If you have a patio in your home and are looking for lights to install there, you have no dearth of choices. There are as many designs and more varieties of lighting fixtures to choose from for your patio than for the inside of your home. In your home you have to go with the traditional ceiling or wall fittings and if you are a little more contemporary you have floor lamps.
Depending on the kind of patio you have and the kind of effect you want to create, choosing the right kind of patio lighting for you can be a daunting task with all the choices available. You have string lights, portable lights, pole lights, globe lights, flame lights, stair lights, marker lights, umbrella lights and any other kind of light that you can want. You even get table lanterns that are weather proof for your patio. Although you are spoiled for choice here, the very fact that you have so many lights to choose from may be a problem. You will have to choose carefully in order to get the right kind of effect that you want to create. For example if you have a really good open air patio with a grand view, you would really not want to clutter up the place with too many lights; they will only spoil the entire setting. Instead if you put in a couple of pole lanterns that are not too bright with a couple of rattan armchairs you are set.
If you have a patio that is a little on the smaller side going with string lights or globe lights is a good idea. Stringing them up means that you do not set aside floor space just for the sake of lights; giving you more space for furniture. Another thing that you can do is to put in floor lighting instead of railings. This will create an impression of spaciousness and will also make your patio look classy.
If you have a really big outdoor patio, you could go with one or two patio umbrellas with softly glowing lantern lights hung around the edges. If you have a couple of stairs leading up to the patio, you could put in stair lights which will complete the effect. If you have a covered patio, you could either go with string lights along the edges of the roof, or with table or floor lamps depending on the kind of effect that you want. This is most important because there is no kind of lighting that is appropriate or not for the patio. You just put in the kind of lighting that will give you the setting that you want. For example in the outdoor patio, putting in a couple of patio umbrellas will make it seem a little intimate and friendly, while the same patio with a couple of lights along the floor and different kind of furniture will turn it into a good place to receive guests for a semi-formal dinner.
A covered patio can either be a place to have a party, or a place where you can relax, all with the kind of lighting that you put up there. You could of course have different kinds of lighting for different purposes, and once again that is your choice.
Go online and check pictures of different settings that can be created, you will get more ideas of how to plan your patio better. You will get more options than you could have thought up yourself and you can even check the prices of the patio lights that you want online.