OK remember this project is an "on the cheap" DIY. I've been playing around with some solar lights as an option for stuffing the tops of the poles and keeping the water out and add some environmentally friendly lighting. While my original attempt worked, I came up with an alternative that's a little more sexy. The photo was taken this morning at daybreak from the underside.
The other day I found some $5 white LED solar lights that are roughly 1/3 of the size of the other plastic solar lights you may find for the garden. I got 6 of them and poked them in the poles. The other larger amber lights, look and fit better but I wasn't really happy with the looks using these either .
What I ended up doing is just removing the head of the lights and placing them on top near the center of the gazebo. Since they are a low profile you cant see them easily from the outside. At night, it directs the light through the screen better than the lights on the poles do. Also directs the light more directly into the center where it is needed most.
At present, the light is very soft and subtle. I'll likely add a few more of these. They also have switches on them to turn them on and off unlike the other lights I have. This means I could vary the amount of available light by turning some of them off. I may experiment a little with them and tie them into a single low-voltage dimmer switch accessible from underneath.
I also received my hummingbird weathervane. That I haven't installed yet. And I also haven't painted the roof yet either. So the lights can't be even semi-permanently mounted yet but I do have a plan for that also that will allow for easy removal if they need to be serviced at some point.
