Landscape Lighting: 5 Tips to Show Off Your Home’s Nighttime Curb Appeal

Posted on July 7, 2021

Curb appeal is central in the real estate industry. It’s the first thing anyone notices when they pull up a car in front of your home or walk past it. Your home’s curb appeal is an indication of how meticulous you are in updating the interiors.

The National Association of Realtors shares that a home with a high curb appeal has 7% more real estate value than homes with uninviting exteriors. Further, your home’s outdoor space makes the first impression on your guests.

So, whether or not you want to sell your home, it’s critical to work towards improving its curb appeal during the day and at night.

There are several things you can do to improve your home’s outdoor appeal during the day. But boosting the nighttime curb appeal depends a lot on the lighting installed. Lighting is one of the top exterior features that add value to your home.

A simple upgrade like adding landscape lighting can hugely add value to your home’s nighttime curb appeal. It also improves the safety of your home by keeping burglars at bay and preventing people from tripping on an uneven walkway.

This post will share actionable tips to create an attractive visual appeal that’ll make your home pop out from the street.

Take a Look at Your Property

Before hiring a landscaping expert or buying lights, it’s wise to consider the areas of your outdoors that need illumination. Lighting is meant to highlight the architectural details of your home and draw attention to your attractive lawn with fresh-cut grass and colorful flowers.

Consider these areas of your property to take your curb appeal to the next level.

Trees
Stairways or a change in elevation
A water body or architectural elements
Entrance
Walkways and driveways
Flower beds
Patio or deck

Also, make sure you envision the outcome of your landscape lighting so that the result is as per your expectations.

Use Lighting to Create Visual Interest

Landscape lighting can be made the focal point of your yard, especially when you do not have an architectural feature. But if your garden has architectural features like a fountain or a water body, make sure you make them the focal point of your landscape lighting. Create light and shadows to increase the visual appeal of your yard and your newly planted landscaping features.

Illuminate your garden with downlights to create a moonlight effect. For instance, downlights set up high up in trees can create a beautiful cascade of light, resembling the moonlight.

Finally, cross-light architectural or landscaping features. When positioned right, cross-lighting allows for a soft and low-shadow look in the outdoor area.

Remember: The Objective Is to Accent, Not Overwhelm

Too much use of light that’s not appropriate for a specific area can cause glare that detracts from the benefits of well-designed outdoor lighting. Such over saturation of light leads to light pollution that irritates neighbors and passersby and blinds viewers by creating hotspots and whitewash.

Consider these pointers to avoid such situations.

Avoid lighting up areas that do not require illumination. Limit your lights to 850 lumens.
Choose lighting fixtures that point downward. Moreover, the fixtures should be fully shielded to prevent glare or skyglow.
Avoid blue light emissions. Instead, invest in warm white lights with a Kelvin range of 2000K – 3000K.
Consider motion sensor outdoor lights that aren’t overly bright for a specific area.

Use lighting to set the tone of your outdoor area. For instance, a few nightscape scenes are dramatic and some are mysterious and alluring. Consider the ambiance you wish to achieve and choose your lights accordingly. This will ensure that all the landscaping details are highlighted at night while making the space feel warm and inviting.

Count on LED

LED lights are highly energy-efficient, reliable, and versatile. They are better than halogen, mercury vapor bulbs, or CFLs as they do not emit heat and harmful vapors. Hence, LED is better for the environment.

Moreover, there’s a huge variety of LEDs available today that can meet almost any need. For instance, in regions that experience high temperatures in summers, heat resistant lights can offer brighter than expected illumination and longer than average life cycles.

LEDs are durable and corrosion-resistant. They last for approximately 18,000 hours, which is nearly 18 years. They pass the ASTM B117 salt fog or salt spray testing. So, invest in LED for your outdoor lighting project to make your home look luxurious from the outside and reduce your carbon footprint.

Incorporate Layers of Lights

An awesome outdoor lighting incorporates three types of lighting –

Ambient lighting

This lighting provides overall illumination for an area. It radiates a comfortable level of brightness minus the glare and allows people to move around safely. Outdoor wall pack lights and post lights are great for ambient lighting.

Task lighting

As the name suggests, task lighting lights up the pathways, decks, and outdoor stairways.

Accent lighting

These lights are used to add drama to an outdoor scene. For instance, they can be used to highlight trees and flowerbeds to draw attention to them.

Make sure you use these three types of lighting in your outdoor space to have the best lit yard in the neighborhood

Wrapping Up

The right use of lighting can highlight the architectural and landscaping features of your home at night, making it an appealing and welcoming sight for passersby and visitors. Hence, it’s critical to have well-thought outdoor lighting in place.

We are sure you will use the landscaped lighting tips shared in this post to make your home look appealing and safe at nighttime.