Lighting the night

<p>The outdoor-living industry has done its best to convince us to move outside — decorating our patios and decks with so many interior-style comforts that only the blue sky or stars overhead serve to remind us we're actually in the yard.</p><p>Even lower-end retailers are featuring outdoor lamps — both standing and tabletop — that except for their weather-proof materials, look like they walked out of a formal living room and got lost.</p><p>At what point are we overfurnishing the exterior to such an extent that we defeat the purpose of being outside at all? How about drawing the line at light.</p><p>Electric lamps may look elegant and give off more illumination, but electricity is a symbol of civilization. The flickering flame of a candle, in fact, can do a much better job of creating atmosphere, whether you're having a small dinner party or a quiet, romantic evening for two.</p><p>“Lightbulbs just don't do it,” says McCall Keahey, a stylist for Pier 1 Imports in Santa Rosa. “For outdoor evening spaces, candles help bring people together. You just naturally tend to open up with candles.”</p><p>The design options are endless, too. Candles are far less expensive than formal landscape lighting or lamps. They don't require any wires, installation or electrical connections or outlets. And you can change them at a whim for whatever mood you're trying to set, altering the look either with the type of candles you choose or the candle holder itself.</p><p>If you still like the formal look but prefer the ambiance of candlelight, there are what one might call “candleliers” — elegant chandeliers that use candles rather than lightbulbs.</p><p>“It's a different dimension of lighting that helps create the ambiance,” said Colleen Carbott, a spokeswoman for Lowe's, which features an outdoor chandelier designed to hang neatly within a gazebo. At 18 inches with a black matte powder coated finish, it holds eight votive candles. And at $49 with no installation required, it's an inexpensive way to insert a touch of elegance to a patio or deck.</p><p>Carbott suggests adding to the drama and dimension even further by staggering the candlelight at different levels, perhaps with a collection of votives on the table as well, and a few tall tiki torches in the distance.</p><p>You can have fun with candles, Carbott says, playing with different methods of accessorizing. One fast and easy way to ramp up the glamor on a tabletop is to place candles on mirrors, like the four-by-four-inch squares you can pick up at home-improvement stores.</p><p>“Mirrors can make the space look larger and create the illusion of more light,” she said.</p><p>Choose different kinds of candleholders to alter the ambiance for different events, without completely redecorating. Keahey suggests an upgrade of the old hurricane lamp. Putting your candle within an enclosure ensures that any unexpected gusts won't blow you into instant darkness. Pier 1 has a line of classy enclosed lanterns with bases that come in different sizes and finishes that you can stagger on a tabletop.</p><p>“We have one in a young hip acid green or red. But you can also get them in a contemporary nickel-plated finish or a traditional black painted-metal finish,” he said.</p><p>They have handles so they can be hung. You can also play with other forms of hanging candleholders. Create your own starlight under the stars with hanging glass stars that hold a votive. Stagger a few in different colors — red or green at different heights above the table. To conjure up an exotic scene, try something like Pier 1's giant Moroccan lanterns, which scatter tiny pinpoints of candle light through holes cut in the metal surface. They can sit on a table but are far more mysterious if hung.</p><p>Candles can also be placed on the ground almost like luminaria to lead guests to different outdoor rooms or entertaining areas.</p><p>“You can lead people down paths that you can create,” said Keahey. “Like if you have a yard and you're throwing a party, you can use candles to direct traffic.”</p><p>Or you could cluster them to draw attention to a special area of the lawn or garden that people might not otherwise notice or find. Cluster them around a piece of garden art or light up a fountain by surrounding it with candles.</p><p>“Candles provide such an inviting light,” Keahey said. “You can affect people with it.”</p><p>One of the hot new items gaining more and more popularity are battery-operated candles. While it sounds dubious, these fool-the-eye lights look like real candles, complete with waxy exteriors and even wicks. They even flicker like real candles. But they are equipped with battery-operated LEDs.</p><p>Karla Schikore, owner of the design boutique Haus Fortuna in Petaluma, said these “flameless candles” are amazingly realistic-looking and are a nice alternative to real candles since you don't have to worry about fire danger or small children or pets running into them or knocking them over and injuring themselves. And hot wax not only can burn but it can create a mess on a nice table or holder.</p><p>“They're particularly great here in Petaluma, where it is very windy outside all the time,” she said, lamenting the aggravation of trying to set a mood with candles only to have to keep re-lighting them.</p><p>And they're inexpensive. Schikore said you can buy two votives for $6.50, including the battery, and spend up to $20 for a 5-inch pillar.</p><p>Because they use LEDs, which consume very little power, they can run virtually all season on the same battery.</p><p>For something more mysterious or romantic, there are beautifully exotic candles with fragrances to light up those summer evenings.</p><p>“The aroma of a gently scented candle is wonderful, and just adding that element of fire into any gathering is going to be more compelling than fairy lights,” said Carrie Leber, a spokeswoman for The Himalayan Trading Co., which which features a fun array of candles in unexpected containers, like spice pots and trays.</p><p>They are made in earth-friendly soy, bees wax and essential oils. Natural fragrances like wild green fig are perfect for outdoors, enhancing whatever nature may bring to the outdoor table.</p><p>You don't even have to spend a lot of money on candle holders. Leber says you can find accents, architectural salvage and containers at flea markets.</p><p>“To go outdoors and see things that you wouldn't expect,” she says, “really tantalizes the imagination.”</p><p>You can reach Staff Writer Meg McConahey at meg.mcconahey@pressdemocrat.com or 521-5204.</p>