Lighting Fixtures & Lamps Blog

Lighting Fixtures & Lamps Questions Answered

Want a simple, elegant way to spruce up your home?s exterior?and potentially put more money in your pocket? Try installing outdoor lighting. It?s a surprisingly overlooked home improvement that can significantly add to the value of your house. But it?s not just a wise investment. A well-designed outdoor and landscape lighting scheme is everything from a smart safety measure to an eye-catching seasonal decoration, and even the enhancement of landscape ambience.
Try these three outdoor lighting ideas for your next home improvement project, and create an elegant, safe outdoor atmosphere you?ll enjoy for years to come.

Illuminate for safetyFor your first lighting project, tackle the most important issue for you and your family: safety. Be sure you have fixtures and bright bulbs for every well-traveled area around your home. For example, the following areas should be well illuminated, not only for the safety of visitors to your home, but also to discourage intruders:

• Front and back entry doors. Be sure all entry doors are adequately lit so that you can easily identify nighttime visitors. You also want to ensure that visibility around your entry doors is good so that no one slips or takes a misstep.
• Patios, terraces, decks, and pagodas. If you have a long patio, such as a wraparound style, a single overhead bulb isn?t enough?you?ll need to install overhead lighting for all the dark areas of your patio. The idea is to have enough light to see comfortably in the dark, not to overdo it with 100-watt bulbs installed every 6 inches. The same rules apply to lighting decks and other landscape structures: You want enough light to comfortably entertain guests and to see in dark areas, but not so much that your home looks like a football stadium on game night.
• Walkways and driveways. If you live in a sunny climate, solar lights are a low-cost, energy-efficient choice to keep front walkways, driveways, and garden paths safely lit. They?re not only a beautiful visual accent, but they?re incredibly easy to install. Because they charge during the day for use every night, no power pack or wiring is required for installation?just stick them in the ground and you?re done. Many solar lights come in a variety of styles and finishes to match your home?s architecture.
• Garage doors. A wide downlight is a good choice for illuminating garage doors. You?ll want enough light to be sure you don?t run over the family pet when pulling in the car on a dark night.

Highlight your landscape

To really set your home apart, install landscape lighting to highlight trees, statuary, or garden perimeters. You can also light ponds and swimming pools or add a soft glow to dark areas in your backyard. The are several types of landscape lighting:

• Accent lights, including down lights, up lights, outdoor spot lights, and grade-level lights. All these styles are good for lighting bushes and shrubbery, especially grade-level lights.
• Area lights, including general and decorative outdoor lighting fixtures such as lamp posts.
• Pond and fountain lights. When installing fixtures in fish ponds, fountains, or pools, use only brass, stainless steel, or composite materials. Copper should never be used underwater. (It?s harmful to fish.)
• Hanging lights, including pendant fixtures, are an eye-catching way to highlight your flower beds.
• Flood lights. These fixtures are used for lighting large, dark backyard areas, and are often used as motion detectors to add another element of safety.

Again, solar lights are a smart choice for landscape lighting, because they?re so efficient and easy to install. If solar lights are not an option (because the installation required a wired fixture, for example) be sure the lighting system is low voltage to ensure maximum safety. The key to well-designed landscape lighting is hiding the light source if at all possible. Also, don?t overdo it here. You want to infuse your garden and yard with a warm glow, not harsh, bright lights.

Entertain outdoors in style

Outdoor lighting can create a soft, elegant atmosphere for intimate evenings in balmy weather, or for party nights with dozens of friends. If you?ve taken on the landscape lighting project, you?re already a significant way toward presenting an inviting atmosphere at your next get-together. But whether you?ve got a comprehensive landscape lighting system or a single bulb lighting your back door, here are some easy and inexpensive ways to make an outdoor event special:

• String lights. Wrap simple string lights around tree branches and through shrubs and bushes to give your yard a special twinkle. You can use old holiday lights, elegant strings of paper lanterns, or fun plastic novelty sting lights, depending on your party?s theme. For example, a string of hot-pepper lights is a fun accent for your next Mexican fiesta.
• Torches. These inexpensive accessories are a great way to light up a large backyard area or create ambience around a pool.
• Candles. Don?t overlook the most inexpensive choice of all?candles give an elegant glow to patios, picnic tables, and more. Be sure you place all outdoor candles in tall, protective hurricane-style holders to keep them lit and to avoid a fire hazard.

About the Author

Vanessa Kirkland is freelance writer and home improvement enthusiast whose articles offer tips, strategies, and advice about home lighting techniques, including table lamps, floor lamps, and wall sconces.

This entry was posted on Saturday, April 1st, 2006 at 1:05 am and is filed under Lighting Articles. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.