ideas above are available in our store. We also have great selections for outdoors to complete the look of your garden.
