HOLLYWOOD, FL–There’s no need to go far to enjoy the drama of the outdoors, if you have great landscape lighting in your yard. With cooler weather, little rain and sunset starting earlier than usual in wintertime South Florida, homeowners in South Florida are doing just that, at least those who have extended their living room to their yard.
Landscape lighting can do many things to improve the appeal of your home’s exteriors, especially when they can shine the most: night time. They can enhance a home’s architectural features, highlight a garden at night, showcase one’s outdoor living spaces and on quiet nights, make you feel you have a sanctuary right in front of you.
On not-so-quiet nights when you have people over, they make your outdoor parties come alive, similar to what you experience at restaurants and bars which are actually good sources of lighting inspiration. Observe carefully how their indoor-outdoor lighting vibe can enliven a place. Now if only South Florida’s local parks and trails can have good sustainable landscape lighting for outdoor thrill-seekers.
Companies like Coastal Source offer solid brass products that are fully sealed against the elements for an unmatched level of durability. It can weather the elements in South Florida’s persistent hot and humid temperatures. Premium Digital Control & Automation is an authorized dealer-partner of Coastal Source.
Coastal Source’s lighting system is adjustable. It can pinpoint a specific area or architectural feature or be wide enough to showcase an entire garden. The lighting system is designed with LEDs or standard bulbs, so harsh lighting can be avoided. The best part about Coastal Source’s fixtures is that they can be exposed to the elements but still blend in with the landscape.
Another good thing about Coastal Source’s fixtures is that they can easily be incorporated into your Lutron lighting control and other indoor lighting systems. This gives you seamless control over all your lights inside and outside of your house. Since there are hundreds of ways and lighting designs out there, though, it’s good to plan ahead for your home or place of business.
Before embarking on your own outdoor lighting project, get some outdoor lighting inspirations. Here are some outdoor or landscape lighting ideas to inspire you:
Accenting – Using this lighting technique is more about the object it’s illuminating than the light itself. So even if you use uplighting or downlighting techniques, it can still be called accent lighting when it points to an architectural design or other object.
Another form of accent lighting is called wall-washing. Almost similar to silhouetting and shadowing but with the difference being that it shines alongside the wall, as it’s placed on the ground pointing to the wall.
Bollard lights. They look like a vertical pole with a 360-degree lighting source at the top. They come in various designs to fit your landscaping style.
Downlighting. Similar to the moonlighting technique, but brighter and less subtle. The trick is to place the fixture high up and cast it downwards over a large area. Placing the light higher will cover more ground; lower means it illuminates, say, a garden.
Low voltage lights. They are energy-efficient and cost-effective LED lights. They are great for keeping your energy costs low.
Moonlighting. You’ll need a high tree to place a large fixture around it and angle it downwards to your home to create that moonglow effect. They create a very natural lighting effect, especially for moonless nights.
Path lights. The most common landscape lighting system adds style, beauty and safety for walkways, driveways, gardens and patios. These low-sitting downward facing lights also come in many different sizes, styles and finishes. Get solar path lights to harness power from the sun for all-night illumination.
Speciality lights. They’re unique and decorative with low-voltage lighting applications.
Spotlighting or highlighting is more a focused beam of light on specific architectural features. If you have a big yard, try placing your spotlights on opposite sides and make them meet in the center for dramatic effect. Since they can be quite bright, it’s not advisable to point them toward a walkway as they can block visibility. Spotlighting is also called highlighting when covering a bigger area but it’s different from flood lights which are designed for illuminating wide areas.
Step lights. Similar to path lights to guide your steps but with a recessed construction so they don’t protrude from view.
Uplighting. Create different angles of luminescence by playing around with the distance between the object and light. Silhouetting and shadowing are uplighting techniques as well. Silhouetting is when you use a spotlight aiming it toward an adjacent wall, while shadowing means the lighting is fixed on the base of an adjacent wall when creating subtle shadows with small trees or plants.
Wall lights. Wall lights and sconces can add a decorative touch to your outdoor space. They are available in different styles and finishes. Place them in front of your house or for a more purposeful use, have them in outdoor areas where you need some work done all the time.
Well lights. Also called recessed ground lights, they are usually placed directly in the ground. Well lights can enliven your yard and garden areas or be used as accent lighting to highlight plants and other decorative features in your yard. You can set the time they turn on using a timer or have them submerged in water.
Now that you know some of the different types of landscape lighting, here are some suggestions from HomeDepot when it comes to mixing up your lighting designs.
