Design Elegant Outdoor Illumination around the House

Posted on August 17, 2021

If you think your beautiful home is missing something, it’s likely good exterior lighting. It adds safety, style and security to every home, so make sure to go ahead and light up your outdoor space. Here’s how.

Match the style of your home

First, think about your home’s style. Is it more modern or traditional? If it’s modern, then opt for fixtures that have a contemporary or minimalist design and white light. On the other hand, traditional homes will look best showered with warm light. Improving your exterior will also improve the value of your home. What materials and colors are most visible on your exterior? Earthy tones, brick and stone go best with bronze, copper and brass, while black and gray go best with chrome, nickel, zinc or pewter.

Location of your lights

If you want to achieve both functional and aesthetically pleasing lighting plan, you must place fixtures all around your outdoor space, not just your porch. However, today there are all sorts of lighting options available at your local lighting stores, so all you need is a good plan and some money to invest.

Light the way

A well-lit pathway is simply a must, both when it comes to safety and aesthetics. So, invest in a few soft fixtures and light the way to your home or through your garden. Downlights are a good choice because they prevent glare. All stairs should be appropriately lit for safety reasons: either the steps themselves or the handrail that will cast light on the steps.

Welcome people inside

The first thing people see when coming to your home at night is your front door, so make sure it looks beautiful and inviting. For instance, there are two most common and most successful options for lighting the entrance. You can put fixtures on both sides of your doors or use one fixture overhead. Both have a strong aesthetic effect and provide good lighting.

Illuminate your garden

For lighting a larger area of the landscape, you should take a look at lighting that evenly distributes illumination. Up or down outdoor fixtures are your best option here. On the other hand, if you only want to illuminate a certain part of your garden, you can use spotlights to shine a lot of light in one desired direction.

Lighting for outdoor parties

If you love to have your family or friends for a little alfresco dining or partying, your safest bet is outdoor wall lights. While overhead lighting can be a bit too harsh, wall fixtures will provide just enough light for a pleasant dinner and relaxed atmosphere. On the other hand, one of the biggest trends right now is themed light up numbers that are perfect for any party.

Introduce some drama by illuminating your architectural elements

If you have a beautiful architectural element such as a wall, niche or a fountain, you can highlight it with appropriate lighting. If you want to achieve a dramatic effect, use lighting to only graze the element which will cast interesting shadows.

Be careful with installation

Installing outdoor lighting isn’t a super easy task unless you have some prior experience with electrical jobs, so be careful or call a professional electrician. Also, some outdoor lights can be sensitive to extremely hot temperatures so you need to find professionals who can do this task for you.

Know when to stop

Too much outdoor lighting will be a bother both for you and your neighbors. It can shine into your home, create glare, waste energy and pollute the starry sky with light. So, if you want to bring light pollution to the minimum, make sure to position your lights at night and check how they look from every angle. You can also use shield bulbs that have shielding that reflects light only where it’s needed. High wattage bulbs create unpleasant light that will both ruin your aesthetics and pose a risk to everyone.

With these lighting tips, you’ll be able to show off every beautiful element of your home and make it even more attractive and pleasant.