Tropical Ambience Without the Airfare

Some lights quietly brighten a corner. This one strolls in wearing palm fronds and announces that the room could use a little more tropical nonsense.

At Koolookin, we’ve used these lighted palms inside the house, beside the front entrance, near the sliding glass doors on the lanai, and around the pool area. We may have owned several. That was product research—not an illuminated-palm-tree problem.

Standing approximately six feet tall, this artificial palm has two staggered trunks, full green fronds, bright green lights tucked among the leaves, and warm-white lights wrapped around the trunks. Together, they create enough decorative glow to transform an ordinary corner without requiring sunshine, soil, water, or conversations about why the palm tree looks unhappy.

The metal trunks are wrapped in nylon rope and mounted on a sturdy square metal base. Four ground stakes are included for extra stability outdoors. It plugs into a standard 120-volt household outlet and includes a 10-foot power cord, so there are no batteries to replace just when the tree has decided to look magnificent.

Eight preprogrammed lighting modes let you choose from waves, slow glow, flashing effects, and steady-on. The tree is IP65-rated for indoor or outdoor use, although the manufacturer recommends protecting it from extreme weather. We prefer covered outdoor spaces, where it can glow dramatically without being asked to wrestle a hurricane.

The practical particulars:

• Approximately 6 feet tall
• Two staggered palm trunks and leaf crowns
• Green lights among the fronds
• Warm-white lights around the trunks
• Eight lighting modes
• Metal frame with a heavy-duty square base
• Four ground stakes included
• 10-foot power cord
• Standard 120-volt plug-in power
• Approximately 9.08 pounds
• Suitable for indoor or protected outdoor use

It is cheerful, unusual, surprisingly useful as ambient lighting—and considerably easier to live with than a real palm tree.