Outdoor Barn Lighting

Not too many years ago if a person mentioned outdoor barn lighting, thoughts would turn to visions of a building filed with tractors, stalls, farm animals and hay. Now many modern homes have a stylish barn in one of many styles, including gable and modular barns.

With the convenience of prefabricated buildings, different shapes and styles of barns are as simple as picking out a pattern and ordering it set up in a certain location. When it comes to the lighting itself, however, there are even more choices and all of them are perfect.

Antique Barn Lighting

It comes as a surprise to many people that barn lighting fixtures frequently are based on styles that held fuel-operated lanterns. Even today, it takes a lot of money and time to bring electrical power to an area. Imagine what it was like in the l930s, when less that 1 out of every 10 rural homes had electricity.

The Rural Electrification Act took the lines out to remote towns and areas around them and in less than 20 years, 9 out of 10 rural homes had electricity. Light bulbs have changed for the better and today the result is that outdoor barn lighting has modern or antique appeal while using energy-efficient lights.

Gooseneck and Vintage Lighting Techniques

The fun of Gooseneck lights is that you can extend the arm to provide more lighting where needed. When used for outdoor barn lighting, a pool of light spills across the entryway to the barn or perhaps over the covered window to a stall for those early morning visits to a special horse.

The convenience of this lighting is evident today with the same type of designated lighting techniques. Inside the traditional large barn, the goosenecks cut down on shadows without creating a bright glare.

Vintage lighting for barns is largely due to the quality construction of companies in the past that produced creative covers for lights made of porcelain enamel. The shades were larger and wider, producing a better array of light in the area.

Imagine the delight of having one or two of the cheerful vintage barn lights hanging from a beam or attached to the wall of the barn. Barn lighting fixtures create a special ambiance in your outbuildings, especially when you find one that brings fond memories from your childhood.

Barn Pendant Lighting: A Blast from the Past

Thinking about pendant lighting in the barn might not be practical for the old two story buildings still used to keep the hay under cover away from the rain, but is ideal for stylish one-story barns built in the suburbs. The idea is to think of a pendant, which drops down and has a beautiful piece connected at the bottom.

Beautiful bowl-shaped covers in tints of rose or turquoise compete with bell and flower shaped glass tinted over so slightly to create a delicate light over the desk. The pendants hang from rigid round metal, copper, silver, brass or gold links, or wires and chains decorated with frilly, yet elegant, designs of metal.

They were never popular for outdoor barn lighting, but took a place of honor not only as barn lighting fixtures in areas such as the office, but in homes, as well, such as over the main dining table or piano.

Define your own Rustic Barn Lighting

It is interesting to discover that rustic is an acceptable style and has its own fashion statement. Although it was originally a term specifying things suitable for the country, primarily unfinished, unadorned or sturdy items, the display has changed into charming and unique, rather than an insulting reference.

Outdoor barn lighting can be a beautiful rustic sconce with a matte black aluminum frame and clear water glass in the frames. An LED bulb sends out the proper amount of light along the walkway.

Yet another example of rustic beauty is the porch light that attaches to the wall with a piece of brass extending the cover outwards. The deep cover and extended socket holder allows the use of a clear 100-watt bulb to cast the light against the wall and directly over the area beneath it.

Barn lights direct the light to a specific area, as no one wants to bother the sleeping cattle, horses and chickens. Outdoor barn lighting can be a fashion statement for sheds and pole barns, as well as the other outbuildings on the property.

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