A backyard at night featuring string lights hanging above a patio area. A blooming tree with pink flowers is on the left, and there's a wooden bench on the stone patio. A wooden fence encloses the yard. The sky is overcast.
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String Lights, Electrical, and a Chandelier

ByLisa
6 Comments

Hello friends! We just finished up week 5 of the One Room Challenge and I am feeling overwhelmed! If you missed any of our progress so far, go back and start at the beginning with week 1, week 2, week 3, and week 4. This week was honestly the most difficult, which seems shocking since we have already built two outdoor sofas and an outdoor dining table, but it was just one of those weekends where every little thing threw us a curve ball. And for the record, I have NO hand eye coordination.

A backyard at night featuring string lights hanging above a patio area. A blooming tree with pink flowers is on the left, and there's a wooden bench on the stone patio. A wooden fence encloses the yard. The sky is overcast.This post contains affiliate links and was sponsored in part by Legrand. All opinions are my own.The image shows the Legrand logo, featuring a stylized "L" in black next to the word "legrand" in red lowercase letters.

Among many of the original deficiencies in the backyard was the dated outlet and switch. The outlet is on the patio itself and the dimmer switch is just inside the patio door and controls the outside wall sconce. Neither of these two receptacles are visually appealing, so when Legrand reached out and asked me to try some products from their new Radiant Collection, I was beyond thrilled! A gray metallic outdoor electrical outlet with a protective cover is mounted on cream-colored siding. The siding has a textured, wood-like appearance.I chose the Weather Resistant Outlet in Gray  and the Tru Universal Dimmer in white. They instantly added an updated look to both locations! And I am in LOVE with the screwless face plates!The image shows a Legrand screwless wall plate packaging and a white and red branded box, both positioned on a stone surface. The wall plate packaging is transparent, revealing the product inside.

The old bulky plug outside was always in the way, not to mention, it was really ugly! The new sleek outlet offers so much more style and conducts an automatic test every three seconds, ensuring it’s always ready to protect.Image of a gray electrical outlet with two standard sockets and two rectangular buttons labeled "reset" and "test". The words "WR" and "Garrison Street Design Studio" are visible on the faceplate.

The 80s called and asked for their dimmer switch back! Seriously, I think our old dimmer switch was from the 80s. But no more!

A beige wall features a framed abstract painting with swirls of black, white, and red. A round thermostat is mounted nearby. The edge of a glass door is visible on the left. A framed abstract painting with pink and gray shades hangs on a beige wall near a sliding glass door and a light switch.The low profile, modern, Tru Universal dimmer now matches the updated space around it! We had a little difficulty with the installation of this one, but one quick call to Legrand’s tech support and a conversation with a super nice, English speaking human, and it was up and running! So sleek.Close-up of a white dimmer light switch with a sleek rectangular design against a textured beige wall.Thank you so much to Legrand for sponsoring these products and updating my receptacles to match the makeover around them!  Collage showing Legrand Radiant Collection products: an outlet, a light switch, and packaging. Includes images of installed outlet and switch. Branding from Garrison Street Design Studio is visible.

Next on the list was string lights. And let me first start off by saying this was one of my life long dreams for this backyard project. So when it started with problems I was pretty deflated. My original plan was to copy what we did a few years ago for our Chili Cook Off Party, but with actual string lights instead of Christmas lights. The problem is the string lights I bought are MUCH heavier and needed to be supported with a guide wire, which wasn’t in the original plan. I bought our lights at Costco and they sold out almost immediately, but it looks like you can get them on Amazon too.A box of Feit Electric 48 ft. outdoor weatherproof string lights with 24 light sockets and 36 bulbs, including 12 spare bulbs. The package is on a wooden table with a window and blooming trees in the background.

Problem 2. I wanted to span these the width of the backyard, which at it’s shortest part is about 35 feet and it’s longest about 50 feet. Now you see why the guide wire was necessary. We ended up securing the lights to our trees using an eye bolt, but let’s just say this was not the original plan and we only hung two strands. I still think it looks cool, especially at night, but they are a little lower than I was hoping for. If you saw my Insta stories, you know I took a poll to see if they were too low. The vote came in with only about 20% thinking they were too low, those must be the tall people, haha!  So the lights are staying. We are still debating adding a few strands over the fire pit area. To be continued.String lights hang across an outdoor space against a clear blue sky. A chimney and part of a roof are visible in the background.A backyard with a wooden fence, string lights overhead, and a wooden bench on a paved patio. Leafless trees and a chimney are visible in the background under a clear sky. A backyard at night featuring string lights hanging above a patio with a wooden bench. A tree with pink blossoms is on the left, and a wooden fence encloses the grassy yard. The sky is cloudy.

The last item was my DIY chandelier. If you read week 2, you know we amended our plans in the eleventh hour which put a big hiccup in my plans for a chandelier. Well I finally figured it out and created this battery operated chandelier. For all those ambitious DIYers out there, I will do a tutorial when the One Room Challenge is over.A wooden outdoor table sits in the foreground, overlooking a vibrant green lawn. Three black wire pendant lights hang above, and a garden with blooming pink cherry blossom trees and a wooden fence are in the background. Three wire-frame pendant lights hang in front of a blossoming cherry tree with pink flowers. A wooden fence and a green lawn are visible in the background.

And that my friends was my entire weekend! Tune in next week to see the final reveal!!! I am so excited to finally see it all together and to get a little break from all the work, haha! 😉

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Don’t forget to stop by the One Room Challenge to check out all the other participants. There is so much talent here you will definitely be inspired!

Garrison Street Design Studio - String Lights, Electrical, and a ChandelierA backyard at night is illuminated with string lights. A large wooden table and benches sit on a patio, surrounded by a wooden fence. Blossoming trees are visible, and text reads, "Outdoor String Lights: Backyard Makeover Week 5.This post, String Lights, Electrical, and a Chandelier, appeared first on Garrison Street Design Studio.

6 Comments

  1. Love your string lights!
    That outlet is good for wet conditions outside?? I was thinking I was going to have to get the bulky type with the covers, but maybe not?

    Reply

    1. Thank you! The outlet says it’s weather resistant, but ours is under our covered patio and it does the auto test so I wasn’t too nervous about it. Our old outlet wasn’t even rated for outdoor use but it had a cover on it.

      Reply

  3. Meant to say… looks fantastic! I’m working on my backyard for the ORC as well. Can’t wait to come back next week and see your reveal! – Jackie

    Reply

    1. Thank you Jaclyn! I can’t wait to check it out. I have been running around like a mad woman trying to finish up, haha! Hope you are smooth sailing these next few days 😉

      Reply

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