Landscape lighting at Elegant Custom Images Inc can make your home and yard even more inviting if you love your home and yard at night. However, you should plan carefully before installing a low-voltage system to avoid tripping hazards and wire problems.
Start by creating a sketch of your property and marking where the lights will go. Choose lights rated for outdoor use and keep extra cable on hand in case you need to alter your design.
A well-planned landscape lighting system can elevate your home’s nighttime curb appeal in a variety of ways. In addition to illuminating walkways, stairs, and potential hazards, this type of lighting can highlight specific landscaping features, including water and statues.
When highlighting these elements, be sure to use uplighting techniques, which are aimed upward to illuminate the details of a planting or landscaping feature rather than shining the light on its surroundings. This technique can take a boring front yard and make it stand out, giving you more home value and curb appeal.
For a more unique effect, you can use lights to silhouette particular landscaping features at night. This is particularly effective for highlighting the texture of a particular plant or tree, such as topiary. In addition, using two or more lights to highlight a particular element creates an attractive interplay of shadow and light.
Landscape lighting can make a backyard garden a focal point at night, creating a dramatic canvas that is the envy of your neighbors and friends. During the day, a well-designed backyard can be a serene oasis, but at night it can become a bustling entertainment hub for dinner parties and social gatherings.
If you’re planning to hold nighttime events, consider using lighting to create a dramatic backdrop that will complement your home’s architecture and add a sense of excitement. For instance, you can use outdoor lighting to illuminate a fountain or statue, highlighting their intricate details and hypnotic patterns.
While enhancing curb appeal, landscape lighting can also increase safety by illuminating walkways and steps, as well as deter burglars by making it difficult to sneak up on the property undetected. In addition, installing motion-detecting lighting can provide security without compromising the aesthetics of your backyard.
Landscape lighting may require some initial investment, but it can be affordable and easy to maintain. By periodically wiping fixtures to remove dust, ensuring all cables are safe and secure, and trimming overgrown vegetation blocking light, you can ensure your landscape lighting is always at its best. In addition, most landscape lighting professionals can offer maintenance packages that include yearly inspections and preventative repairs.
Create a Nighttime Atmosphere
The yard and garden of a home represent a significant investment in time and money, so why limit their enjoyment to daylight hours? A well-designed landscape lighting system can enhance your home and outdoor living spaces for nighttime use. Whether you’re hosting an intimate dinner party or a large poolside bash, lighting up your landscaping and architectural features will set the perfect mood.
Accenting is a common landscape lighting technique that involves using light fixtures to highlight specific landscape elements such as a boulder or outdoor fire pit. This type of lighting is more subtle than other types of landscape lighting and can be a great way to bring attention to unique features on your property.
Walkway lighting, also known as path lighting, is another essential landscape lighting technique. This type of lighting uses light fixtures to illuminate walkways and paved surfaces, typically at knee height or lower to prevent glare. It can also be used to illuminate patios, driveways and pools. One important thing to remember with walkway lighting is that more doesn’t always mean better: it’s better to have a few well-placed, evenly-spaced lights than many clumped together.
Illuminating a wall is an excellent way to make it stand out in the nighttime landscape and can be used to create a dramatic effect that adds dimension and visual interest to your home and/or outdoor spaces. This is often achieved by installing a fixture that is placed within the wall and then covered with a decorative rock or other landscape element.
With the advancements in LED technology, these lights are becoming the preferred landscape lighting bulbs. They’re available in a range of colors and produce a high-quality, consistent light. They’re also energy efficient and last longer than traditional incandescent bulbs, eliminating the need for regular bulb changes and saving you money on your utility bill.
When designing your landscape lighting system, it’s important to consider how you will access and service the lighting fixtures. It’s recommended that the wiring for your lighting system be buried underground and/or routed through a landscape feature such as a pathway. This helps protect the wires from damage and provides a more streamlined look. It’s also important to only use light fixtures that are rated for outdoor use since fixtures designed for indoor use may have finishes that can’t withstand humidity and temperature changes.
Enhance Safety
In addition to enhancing beauty, landscape lighting can also help deter burglars and prevent injuries to family members and guests. Burglars often target houses that are dark at night and easier to hide in because they do not draw as much attention from passersby. Well-placed landscape lights can draw attention to a home and scare away nocturnal predators that might otherwise prey on small pets, such as dogs or cats.
In the absence of adequate light, it is easy to step on uneven ground or a tripping hazard and fall. Landscape lighting, when properly installed, can illuminate walkways and stairs, making them safe to navigate at night. It can also highlight potential trip hazards such as rocks, plants, and other obstacles.
Depending on the fixture type, a homeowner can choose a wide range of brightness (lumens), color temperature, and beam spread. The more important of these features is the beam spread, which determines how much area is illuminated, and it will affect where the light can be placed and how many fixtures can be used on a single transformer line. The choice of bulb is also important as LEDs last longer, are more energy efficient, and do not flicker like traditional incandescent bulbs.
There are several options available for lighting your yard, including in-ground and above-ground fixtures and posts, wall mounted fixtures, and pier and deck mounts. It is possible to mix lighting types on the same transformer, but you should carefully consider the wattage of each fixture to avoid overloading. Other options include adding photocells or timers, which can automatically turn on at dusk and off at dawn.
When choosing a lighting system, it is important to use fixtures that are made from solid copper or brass instead of aluminum. These materials will not rust and can be customized with patina finishes that will become more beautiful as they age. Most importantly, these fixtures are more durable and less expensive over time than their cheaper counterparts.
While there are a number of benefits to landscape lighting, the most immediate and obvious one is that it can enhance your curb appeal. It can draw attention to architectural features of your home and create a dramatic effect that is sure to impress neighbors and friends. It can also improve safety, make your yard more usable at night, and provide value for your property.
Add Value
If your outdoor lighting is well-designed, it will showcase your home’s architectural features in a unique way that will make it stand out. This can give you a competitive edge when it comes time to sell and help you get top dollar for your property.
Landscape lights are also energy-efficient and eco-friendly, which is a plus for homeowners looking to reduce their environmental footprint. LED technology has expanded the options for landscape lighting, allowing you to choose fixtures that look just like traditional bulbs but provide longer life and less waste.
Another benefit of landscape lighting is that it adds value to your property by making it safer for you and your family members to navigate the exterior of your home at night. This is especially true if you have stairs, uneven areas or tripping hazards on your property. In addition, landscape lighting can help you see your house number better so that first-time visitors can find your property easily.
Finally, landscape lighting deters crime and makes your property more secure. This can be a great benefit if your neighborhood has high crime rates or if you live in an isolated area. Investing in landscape lighting can make it more difficult for intruders to approach your home at night, which is great if you want to improve the security of your home.
It’s important to distinguish between real and perceived value when it comes to landscape lighting. While there’s no hard and fast rule on how much landscape lighting will increase the value of your home, it can certainly boost your property’s appeal – both to potential buyers and to appraisers. However, the exact amount will vary based on several factors, including the quality of your lighting and how it is designed. In addition, it’s important to consider the landscape lighting of other properties in your neighborhood. If your neighbors have lighting and you do not, it may be harder for prospective buyers to justify the cost of landscape lighting at your home.
