When you’re thinking ahead to lounging in your sunny garden this summer, your mind probably doesn’t conjure images of darkness. But it’s often the slow fade into evening that lingers longest in our memories: plates picked clean, drinks nursed to the last sip, conversations softening under candlelight.
This is where good garden lighting earns its keep, turning a dimming outdoor space into something magical and stretching those golden hours well into the night. As a candle devotee, this clever candle-like table lamp from H&M Home's new outdoor lighting collection immediately caught my eye. Portable, rechargeable, and outdoor-ready, it captures that flickering, sun-warmed feeling and holds onto it after dusk, especially when scattered across a table or dotted around a seating area.
Available in beige or black, it is a modern, minimalist riff on the 16th-century 'chamberstick', once an essential for navigating shadowy homes. Traditionally, these featured a lipped pan base with a socket to slot your burning candle in, catching any dripping wax in the dish. It calls to mind the Gothic Romantic interior trend we're seeing in 2026, but in a way that feels super contemporary, and frankly, cool.
Here, all the frills and flourishes of classic chambersticks are playfully pared back into something altogether more minimal. A sturdy circular base anchors a cylindrical 'candle' that glows in its entirety, rather than just at the tip, giving the whole piece a luminous presence. A discreet button at the base turns the lamp on and off and cycles through three brightness levels, while a simple semi-circle detail nods to the finger loops once used to carry traditional chambersticks from room to room.
Rechargeable via a USB-C cable (included), this modern-day candle can shine for up to 35 hours on its atmospheric lowest brightness, 11 hours on medium, and six hours on full beam. And when the chill bites and the party inevitably moves inside, these lightweight portable lamps can come along too.
This modern interpretation is just one stylish piece in H&M’s new outdoor lighting collection. And as the evenings get longer, it’s worth snapping up ASAP — these pieces will sell out.
Juxtaposing a curved base with a flat top, this metal table lamp channels the sun in both form and function, finished in a powder-coated orange that feels almost solar-charged itself. Dimmable across three levels of brightness, it is not only battery-powered and portable but also a solar-powered table lamp. Let it bask in the daylight as you soak up the sun, then turn on with full power once the sun dips beneath the horizon. And if the British weather does its usual vanishing act, a USB-C cable is on hand to top things up.
Globe lamps always look cool, but H&M mixes things up here with a glowing, flat-bottomed orb cradled in a travertine-style stand. There’s a satisfying tension between the smooth, curving globe and the stand’s more angular form. Speckled with organic texture and finished with softly uneven edges, it has that carved-from-stone look, but thanks to its resin construction, it’s far lighter than it appears. Dimmable and rechargeable, with a battery life of up to 31 hours, it’s as happy perched on a tabletop as it is tucked into a patio corner.
Space-age mirrored finishes are firmly back in orbit, and this sleek rechargeable lamp wears it well. A slim stem rises from a compact base to support an opaque, gently curving shade, all crafted from iron and standing 31.5cm tall. Suitable for both indoor and outdoor use, this dimmable lamp can shift from garden companion in summer to living room accent once winter rolls back around. And if mirrored metal feels a little bold, it also comes in softer beige or a pale pink.
With its thick conical base and pointed hat, this rechargeable lamp sits somewhere between a tree and a miniature parasol in shape — though at 18cm tall, it’s firmly in the tabletop realm. Rechargeable via USB-C and dimmable across three levels, the battery lasts up to 38 hours if you keep it on an atmospheric low brightness. Crafted from iron and dressed in colored polypropylene, the geometric silhouette feels crisp yet playful, and looks just as good in a soft, pale pink or buttery yellow as it does in a more dramatic inky black.
With a slimmer stem and a similarly parasol-like shade, this rechargeable table lamp offers a lighter, more delicate take on the look. Made with iron and powder-coated in a soft beige, the stem rises from a sturdy base, topped with an opaque shade that diffuses the dimmable bulb beneath. Lasting up to 35 hours on low brightness, 15 hours on medium, and 10 hours on full, this indoor-outdoor table lamp is recharged with a USB-C cable and easily movable when the shade shifts.
The original rechargeable tabletop light, mushroom lamps are a perennial favorite with their cylindrical bases and domed shades. Here, H&M swaps the usual punchy colors for a neutral light beige and a sleek, shiny silver. Crafted from iron, the lamp is controlled via a simple on/off switch near the base, which also cycles through three dimmable brightness levels, with the rechargeable battery lasting up to 17 hours on the dimmest setting.
H&M isn’t the only high street retailer unveiling its outdoor lighting ahead of summer: IKEA has done the same, and these solar-powered outdoor lanterns look so ethereal.
