You have an amazing landscape, and you need to highlight it. When people are looking for homes to buy, or ways to judge the beauty of a home, lighting is important. Lighting is also important to make sure that your home stays safe and secure. Are you looking for ways to beautify your home, and are going to begin a lighting project soon? If yes, then here are some tips to think about before you start creating a budget.
What Kind of Lighting Do You Need?
There are many kinds of lighting you may need for your home. Here are some of the most common.
Entryway Lighting
Entryway lighting is important for two reasons. First, it serves as the welcoming beacon to your home. You want people to feel welcome when walking through the entryway and into your home. Entryway lighting focuses on your doorway and the area around your door. However, some people want to highlight the walkway leading up to their homes. They want people to feel welcome from the time they arrive. Your budget for entryway lighting should consider the amount of light needed to illuminate your entryway or walkway.
Safety Lighting
With safety lighting, you are accomplishing two goals. You want lights to illuminate important parts of your yard where people will be walking. These areas would include stairs, paths, an outdoor patio, living areas, outdoor kitchens, and dining areas. You need these areas to be brightly lit when you are using them. Also, you need to think about how you are going to control the amount of lighting you have outside. You should think about how you can turn outdoor lighting off and on as well. There are budget-friendly options available, such as having a simple timer that turns your lights on automatically. Other options are available as well. For example, many homeowners want to incorporate their lights into the technology that is part of their smart homes. They want to be able to operate their lights remotely. This feature is great, but it will be more expensive.
Accent Lighting
Accent lighting is one of the best parts of any lighting remodel. With the right accent lighting, you will be able to play up all the features you love about your house. Here are some factors you need to consider when you are thinking about accent lighting.
Lighting for Art’s Sake
If you have art sculptures in your yard, why would you not want to accent those? They represent the utmost in beauty for your hard work. It would be nice to have an accent light or two that draws attention to your piece. By accenting a piece of art or a sculpture, you are able to use art as a focal point for your yard. There are tricks you can install to play with highlighting your prized art piece. For example, you could ask for uplighting. This would add contrast between the art piece and the surrounding area. You could also add moonlighting for a soft focus on an art object. We have used downlighting or moonlighting effects to attract attention to an architectural wall or a large sculptural piece. There are also some architectural lighting and wall wash lighting effects you may want to try. This is especially true if you want to highlight a large feature of your home or something outdoors.
Budgeting Factors
There are items you need to consider as you create your budget for outdoor lighting. First, think about the materials you want to use for your outdoor lighting. If you want to use LED lighting, it will save you money in the long run. However, you need to know that your upfront costs will be higher. You may also want to use lighting that is environmentally friendly to insects and other animals.
Are you starting with a blank slate as far as lighting goes? Consider next how much you want to invest in your lighting project. Are you looking for lighting specifically for safety concerns? Then you will not need to budget as much for your lighting as others might. Someone else may want to play up garden features or art. Perhaps your budget is not as big as you would like it to be. In that case, you may want to think about which items need priority. Think about installing safety and entryway lighting first. Make sure that you think about how you want the lights to turn on and off.
You may be looking for lighting projects to show off your house to its greatest advantage. If that is the case, we recommend you observe your yard during the day and at night. If you are proud of your beautiful flowerbeds, why not showcase them? Use landscape lighting to focus attention on those amazing roses of yours. Do you have a pool? Consider how you will show off your pool with additional lighting. Does your house have amazing architectural features? If your house has a large stained glass window in the front, you should make sure you have lighting there. Everyone should see what an amazing piece of artwork you have.
While you’re dreaming of all that magnificent lighting, do not forget to make sure your lighting takes safety into account. If you have small children, you may not want to install lighting that sticks up from the ground. Your kids may not be able to stop in time to avoid tripping and falling over an outdoor light. They may not only hurt themselves, but they might also break your perfectly placed lighting scheme. Also, make sure your entryway is well lit at night so that visitors can see where they are going.
With a little forethought, some research, and a little bit of dreaming, you may have some amazing ideas. Just think of how wonderful your yard could be with a little extra lighting and a lot of imagination. Why don’t you start planning today?