It doesn’t matter if you have the prettiest, most welcoming, most relaxing, and most exciting landscape in the whole state if you don’t have proper lighting that makes your landscape unwelcoming after dark. Proper outdoor lighting is not only essential for safety, but it also helps your visitors have much better experiences. To make sure that outdoor fun keeps going as long as possible, here are some of the many ways outdoor lighting can make your days last longer in Trenton and Woodhaven, MI.
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Less Is More
“Less is more” is one of the most important design rules when it comes to landscape lighting. The light emitted by strategically placed low-wattage bulbs is far more pleasing and practical than the light emitted by one or several high-wattage bulbs, for example the old-school garage light that flooded the entry area with stadium-level light.
Start with the basics: safety (clearly illuminated walkways), security (just enough lighting to eliminate dark spots without being overly bright) and task lighting at work spaces such as the outdoor kitchen. From there, you can add accent lighting to create interest and really make your landscape pop. Just take it slow, and add no more light than is necessary. This way you won’t lose the magic of the night while creating a gorgeous outdoor living area and landscape.
A Layered Effect
Have you ever noticed that some patios are brightly lit, while the landscape remains dark? This creates a sense of unease. The trick to keeping the magic of the night while offering enough ambient light for safety and atmosphere, is to use a layered effect. Place a few (emphasis on few) low-lying lights randomly throughout the landscape. This will give just enough light to the less-used areas, to enhance safety.
The best-illuminated landscapes use several lighting strategies instead of just focusing on one or two. While it makes sense to focus on the walkways and areas of highest use, those strategies won’t do well without a decreasing contrast in other areas. Dark will appear scary and mysterious without direct lighting, so it’s best to use an array of smaller lights across the landscape to give the same visual texture and comfort that you would normally get during the daytime.
Spotlighting, moonlighting, silhouetting, washing, and other lighting techniques will help create a layered effect while highlighting special features.
A Welcoming Front Entrance
You’ll always need a safe and secure way for your visitors to approach your home. It also helps if that approach is beautiful, too. Use low-lying pathway lights on each side of your front walkway to give a clear vision of the path without direct light-to-eye contact and any potential obstacles. Any parallel landscape features such as shrubs or retaining walls can be highlighted, both to provide visual interest and to light the way. Use other lighting techniques such as spotlighting and moonlighting in the front yard to enhance visual texture and increase depth perception. With these lighting strategies, your visitors will enjoy the welcome your lighting offers.
Use Your Fire Feature
Fire was the first lighting technology harnessed by humans and it still holds a special place in our hearts. Typical landscape fire features such as fire pits, fire tables, and outdoor fireplaces not only provide heat that will encourage outdoor gatherings well into the colder months, but plenty of ambient light as well. For keeping gatherings feeling warm and intimate, or giving a dramatic presentation to a backyard event, use permanent masonry fire features to help with your lighting strategies: embed a few lights into the masonry to illuminate the space when the fire isn’t lit - but not enough to compete with the warm glow of the flames.
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