Garden Lighting Adds Inexpensive Beauty

For the homeowner that desires to maximize the enjoyment of their garden no matter the time of day, lighting is not only a necessary but mandatory enhancement.  In today's hustle and bustle society when time is a commodity of more value than money, evenings are the only time many of us are able to just sit, relax, have a nice cool drink and enjoy that garden we work so hard to grow.  Adequate garden lighting is a must for not only the enjoyment of your garden after night fall, but for the safety of your family and guests as well.  You do not want to wander the garden without proper outdoor lighting as you could possibly trip and fall injuring yourself or damaging some treasured garden feature.

Many backyard landscapes today are meant to provide entertainment for family, as well as friends since our busy lifestyle does not always allow a weekend get away.  Thus many homes are professionally landscaped and equipped with backyard swimming pools meant to be enjoyed long after the sun has set.  Without proper garden lighting, those special features on which you spent so much money to install and time to maintain will appear as a dull shadow in the moon light.  A swimming pool provides a great opportunity for the reflection of lighting into your backyard landscape.

When considering a lighting plan for your garden, keep in mind you are not looking to provide a place for wayward aircraft to land.  Keep your lighting in the garden area more quaint and subtle in order to set a mood of calm and maybe even romance.  While some function areas such as the cooking and food prep areas will require lighting that is somewhat brighter, most of your garden lighting will provide just enough illumination to provide for the safe movement around the grounds and highlighting of special features.

While lighting your garden for safety and security is a necessary thing that you should address.  Remember that you are also wanting to highlight unique architectural and natural features of your landscape as well as maybe a specimen tree that truly stands out in your yard.  Also, as you devise your garden lighting plan, keep in mind that you do not have to keep things entirely serious.  Consider adding some character to your garden with whimsical lighting such as cartoon characters, chili peppers or any type fixture that tickles your fancy.  Your lawn is an open palette that provides you with the opportunity to have fun and show the uniqueness of your personal taste as you carry out the lighting plan of your dreams.

Outdoor Lighting Adds Curb Appeal

When asked about the type of outdoor lighting around their home, most people reply that the standard front and rear porch lights are all they have. These are usually the lights required by local building codes and all that most builders install. While these lights are utilized based solely on security and are definitely a great idea, there are so many other uses for outdoor lighting. Homeowners, justly so, spend thousands of dollars each year for landscaping around their property. However, when darkness falls, that beautiful and costly landscaping sits unseen in the darkness of early evening.

In order to see the change that can be made in your property through the use of outside lights, plan a trip around some of the nicer neighborhoods in your area early one evening. While on this leisurely drive you are sure to notice the difference in the overall appearance of properties with professionally lighted landscapes when compared to residences without outdoor lighting. After your sightseeing trip about town, I feel confident that you will be inspired to develop your own plan for enhancing the nighttime appearance of your residence.

As you noticed, there are countless ways to light your property and countless styles of outside lights you can use in which to do it. Due to these facts, I recommend you hire a professional landscape lighting designer to help you develop a plan specifically for your needs. The designer will be aware of any new outdoor lighting for curb appeal techniques that you may not have noticed while on your excursion and will know the type of lighting that will work best for your property.

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While you may find it easy to decide what you would like to light, the type outside lights you will use to do it is another matter all together. The choice you make will depend on site considerations specific to your property as well as the effect you are attempting to achieve. The landscape lighting designer will visit your home, take pictures and sketch the layout of your property and its features. The designer will then develop a plan utilizing some or all of the fixture types mentioned below.

Up lighting usually consists of the floodlight or spotlight type and the fixtures are placed at ground level and point upward to highlight either a specimen tree or a special architectural detail.

Down lighting again will utilize floodlights or spotlights to highlight a special area and normally attempts to simulate natural light.

Path lights do just what it sounds like they would do. They are installed slightly above ground and spread light across paths and walkways. These outside lights will assist your guests and other visitors in safely negotiating areas that could be trip hazards if not properly lighted. These lights will help you prevent that lawsuit that is waiting to happen if someone were to be injured by tripping and falling on a dark sidewalk.

Back lights are placed behind objects and cast a shadow that provides a silhouette for a dramatic effect. Again these fixtures are generally floodlights or spotlights.

Special lighting consists of torch lights, string lights, post lights and other various type outside lights that usually provide low level ambient lighting to an area.

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Once the plan and design phase is complete it is time to consider installation. While there are DIY kits available for simple installations, a comprehensive outside lighting plan for your property will likely exceed your skill set unless you are an extremely advanced do-it-yourselfer. Here again, I recommend utilizing a professional for the installation. They will not only have the knowledge needed for such a project but will also have access to the necessary equipment and personnel.

