Do you avoid using your outdoor spaces after the sun goes down due to insufficient lighting? At night or on cloudy days, your landscape can feel lifeless, cold, and even a little spooky. Outdoor lighting can make all the difference by brightening your outdoor spaces and making your home more inviting, no matter the weather or time of day!
Whether your goal is to improve your home’s curb appeal, add visibility and safety to your walkways and patio, or make your backyard furniture more inviting during the evening hours, landscape lighting may be the ideal solution! Keep reading to learn how to achieve beauty and function with your outdoor lighting.
Why Opt for Landscape Lighting?
There are numerous benefits to adding outdoor lighting to your landscaping. Depending on the light fixtures and placement you choose, you can add aesthetic appeal and improve usability at the same time!
Here are some of the ways you might benefit from adding outdoor lighting to your landscape:
- Bring to life the stone, brick, and wooden accents in your yard.
- Improve the safety of your hardscapes, like walkways and patios.
- Make trees appear larger and more dynamic.
- Improve the year-round usability of your outdoor living spaces.
- Highlight the architectural features of your home.
- Increase your property value.
- Reduce the risk of accidents, vandalism, and break-ins.
Types of Outdoor Lighting Solutions
Landscape lighting is about more than just choosing a few outdoor lighting fixtures and installing them in your yard. A strategic design and professional installation can transform your landscaping by adding drama, warmth, and the appearance of texture.
Here are a few of the many types of lighting you can incorporate into your unique design:
- Highlighting
- Silhouetting
- Shadowing
- Wall-washing
- Up-lighting
- Moonlighting
- Down-lighting
- Accenting
- Path-lighting
Steps To Create and Execute the Perfect Outdoor Lighting
Here’s what you should do to successfully use outdoor lighting to elevate your landscape:
1. Determine how much and what kind of light you need.
Do you live in a city with street lights and neighbors close by or a more rural area with no artificial lights? Do you want to light a pathway and a few shrubs in your front yard, or are you hoping to illuminate an entire outdoor living area? These are important questions to ask yourself when you first begin exploring outdoor lighting ideas. Your specific preferences and goals will help shape the kind of lighting you need and the scope of your project.
2. Identify features you want to highlight.
Select the features of your home and landscape you want to be front and center when the sun goes down and your outdoor lighting takes center stage. Different types of lighting can be utilized strategically to highlight elements like:
- Your home’s architectural features
- Pathways, patios, and patio coverings
- Outdoor living spaces
- Water features
- Trees, plants, and shrubs
3. Carefully plan your design.
Before you make any final decisions, make a plan. Landscape design is an extremely important component of any project. It not only allows you to picture the finished product before installation begins, but it also helps minimize the risk of unforeseen issues.
4. Work with qualified landscape design and installation professionals.
While some homeowners choose to plan their design themselves and head down to their local home improvement store for supplies, working with a professional company is by far the best way to ensure your project turns out the way you want it.
Outdoor lighting is complicated. Not only is it important to have an eye for design and be educated about the numerous types of outdoor lighting and how to choose them, but you also need to be aware of things like safety, drainage issues, and energy efficiency. Working with a professional designer is the best way to ensure your project goes smoothly and successfully.
5. Watch your vision come to life!
Once you’ve settled on a design you love, all you have to do is sit back, relax, and watch your outdoor lighting project take shape. Your landscape lighting is sure to add to your home’s aesthetic appeal, year-round usability, and property value.
Let Us Help You Illuminate Your Landscape With Outdoor Lighting
At Blessing Landscapes, we focus on details without losing sight of the big picture. Landscape lighting is a fantastic way to not only brighten up your dim and dreary outdoor spaces, but also to highlight your favorite architectural and landscaping features, improve safety, add drama and dimension, and increase your home’s appeal and value. Our award-winning lighting design services can illuminate and elevate your landscape and home.
We’re here to answer any questions you have about outdoor lighting or any of our other services, including:
- Landscape Design
- Landscape Maintenance
- Water Features
- Drainage Services
- Lawns & Gardens
- Hardscapes
- Irrigation
- Synthetic Lawns
- Outdoor Living Spaces
Give us a call at 503-284-3557 to tell us about your project and learn more about how we do things. We can’t wait to hear from you!