Landscape Lighting 101

If you do not have the right lighting outside your home, it can seem dull but with the right lighting, it can look dazzling. You’ll want to find out what type of light works out best for your home and garden. It’s possible to have a nice evening amble through your garden with beautiful lighting. Though it may well not seem possible to achieve, you may really have the right outdoor lighting in your home.

Choose Suitable Type of Exterior Lights

You should have decent lighting throughout the winter months since the days are shorter. The lights can modify the living space outside your house, so that with the right planning you could even entertain guests. There are four types of exterior lights to take into consideration. Security lighting will be the first and should only be used for areas that can vulnerable to break-ins. A lot of these lights are generally activated by motion sensors and are usually very bright. The next type or classification is task lighting which is needed for paths and stairs as well as for areas for grilling. The lights should not be very bright and must light up the specific area properly. When it is way too bright, it will not guide you, but blind you instead.

Try Accent Lighting

Accent lighting is actually for highlighting a feature that is unusual to give it a dramatic effect. A light that tips upward on a statue for shadow effect is a very common example. These types of lights can produce a silhouette effect which can be quite soothing. Another variety is moonlighting or star lighting which produces a moonlight or starlight effect. To create this unique effect, you must have outdoor lights on some trees and point them downward. To create the effects of stars, you set lights in tree branches and add some flickering candles. Having a natural feel is great to experience in your backyard.

Less is More

The key to lighting is to make sure you do not overdo it. When it comes to lighting style quite typically, less is more. Do not introduce lights if they are not necessary and it is perfectly fine to use low-wattage lights. It’s a good idea not to have lights aiming upwards. A common error is usually to have a runway effect by having the lights going in a straight line up and down paths. Something to avoid is the use of yellow lights, because not only is it unflattering to plants, but also to people. A better choice will be blue-white bulbs or use daylight-blue filters for your fixtures.

You need to position your lights so that you can easily get to them when you need to change bulbs. The moment your lights are set up for the outdoors, you can enjoy your time outdoors after dark.