Choosing the right lighting for your home ultimately depends on what you are aspiring to achieve. Are you looking to showcase the architecture of your home? Or do you wish to give your home a more welcoming aspect to it? Whatever the reason may be, choosing the proper lighting can give your home a completely different look. It can also help enlarge the appearance of your yard when you use the proper light fixtures.
Light up your yard with these lighting techniques
The correct lighting in your yard can create the perfect amount of appeal and beauty when it comes to your home. It also creates a way to showcase all the hard work you have put into making your house look and feel like your home. Before you decide to illuminate your yard, you want to ask yourself “why do I want to do this?” Asking yourself this simple question will help you decide which direction to take and what techniques will work for you.
Maybe you want to showcase your yard, or if there is a bench that is in a dark area that you want to bring to light or you may want to add light to your driveway for security reasons. Whatever your reason may be you want to consider using these lighting techniques to achieve the best look for your home.
Decide Where You Want Your Lighting To Go
Before you begin purchasing or calling a landscaper to help you map out your next landscape lighting move, decide where your lighting should go. You can get ideas online or even from looking at your neighbors home.
Keep in mind that the area that you choose to light up should add to your home, not diminish from its beauty. It is key to keep the over all landscape of your yard in mind so you can accentuate what you already have instead of creating clutter.
Determine How Much Time and Effort You Want To Spend
Once you have decided where you want to illuminate, now i’s time to figure out how much time and effort you would like to spend on this project. Certain lights require more effort than others which is why you want to consider the effort you want to put in. If you want to illuminate a large area of your yard you may want to use a mixture of different lights which can take some time to do.
The most demanding lights to install are the 120 voltage lights. These lights require underground electrical wiring with a casing around each wire so that they do not become wet. You will need a professional in order to set those up properly.
Although, 120 voltage lights are one of the best to light your home beautifully, you can also choose to use low voltage lights. Low voltage lights are easy to install as you will only need an outdoor receptacle and a transformer.
The easiest lights to install are solar powered lights. These lights do not require any wiring as they are powered by the sun. All you need to do is place them in the areas that have a lot of sunlight and you are good to go. They can also be planted into the ground.
Set a Budget
Your budget should depend on how large your yard is and the area that you want to illuminate. The larger the area the larger your budget should be. However, it also depends on which lighting techniques you will use as all voltage lights are priced differently.
- Most Expensive-120 Voltage lights. These lights can cost $100 or more per light. This does not include the labor that has to be done in order to install them.
- Cost Effective-Low voltage lights. These lights can cost anything between $30-$300 depending on the size.
- Least Expensive-Solar powered lights. These lights range from $20-$100 depending on the size.
When deciding on your budget keep in mind the lights that you are interested in purchasing and how many of them you will need in order to create your vision.
Lighting Techniques
Once you have your vision in mind and your budget, it is now time to start lighting your yard. The options are endless when it comes to landscaping lights. Here are a few lighting techniques to help you along the way.
- Light The Way – A great way to bring light to your yard or driveway is to light the path that your visitors drive or walk. Try using non glare lights and different light sizes to create dimension. Don’t place your lights in a straight line, this will give it a ridged effect instead of a welcoming aura.
- Create Shadow – Adding shadows with different light sizes and lengths create shadows that will definitely add drama to your home. This is best done with large trees that have large branches that tend to fall downward. You can do this by placing low voltage lights at the bottom of the tree while aiming at a wall.
- Accent-If you have a specific area in your home that you would like to draw attention to you may want to create accents around it. This can be done to a statue or a bench or even your favorite flower bush. You want to place multiple lights around it to create an appearance without losing focus on the rest of your garden.
- Different Sizes-Using a mixture of light sizes in your yard will give your home a distinctive aspect every time the lights turn on. You may want to use high voltage lights for your driveway and then place low voltage lights in between them to create shadows that bring forth the beauty of your landscape.
- Colors-If you decide to get creative and festive, you can even invest in color changing lights that will change with a click of a button. This is a great option if you commonly decorate the exterior of your home for the holidays. It can also add an aspect of fun and creativity to the exterior of your home.
Having a well light yard cannot only bring out the beauty of your home but it can also help you feel more safe and secure. When choosing how to light up your yard do not forget to add different variations of the techniques above in order to get your very own customized design.