Does your outdoor space need that extra something? While your outdoor areas may look great during the day, refreshing your outdoor lighting can take your space to the next level while entertaining at night.
1. Think About Your Space and Your Needs
You’re probably excited to get started picking out lights for your outdoor areas, but before you start shopping you need to consider your space and how you plan to use it.
Where will you be entertaining? How much light do you need? For example, if you have an outdoor kitchen or grilling area, you may need more light than if you just have an outdoor sitting area.
What type of gatherings do you plan to have? Will your evening be quiet and intimate or a little more lively and loud?
What features of your landscape do you wish to highlight? If you have any special plants or features, you may want to use lights to display them at night.
2. Consider the Types of Lighting and Lights
There are three main types of lighting. Each type of lighting serves a distinct purpose.
Overall Outdoor Landscape Lighting
Overall lighting refers to the lights you use to light an entire space. For an outdoor space, the overall lighting are the lights you use for your patio or entertaining space. These are the lights that allow you and your guests to see what’s going on around you.
Task Lighting
Task lighting is lighting with a specific and functional purpose. Walkway lights are a good example, as these lights serve to illuminate a walkway that your guests will use.
Accent Lighting
Accent lighting highlights certain features of the landscape like plants, trees, fountains or architectural elements. These lights can enhance your ambiance.
There are many types of lighting you can choose from for your outdoor and patio lighting setup. While you don’t have to – and likely won’t – use all of the types, it’s good to know what’s available.
Types of Lights
There are many different types of outdoor lights you can use to achieve the three different types of lighting.
Floodlights
Floodlights provide a broad beam of light, allowing them to cover a large area. You will use floodlights in areas that need a lot of light.
If you do a lot of outdoor entertaining, then you may not want your floodlights to be too bright. Consider projecting them on a wall to highlight it or use them in a tree to soften the light.
Spotlights
Spotlights provide a narrow, bright beam of light. You typically use a spotlight to highlight a certain feature of your landscaping or architecture such as plants, trees, fountains and sculptures.
Since spotlights are so bright, you’ll want to ensure they’re never used in a place where they’ll be directly on your guests.
Up/Down-lights
As the names suggest, uplights are placed low and project light upward. Downlights are placed high and project light downward. By using a combination of both, you can create a lovely ambiance for your outdoor area.
You can use uplighting to highlight taller features like trees, columns or anything else you’d like to call attention to.
Downlighting is great for soft, ambient light. It can add depth and shadows to your space. You may also want to use it for certain water features or for spaces where you need added light for safety.
Garden Lights
Garden lights are mushroom-shaped soft lights that illuminate your flowerbeds. These look beautiful in your backyard and enhance your nighttime landscape.
Bollard Lights
Bollard lights are used to light pathways. They’re typically a light fixture on a post. The posts are staked in the ground at intervals.
String Lights
String lights are used to frame an entertaining area. They add a soft glow to create a warm ambiance. They come in many shapes and colors to suit your style.
Step Lights
Step lights illuminate steps for safety and appearance. Step lights may project light from the sides or may be recessed in individual steps.
3. Choose the Best Lightbulbs for Outdoor Landscape Lighting
There are four main types of bulbs you can choose from – incandescent, halogen, fluorescent and LED. While incandescent are attractive, but don’t last long and require a lot of energy. Halogen and fluorescent both last longer and consume less energy.
LEDs are the best option. They emit a pleasing light, have the longest lifespan and use the least energy. While they’re the most expensive initially, they save you in the long run.
4. Less Is (Usually) More
While it’s easy to get carried away with your outdoor lighting schemes, too many lights can be overwhelming. It can even take away from the ambiance you wanted.
Instead of going overboard with lights, use your budget to choose high-quality products that will beautifully and subtly enhance your outdoor entertaining space and landscape.
5. Think Vertically
While you’ll want to consider all of the features you’ll want to illuminate in your outdoor entertaining space, don’t forget to also think vertically. Having lighting at different levels can add depth and create a more interesting landscape. You’ll also avoid creating overwhelming light.
6. Avoid Straight Lines
If you want to create an inviting space, try to avoid using straight lines when lighting your pathways. Lines with slight curves will guide your guests through the space and will give your area and more magical feel.
7. Don’t Forget About Light Pollution
Be careful that you don’t get so focused on the lighting scheme that you forget about light pollution. Light pollution can have negative effects, like blinding your guests, shining into your home and blocking out your view of the night sky. It also wastes energy.
You can minimize light pollution by being careful about where you aim the lights. Use shades and lower wattages to keep them from being too bright.
8. Safety Is Important
If you’re going to entertain guests outside at night, you need to consider their safety. You’ll want to make sure any walkways, steps and anywhere else they may stumble.
Path lights are a great addition to any walkway. If you have steps leading down into your backyard, you can use small LED lights. They’re subtle and can even add to the ambiance of your space.
9. Get Creative
Finally, don’t be afraid to get creative. Your entertaining space and landscape are a reflection of you and your tastes. Use your instincts for what will work best. Throw in a few creative, unexpected features to make your space truly unique.
Are Your Ready to Make Your Outdoor Space Magical?
If you’d like to enhance your outdoor space and are looking for outdoor landscape lighting in Santa Cruz CA, The Home Lighter, Inc. can help. Visit us in Pacific Grove and we can explore your options. We’re happy to help you take your outdoor entertaining to the next level.