Outdoor living rooms are all the rage these days. We see it in the newspaper ads and television commercials every day, and the plethora of home improvement programming targeting patio, pool and outdoor living areas. More and more homeowners are creating great spaces outdoors where they grill, watch television, play games and entertain their guests for hours. Sometimes these “rooms” are covered or protected from the elements, and other times they are wide open allowing the sun and shade to add to the ambience of mood of the activity. We have seen outdoor pizza ovens, fireplaces, elaborate kitchens and pools that will simply knock your socks off!
Then it gets dark and everyone goes home or is forced inside because it’s scary and uncomfortable out there in the darkness where you can’t see the faces of your friends and guests. Turing on those high powered security flood lights on the corner of the house blinds everyone, and can pretty much kill the party atmosphere – not what any good host wants for their entertainment areas.
Outdoor living spaces, just like indoor living rooms, need to incorporate proper lighting. There should be layers of this light, just like you would plan inside your home. You will need task lighting for that grill or cooking area so you can keep from burning those expensive steaks. You’ll want to add some accent lighting here and there to deliver a sense of relaxed comfort; and you need subtle fill light to help keep your eyes focused without straining so you can see each other and carry on your conversations.
We are often told by our clients that they spend a LOT more time outdoors after adding well-designed outdoor lighting than they ever did before. We ask them why and the answer is always the same: it’s because they feel more comfortable with the lighting. Second to comfort is that they really like the way it looks in the background.
The focal points in a space accented with lights are kind of like the pictures hung on the walls in your home. Who has nothing but bare walls in their house? Black, dark backgrounds for your outdoor LIVING spaces creates a very bleak and uneasy surrounding for entertaining or relaxation. Naturally, you’ll feel much better if you have accented pieces of art out there – a sculpture, a birdbath, or other yard art. Or accented specimen plants, large trees, colorful plants and maybe even that pergola you had built will accomplish the same thing, adding warmth and a secure feeling to the area.
In order to really enjoy that outdoor space after dark, whether it’s late on a summer night or early in the cooler evenings of fall here in the greater Austin and Texas Hill Country area, you really NEED some great lighting out there to create a welcoming, inviting place for yourselves and your guests. Contact us here so we can make that outdoor space a place where you can really do some living.
