For homeowners, it is important to know how to make their house as good-looking as possible. The interiors are easy to plan out—usually an idea comes into mind, and sharing this to the contractor will make it easy. But what about the exteriors of your house?
Lighting the outdoor area of the home is just as important as illuminating the inside. How else will the house amp up its curb appeal? If you’re looking to up your garden and outdoor lighting game, then this is the place to be! Here are some tips and tricks to get your garden looking beautiful in the nighttime.
Learning the Basics
The basics of lighting come down to these three lighting types: ambient, task, and accent. Ambient lighting is general lighting and is soft light that blankets the space it is used on. Most interiors use ambient lighting to amp up the mood and generally keep the room or area illuminated enough without too much glare.
Task lighting, as its name suggests, is lighting to do a certain task. Often referred to as office lighting, task lighting is mostly used to ensure that one has enough light to work. Accent lighting is a smaller concentrated light that helps to direct the focus of one’s eyes toward a focal point. As a general rule of thumb, outdoor landscape lighting focuses on the use of accent lighting.
Lighting Techniques
There are many lighting techniques that can be used for the house exterior and the different parts of the home. Here are a few tips to take note of and when you can use them.
Uplighting or In-Ground Lighting
This technique, as the name implies, is lighting that is strategically placed at the bottom to beam light upward and onto a surface. This technique is useful if the intention is to give emphasis to certain objects like statues, trees, walls, sidewalks, and other outdoor installations. It helps in drawing the attention of the viewer to the focal point. Accent light is primarily used for this technique as there are many kinds to deliver different effects.
1. Grazing
Grazing, or wall grazing, is actually a type of uplighting that gives more importance to drawing one’s attention to a certain wall or outside surface. Rock-wall installations or walls covered with foliage can benefit from this lighting technique the most as the light dances around the textures that these have.
2. Path and Spread Lighting
Pathways and patios can benefit from accent lighting as well. Path and spread lighting gives a dreamy look to the floors of your outdoors. Not only is this great to look at, but it also provides safety to the homeowner by lighting up the walkways during nighttime. Stone pavements and lawn walkways look lovely with this technique as it helps give the plant beds that line them more flair and intrigue.
3. Moon Lighting
Moon lighting is lighting a certain area to make it look as if it were basking in moonlight. The lights are placed in between branches high atop a tree, and the lights are pointed downward like a spotlight. Details of the leaves and branches in the light look as if they were catching the light of the moon, hence the name. During windy seasons, this lighting helps create a calm and soothing atmosphere.
4. Underwater Lighting
Underwater lighting is making use of lights under bodies of water or on waterscapes. Pools, water installations, and water curtains, for example, will look even more beautiful when coupled with a good light source. This helps give depth to ponds and helps illuminate water features that have fish and other aquatic fauna in them.
This technique gives more dimension to a still waterscape and will make the scenery around the backyard look even more amazing. Place the lights beneath the water or on them, depending on what effect you want to achieve. LED lights are the best to use for underwater lighting.
These are but a few things to take note of when lighting up exteriors. Knowing how to take advantage of angles is key when it comes to upping your outdoor lighting game. Learn from other outdoor landscape photos, or experiment on your own. Who knows how well these techniques can make your outdoor landscape out of this world?
