Why light in your landscape?
Once we know why you want lighting, we can come up with the landscape lighting ideas to answer the questions.
The first question we ask our potential clients when we start talking about their landscape lighting ideas is, “Why light? Why is it that you want lighting?”
Although we may get a variety of answers from them, most homeowners want lighting for a few very simple reasons.
- Outdoor lighting looks great!
- It’s very dark in your neighborhood and you would feel more secure with some nice lighting in the area. There may have been a break-in nearby and you want some light because you’ve heard from your local authorities that lighting helps deter crime.
- You are concerned for safety. You might have some very dark pathways and it may be hard to find your way around after sunset. You want your guests to feel safe as they try to navigate your property in the dark.
We have a passion for first-rate lighting design — that’s why we do it. When we can determine the “why” for your “want” of lighting, we can more easily decide the best approach to achieving your desires. Our training, skill and enthusiasm enables us to come up with the right landscape lighting ideas for you that not only take care of the task at hand, but also looks fabulous.
Let’s examine some WHYS for outdoor lighting. Are any of yours on this list?
- Improve security. Outdoor lighting is an excellent deterrent to any criminal element. This could be as simple as adding some down lighting from trees, or the soffit of your house, to add a low level of lighting around your home. There is no need to go too bright here; a little light is all you really need to see someone moving around, and it is all the bad person needs to stay away.
- Add value to your home or business. According to some articles we’ve read from real estate pros, professional outdoor lighting can add 20% to the perceived value of a property. That’s amazing, don’t you think? Great outdoor lighting makes a property look like it’s worth 20% more.
- Highlight the landscape, lawn and trees. Landscapes are not cheap, and they sure do look beautiful during the day. But why stop enjoying the view you invested in when the sun sets? A landscape can look entirely different at night with well-designed lighting. We can achieve drama, romance and ambience with a high quality landscape lighting system.
- Enhance architectural features of your home or business. The exterior of your home makes a statement, doesn’t it? Maybe it’s made of stone or brick, or even a combination of stone and stucco. During the day it is the main focal point of your property, but at night it all goes dark — except for those lights on your columns or garage area. Those lights do very little to enhance the interesting architecture of your home. The big trick here is to not over-do-it. Less is more when it comes to residential architectural lighting. Low light levels with the proper fixture choices can make a huge impact in highlighting the most unique attributes of your home’s exterior.
- Bring attention to changes in elevation like sudden drop-offs or steps. This is safety lighting and we have great landscape lighting ideas to solve these issues. Using pathway fixtures, step fixtures or even deck fixtures can insure that there is a focus on these tripping or falling hazards on a property.
- Develop atmosphere and ambience. We like to say that we specialize in “romantic” lighting. By using three different light levels in a lighting design, we can create the perfect atmosphere for entertaining, relaxing or even romance.
- Extend use of your outdoor living spaces. This is especially true in the fall and winter months here in central Texas. It may get cool here but it rarely gets too COLD. When it gets dark by 6:00pm, why go inside when you have all of that space outdoors? But when it’s dark all around you, it can get a little uncomfortable and maybe even scary. Add some soft lighting to make it extra cozy to sit around a fire pit with a glass of wine and enjoy some good conversation.
- Increase safety around your boat dock or pool area. Changes in elevation are not the only safety concerns to think about in central Texas. If you have lakefront property, you may have a boat house. It’s important to light the way back and forth; and just as important to illuminate that boat house and dock area so nobody falls into the lake. Dock lighting also identifies your dock to those out on a late night cruise.
- Create a full moon effect around your home every night. One of our favorite effects is moon lighting. Honestly, I really don’t like using those big fixtures that are seen so often using far too much light. We like to use very small fixtures and low light levels to replicate a full moon effect that is soft and inviting, and not foreboding.
- Bring house guests to your preferred entry. A properly designed lighting system will guide people to your door without them even knowing it. The human eye will instinctively go to the brightest object in their view; and by using that knowledge, we can design the lighting system to bring guests right where they need to go.
- Bring attention to artwork and sculptures around your property. Because we have such a great love for outdoor lighting design, we make the art of creating focal points a priority.
The most popular reason folks add outdoor lighting to their property is actually #3 – lighting really sets off the landscape in a way that nothing else can. The best landscape in the world will fade into the darkness, becoming invisible once the sun sets unless there is lighting.
One of our clients said it best when they told us that arriving home after we installed their custom landscape lighting was like arriving at a high end resort every night. Now, who wouldn’t want to actually live at a high end resort?
We would be very happy to meet with you to best determine WHY you might want LIGHT and then come up with some landscape lighting ideas for you. Please contact us here today to set up an appointment for your free consultation.
