7 DO's for fabulous outdoor lighting

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Outdoor lighting can be the pièce de résistance in beautifying your yard. It’s a wonderful way to create ambiance in your outdoor living areas or highlight a special planting or water feature. Plus it’s a great safety feature on stairs, around pools, and for dark walkways.

Here are some tips on how to best use landscape lighting, including what you should and should not do. 

Do light up your house first.
The most valued possession in your landscape is your home. So light this up first before you work on other outdoor areas. The right lighting fixtures on and around your home will provide safety and security. 
But don’t stop there. Think about how you can use landscape lighting to bring attention to your home’s unique architectural features.

Do focus on the vision before fixtures.
What is the big picture, the impact you wish to accomplish with landscape lighting? Once you have determined this, you can focus on the type of fixtures that will achieve your goals.

Do draw attention to what you want to illuminate.
It is easy to overdo landscape lighting. The first rule is to keep it simple, focusing only on what you wish to light up. Don’t overdo it with too many lights. A streamlined lighting plan always outshines a cluttered plan.

Do get creative with path lighting.
Placing landscape lights along a straight-line path looks more like a runway than an inviting walkway. Instead, stagger the path lights, or shine lights down upon the path so those on the walkway can still see where they are going.

Do choose the right bulbs.
Incandescent bulbs with a high voltage can undermine the ambiance you want to achieve. Not to mention they gobble up tremendous amounts of energy. Choose warm LED lights for the best bang for your buck, and skip the unwanted glare.

Do light up small spaces.
Adding accent lights to small, out-of-the-way spaces creates a sense of depth and beauty to your landscape and helps to keep all areas of your yard safe.

Do choose solar.
If you have plenty of sunshine where you live, choose solar lighting. Not only will solar lighting save you money, it is good for the environment and easy to install.

 

 

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  • FC&A Staff Writer