Wonderland under the house

One thing I didn't consider when designing the house, was outdoor lighting under the house. On paper it didn't really look like much of a usable space and I never realised how large it was, how useful it would be and how much time we would spend down there until after it was built.

During the day is fine, in fact it's an awesomely large and breezy space that's nice to just chill or rest during gardening. Since we completed the first stage of the underneath part of the house, we've added some chairs and at a later stage we'll add some tables and maybe a hammock and it will really become an outdoor room.  The dogs have their dog house and a few pillows for them to relax on. The clothesline is also under there, safely undercover out of the rain.

At night though it's a different story. It's pitch black and can be a little scary. I often have to put out or take in washing or check on the dogs and there's been a number of times that I've tripped over things, or even run into poles. There is a torch stored under there, but it's a bit useless to light up the whole space. I've even put those press button, battery operated lights you get from the junk store, but they're nowhere near bright enough and you have to walk around to turn them all on and off.

Just before Christmas I bought 50 metres of warm LED fairy lights, with the idea of hanging them around underneath to light up the area so it could be used whenever we were down there, but also for parties and gatherings at night. It's sat there on my "to do" list since November, but last week I kicked my toe on a piece of timber at night while carrying a load of washing. I kicked it so hard I actually thought I might have broken it, but it just cut the skin and bled everywhere. I guess that was a sign. 

I finally put them up on the weekend, just using some screw in hooks and I could not have imagined how amazing they look. They light up the space amazingly and bathe the entire space in a warm glow. It's like our own little wonderland. It will be a fabulous place for a party of just a casual BBQ. I don't think it will take Josh and his mates much time before they use it. I really wish I'd done this earlier.