Residential exterior lighting can turn a basic landscape into a masterpiece that everyone marvels at. However, lighting up your landscape of choice, be it your backyard, front yard, or outdoor garden, can be a daunting task especially if you have never done this kind of work before. But, there is no reason to fear or panic as this does not have to be the case. In this article, we’ll guide you through the process of choosing the best landscape lighting for your property. We’ll highlight different types of landscape lighting setups and how you can use them to give your landscape a total makeover.
Landscape Lighting 101
The first lesson you need to learn about landscape lighting aside from knowing what are the best outdoor lights is that in many cases, less is more. This means that you can essentially light up everything you want without investing in tons of lights that will cause your power bill to skyrocket. Simply put, don’t wash your yard out with lights while trying to spice it up. This will only make it look work. You need to play around with both the light and the dark. This is how shadows take form and things that were otherwise hidden come into the light. A well-lit landscape can help you create a sense of comfort, security, and tranquility in your property.
What To Light and What Not To Light
When playing around with the light and the dark, you’ll need to figure out what to light in your yard and what not to light. Choosing an outdoor light fixture for your house is not easy. To achieve this, you’ll first need to identify specific features in your landscape that you like. It can be anything from a pond to a particular tree. You can use lights to highlight these features and sought to show them off. You can add intrigue to sections of your landscape that are often ignored or avoided. This section can be anything from a simple stone wall to a dull footpath. Highlight these sections can give them an entirely new personality especially at night.
Another factor you should consider is functionality. Certain parts of your landscape may need to be lit for purely functional reasons. These can be areas such as staircases, and footpaths. You’ll need to be able to see these things at night to be able to conveniently move about your yard at night. Also, entryways and exits should be adequately lit yo allow guests and family members to safely and conveniently access your home. You can create a warm and welcoming mood in your property by simply using certain types of landscape lights on your entryways and exits.
Types of Landscape Lighting
Now that you have established what you want to light up, the next step is choosing the specific type of lights you will use. Below are various types of lighting fixtures you can use for landscape lighting.
Path Lights
Probably the most popular type of landscape lighting, path lights are small light posts that are spread out along a footpath to illuminate the walkway. These lights can also be used to frame out space or feature in your landscape. They can also be configured around a pool or along a driveway.
Up Lighting
This is a lighting setup that’s commonly used together with trees and other tall structures to create drama. You can use this type of landscape lighting to highlight large and exotic trees in your compounds.
Silhouette Lighting
Silhouette lights give an amazing effect for highlighting features that are otherwise hidden during the day. You only need to place these lights behinds the objects or features you want to highlight and boom, they will become visible for all to see.
Shadow Lighting
This type of lighting is the opposite of silhouette lighting. Here, the lights are placed in front of the object or feature that you want to highlight. For this lighting setup, you will need to have a flat surface such as a wall behind the object being illuminated so that proper shadows can be formed.
Moon Lighting
This is a special type of landscape lighting that can transform your yard. The light source is usually positioned high up in trees while aimed downwards. The light washes down the branches and illuminates the ground below.
Now you have a few ideas of some landscape lighting options you can use to spice up your yard. You can now go forth and transform your landscape into a masterpiece. You can look around to visit stores and ask how much does it cost for landscape lighting.
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