Outdoor lighting is more of an art than a science. Yet, few homeowners know how to use lighting to make their landscape more tranquil, beautiful, romantic or dramatic. You can achieve many moods and atmospheres with the right lighting, in the right places. Here are some ideas on where to place outdoor lighting and make your space more functional and beautiful.
Basic Illumination and Safety
The most essential purposes of lighting are to keep pathways and features safe and to deter theft. For these purposes, you need strong lighting around entry points of your home, and illumination along pathways and near potential obstacles.
Ways to Highlight Features
Once you have the basics covered, you can use lighting to highlight certain features and change the ambiance of your space. There is a wide range of strategies you can use to highlight features. Here are some of them, and some suggestions as to which features they may be best suited for.
- Highlighting: You can draw attention to a specific feature by placing lights at the base then projecting them up. You can use this to highlight rock features, mailboxes, and more.
- Shadowing: You can use the feature to cast a shadow instead, by directing light at the base of the feature towards a wall. This works well with trees and statues, things with interesting shapes.
- Down-lighting: This technique involves pointing the light down the feature instead of up at it. It is most useful for very vertical features such as trellises, gazebos, and vines.
- In-grade: Embedding lights in hardscaping is a great technique, that keeps the light fixture out of the way. It works well on surfaces where people may trip over the light, such as stairs. You might also use it for garden walls and other tripping hazards.
- Moonlighting: If you have a favourite tree, then this lighting is for you. We place one large and soft light high in the tree and angle it down. The result is a soft light that makes the whole space seem more dynamic.
- Washing: Instead of placing the light right next to the feature, with this strategy, you place it several feet away and direct the light at the feature. This works great for shorter features such as shrubs and bushes and it creates a softer, less stark look.
Thinking about adding outdoor lighting to your home, give us a call today and we’d be happy to help.
Submerged Lighting for Pools
If you have a pool or any water feature then you can add a lovely diffused light to your space by adding submerged lighting. This lighting doesn’t glare, but it does take advantage of the movement of the water. Plus, it’s wise for safety reasons to have water lit.
We can help you add ambiance to your outdoor landscaping with other interesting outdoor lighting strategies. Contact us today for your outdoor lighting installation.
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