Landscape Lighting Tips to Help You Enjoy Your Outdoor Spaces After Dark
Outdoor spaces are extensions of our home, with tables, couches, and lounge chairs to make the backyard relaxing and enjoyable. When it comes to lighting your landscape, a few little details make a huge difference. Since your outdoor space is where you go to relax and enjoy your free time, it’s important to design it to your preferences and make it as cozy as possible. The most important part of your outdoor space could be lighting that is designed for your evening enjoyment.
Read these tips and landscape lighting ideas to help you enjoy your outdoor living space even in the dark.
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Design Your Landscape Lighting Plan
You spent a lot of time and effort maintaining a practical and relaxing backyard. Begin by thinking about the benefits a little lighting can offer. For example, take a walk around your backyard and think about the features of your house that you want to highlight, or how you want to use your outdoor space and adjust the lighting accordingly.
Electrical experts can ask their clients a variety of questions on creating a plan for the lighting you need in your yard. Here are some pointers on what designers recommend and consider before the planning and customizing of your landscape lighting.
- If you have an area that is only used to accommodate guests then an expert will recommend a variety of options for creating a more seasonal lighting style. If the lighting of your pool is concerned, then they will suggest using tiki lighters to highlight the pool’s perimeter to provide a beautiful scene.
- If safety lighting is the main concern then an expert will search for areas where there are any trip hazards. They can also search if there are any areas where security is missing and design it to look beautiful while still providing safety.
- If you want to prioritize beauty, an expert will use the landscape’s main elements to highlight the scene’s natural beauty. Water features, plant materials, and other elements will become the main focus.
Lighting Choices
Areas around your house such as the pathway, entrance, garage, or deck, all need the right lighting. A new light in the front of your entrance or patio will completely transform the scene from ordinary to extraordinary. It is a smart idea to know what kind of lighting you need and keep your options open while making your pick.
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Lights for entrance and pathway
Entrance and pathway lights are important to make you feel welcomed every time you arrive home. However, the most important reason to install these lights is that they provide visibility and protection during the night. You may also install a single post light next to the sidewalk on either side of the door to create a soft inviting glow.
2. Hanging lamps
Outdoor hanging lamps such as lanterns, chandeliers, or pendants can be attached to your seating area and provide the right amount of décor. Hanging lights besides providing lighting can also bring great visual appeal to spaces that are typically box-shaped such as patios or porches.
3. Garage lighting
Garage lights are visually appealing and have a big effect on your house. Lights that best highlight the garage are flood lamps, which are usually installed higher up, making it appropriate to align them with the garage’s highest point.
4. Deck lighting
Deck lights look good and make for a warm evening especially when you’re hosting a gathering or a barbeque party for your friends and family. They will highlight the areas with shadows where you’re most likely to miss a step and fall. These deck lights lay underneath the edge of your steps, fences, or main deck area that is both safe and soft.
5. Moon lights
This method of lighting is used when you have big trees in your backyard. You will achieve this kind of lighting by positioning the light fixture from a high point in the tree which illuminates and showers the limbs, branches, and ground in light.
Keep Your Property Safe
Landscape lighting not only should it make your house attractive and welcoming but it should keep your property safe too. If carefully placed, they can secure the features of your house. For example, motion sensor lights are a great addition for areas that don’t necessarily need a stylish fixture but do need bright lighting. Any type of unusual moves can trigger the light to stay on in an area that would normally be dark.
Avoid These Mistakes
The problems with outdoor lighting are not the same as those indoors. Outdoor reflection is less of an issue since most materials are dim and don’t reflect the light much. Shielding and positioning are important factors for lighting in order to prevent any kind of glare.
Outdoor lighting should blend in with your surroundings as well as complement your house. However, you want it to enhance the features of your outdoors rather than distract or create visual clutter. Here are the kind of mistakes you want to stay away from.
- Lighting that draws attention to itself and not the landscape.
- Forgetting variety. Some people use only one form of lighting and this can make your landscape look flat and one-dimensional.
- Non-LED lights. Using non-LED lights can lead to higher expenses and more frequent bulb replacements.
- Glare. It can be very irritating and it would be impossible to create a pleasing outdoor lighting design.
A well-arranged lighting system will be visually pleasing and allow you to enjoy the most out of your outdoor living area.
