Lighting can set the mood in any room – it’s calming and romantic when dim and energizing when bright. Why not give your outdoor living areas the same atmosphere? Overhead patio lighting and landscape lighting will extend your outdoor enjoyment long into the evening hours, especially as the season changes and the sky gets darker much earlier.
Recessed lighting in your outdoor living areas is effective and non-obtrusive. LED lights with completely enclosed housings are weather-resistant and long-lasting. These lights come in different degrees of brightness and even different colors and most are adjustable from the light switch or a smart home device.
Outdoor lamps, whether floor lamps or table lamps, give a cozy feel to your patio space. Be sure to purchase lamps specially designed to be used outdoors, as interior lamps could be easily damaged and are just not designed to withstand the temperature fluctuations and humidity.
Landscape lighting can take your yard from ordinary to extraordinary. Illuminating the façade of your home adds grandeur and class, as well as curb appeal if your home is on the market. Choose a centerpiece – a fountain, large tree, or cluster of shrubs – as a point of interest and direct brighter spotlights there. Use lower lights in surrounding areas for a nice backdrop to complete the picture.
Two techniques for lighting from the ground up include grazing and shadowing. Grazing is where you place a spotlight up close to a rough surface, such as a tree or masonry wall, at a sharp vertical angle to bring out the texture. Shadowing is where you place a light further away from an object so that it projects a shadow onto a relatively smooth surface behind it.
Landscape lighting doesn’t just have to come from the ground up. Wall-mounted lights brighten up taller areas and add height. Illuminate doorways, window features and porches with wall sconces for an artistic touch.
Lights are a great way to show off your pool after dark. Illuminate water features such as a sheer descent waterfall or fountains so the light sparkles with the movement of the water. Placing the light behind the waterfall or underneath it from the back makes for the most dramatic effect.