Now that you have all the preliminary legwork done, it is time to sit back and watch the magical transformation of your property take place. Once the final light bulb is screwed in and the outside lights are burning on the first night following project completion, you will realize that you have made one of the best investments you could make in the curb appeal of your property. Not to mention the fact that you will be the envy of all your neighbors whose homes lack that additional outdoor lighting are lost in the darkness of a long winter night.

Patio Lights for Enjoying the Outdoors

There is a feeling you get sitting on a well designed patio enjoying one of your favorite cool beverages that just can't be easily matched. However, for many, as the day draws to a close, so does the opportunity to enjoy that patio that you worked so hard to get just right. So what is the solution to this dilemma? Patio lights placed with as much care as was taken in the original design of the patio.

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In addition to the added time you can now spend on your patio, installing patio lights provides additional benefits that may not be immediately apparent. They can also provide additional security around your property. Many police departments believe that low levels of lighting on and around your property are a great deterrent to intruders. When confronted with a property with no place to hide in the shadows, most burglars will bypass a residence in favor of one not as well lit. Along with added security, outdoor lighting can make your property safer for your guests and other visitors. By lighting trip hazards around your residence, you reduce the risk of someone becoming injured, thus, eliminating what could be a devastating and unnecessary lawsuit. In today's litigious society, anything you do to prevent accidents around the home is a worthwhile investment. Now that you have decided to light the area on and around your patio, let's determine exactly where the patio lights should be placed.

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Survey the different parts of your patio and the likely uses in each area. This will assist you in determining the types of patio lights you will want to use as well as their placement. Always light steps and/or paths that lead to your patio. This is that prime area I was talking about where lawsuits can be prevented with the use of patio lights. Provide dimmer patio lights in seating areas and other places where your guests are likely to just relax and enjoy each others conversation. Install brighter and more intense patio lights in functional areas such as the grill or that nice little niche where you like to sit and read.

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Keep in mind when installing patio lights that more is not always better. Remember, you are not going to land aircraft on your patio, so keep the lighting low key and only provide brighter lighting in the functional areas as needed.

In addition to lighting, consider other items that can help you enjoy your patio more, such as propane patio heaters. A heater can help you enjoy your patio long into the cool weather season thus allowing you to utilize that patio for many additional days each year.

Patio Lighting Prolongs your Outdoor Enjoyment

For many of you that are like our family, you have spent lots of time and money planning and building a nice patio that provides hours of enjoyment in the perfect outdoor space. However, when night falls that nice area you spent so much time designing can become useless. So what's the solution? Patio lighting that can turn that dark patio into a warm, inviting space for entertaining and relaxing. When planning your patio lighting be sure to remember that more is not always better. Lighting too much of the area can provide too much glare. For a comfortable patio, a few well-placed patio lamps provide enough lighting to see, but retain the alluring, relaxing mood.

While patio lighting comes in a variety of styles and shapes, there are basically two types. Those powered by electricity, or those that burn lamp oil. I personally think that it takes a mixture of both types to obtain the perfect lighting scheme for a patio. For overhead lighting when your patio is covered, the obvious choice is electrical lights. You could also use hanging solar lights in this situation, which for the purpose of this discussion, I'll put in the class with electrical lights even though they will actually not be connected to the power grid. I would suggest that any overhead lighting you use, be installed on dimmers. With dimmers you can alter the amount of light at different levels in order to obtain the atmosphere you want at different times. If your patio is not covered and you have some tables with umbrellas, you can get LED patio umbrella lights that attach to the ribs of the umbrella and can make the area take on an almost magical feel.

Okay, now that you have taken care of your overhead lighting needs, it's time to look at some of the more subtle forms of patio lighting. The oil burning lamps are ideal for this need. The lamps are portable so they can be placed in different areas of your patio depending on the activities taking place at any given time. Keeping in mind that these oil burning lamps have an exposed flame, try to place these lamps in a place where they will not be bumped and possibly knocked over. Hot burning oil on the floor of a patio can quickly alter the mood of even the most lively party. Since you are going to be burning oil anyway, you might as well make the lamps serve a dual purpose and burn a citronella oil that will repel insects. Citronella oil is a safe, effective pesticide that emits a lemony fragrance that helps drive mosquitoes away. If you live in an area where mosquitoes are a problem you know why I suggest citronella oil.

When planning your patio lighting project, keep in mind that there is no reason that you cannot enjoy the same touches outside of your home that you enjoy inside. With all the choices available to you today, you should be able to develop a lighting scheme that can be used as an accent to the natural beauty of your surrounding landscape. By taking the time to discover the correct placement, your lighting will add that extra bit of allure and ambiance that will set just the right mood you are looking for.