Lighting is just as important outside of the home as it is inside. Ample lighting keeps pathways well-lit, backyards optimized for entertaining, and adds beauty and charm to the exterior of your home. Many great options exist to help you achieve such goals, but if you’re not quite sure how to go about selecting and installing outdoor lighting, you’re not alone.
The first step is to assess your outdoor lighting needs. Can you tell which areas are under-lighted or that need a bit of a boost? Quality, appropriate outdoor lighting not only adds ambiance but also provides significant security. Some people even choose to invest in motion sensor lighting to ensure they know if someone—or something—happens to be lurking about in the late hours of the evening.
You should feel happy, safe, and secure in your home, and exterior lighting is just another way to achieve those feelings. But what sort of lights do you need around your home?
Security Lighting
One of the most critical purposes of exterior lighting is security. If your home is not close to other houses or a main road, investing in security lights will help you feel safer and more secure. Motion sensor lights, triggered by movement, are an excellent option.
Depending on the type of motion sensor lighting you purchase, you might be able to set the sensors, so it doesn’t trip when wildlife–small animals like squirrels and bunnies, for example—cross their paths. That way, you can be confident that you need to pay attention when the lights come on. Some may even come with cameras to capture whatever was causing the sensor to go off.
Security floodlights, LED lights, and lights that sense when the sun has gone down and turn on and off automatically are also available.
Path Lighting
Lighting up the path to your front door is a wise decision. It ensures that you, your family members, and visitors don’t lose your footing and fall while approaching the house at night. Missteps can happen, and especially when weather conditions are less than optimal, you need to be able to see clearly to the door. Pathway lighting helps with safety by potentially preventing slips and falls while bringing in packages.
Pathway lighting can help guests find your house. Delivery drivers, friends, and neighbors will be able to see the way to your front door easily.
Path lighting can also add personality and in new, fun, and innovative ways. You might opt for solar lights, small lamps, glass bulb lights, colored lights, or any other of an almost infinite selection to suit your personality and the individual aesthetic of your home.
String Lighting
String lights add a touch of whimsy to any place you put them. And they aren’t just limited to holiday times anymore. String lights can provide ambiance, warmth, and atmosphere to your backyard entertaining. String lights can also be wrapped around pillars, columns, and balconies for added character.
String lights are available with colored bulbs, white bulbs, and gold bulbs. The bulbs themselves come in many shapes, including icicle-shaped, Edison bulbs, and globe-shaped.
If you’re looking to add even more fun to your outdoor environment, consider using lights with fun shapes or twinkling effects.
Outdoor Wall Lighting (Sconces & Lanterns)
Wall lightings, like sconces and lanterns, can add charm and elegance to the exterior of your home as well as provide reliable lighting to your porch and near your doors. They come in many different styles, and you won’t have any trouble finding options that can work with the rest of your exterior decor. A few options are metal lanterns, glass lanterns, and more modern options that will add to your home’s aesthetic and reflect your style and personality.
Whether you’re looking for something more elegant or you want something industrial or modern, outdoor wall lights exist to meet every taste.
Deck Lighting
For lighting needs on your deck, you aren’t limited only to lights that can be hung or mounted. One of the more popular options today is to light your deck flooring. You can have lighting built directly into the floorboards of your deck.
You can also go the more whimsical route and add string lights or even a light fixture that hangs from a pergola. Deck lighting can be a simple way to add a bit of fun to your entertaining space.
Stair Lighting
Stair lighting not only provides an easy way to see where you’re headed when you let out the dog at night or head into the backyard, but it is necessary for safety. Many accidents are caused by improperly or poorly lit stairwells. It’s worth putting some lights along outdoor stairways with them. Even though this is mostly for safety reasons, this kind of lighting, too, can add some charm to your home’s exterior.
Get creative with different colors or shapes to customize your lighting to suit your home’s style. Just because your house’s exterior needs lighting for safety and security reasons doesn’t mean you can’t have some fun with it.
Spot Lighting
Spot and floodlights are ideal for the backyard when you need to take the dogs out at night or when you just need a little extra lighting in darker areas. They are good to have at the front of your house as well—to light up bushes and over the top of any exterior walls. With spotlighting, you never need to worry about odd things (or people or creatures) hiding in the bushes.
Pool Lighting
Traditionally, pool lighting is either on the sides or the bottom of a pool, and the lighting is usually built into or embedded in the pool. You could also choose to put them in the stone or brickwork of your pool’s apron if you’d rather the lighting be on the exterior. Or, if you want to get creative, you can float lights in your pool. All sorts of LED lights and colorful lighted objects are available for just that purpose, and they provide a fun, mystical effect.
What We Can Do For You
We want to help bring a little light into your life by helping you build an outdoor lighting plan. Whatever your style, whatever your home’s aesthetic, our team can help you plan for all your outdoor lighting needs.
We would be happy to discuss outdoor lighting with you, and we have years worth of knowledge and experience to share.
For more information, call us or click here to schedule your complimentary, no-obligation consultation.
