Posts Tagged lighting scheme
Outdoor Lighting Schemes
It’s always around this time of the year that I appreciate the design elements of our outdoor lighting scheme. The days are getting shorter and I find that I am turning on our outdoor lights slightly earlier each day. We have both lights for safety and outdoor party lights. The result of decent outdoor lighting is that we can still enjoy our outdoor space into late August and September.
During the earlier summer months my backyard was a functional and safe place to socialize and relax without resorting to outdoor lights. Where I live the sun can still be shining until 9.30pm. In fact, during the month of June the skies became dark and the backyard become too dark to be safe right around the time I wanted some BBQ guests to leave so it worked out perfectly.
We started to create our outdoor lighting scheme about 5 years ago. My spouse and I were charmed by the simplicity and beautiful effect or the outdoor lights of a French restaurant in our town. Since that time we have experimented with many different variations of outdoor lighting designs. Our scheme is a work in progress and it gets tweaked each year. Some years we use a lot of string lights while in other years we use spot lights and twinkly lights. We generally tend to stick to white lights although we sometimes use the odd colored spotlight to great success.
The first thing you need to consider when developing an outdoor lighting scheme is safety. The pathways and the doorways need to be properly illuminated in order to prevent any unexpected stumbles. Properly lit entrance ways including any back alleys that might border your property also increase your level of personal safety. A good rule of thumb is to have at least 60-80 watts of light at every outside door, set of outside steps, or any other place that you might want to go to at night ie alleys or garbage bin areas.
Once you have taken care of the safety aspects of outdoor lighting you can concentrate on creating mood or an ambiance. I personally prefer a softer type of lighting. I like to make things light enough so I can see where I’m walking and I can easily make out my guests and food but dark enough that some candle light can also be appreciated. One of my favorite lighting techniques is using rope lighting or string lighting on the trees at the back of my yard. This type of lighting provides almost no illumination but provides a very pretty whimsical effect.
Outdoor lighting can transform the average plain backyard into an extraordinary and beautiful backyard. It is cheap and easy to change your outdoor living space into something beautiful. The bonus of these schemes is that if they don’t work as you wish, you can simply redesign. Think about the safety issues first. Once you have accommodated all issues related to safety you can then play with different outdoor party lights design please visit us.
Related posts
Why Outdoor Wall Lights Are Essential
Whether you go for lanterns, ledge lights, down lights or sensor lights; outdoor wall lights are the icing on the cake that is your property. Okay, perhaps that sounds a bit fanciful but it’s a fact that a well displayed, well-lit property not only looks good but is likely to be worth more than its poorly-illuminated neighbour.
Then, of course, there’s the indisputable fact that good garden lighting will encourage you to make more and better use of your garden., turning it into that oft quoted but less often realised ‘extra room.’ And with the advent of outdoor heaters, you can eat al fresco at any time of the year.
It’s not just about good looks either. Thoughtfully installed garden wall lights will dispel shadowy corners, thereby making your home far less attractive to opportunist intruders, and they’ll also dramatically reduce the risk of garden slips and trips.
No matter how fastidious you are when it comes to leaf sweeping and patio scrubbing, there will be hazards in your garden – it makes better sense to highlight them now with some well-placed wall lights than to pay your neighbour’s legal bill when they sue after slipping down your steps.
Garden lighting isn’t just brilliant in the literal sense though – whatever the size of your patch be it a tiny courtyard or a country estate – there is no outside space that can’t be improved by a well thought out lighting scheme. And where better to start than with wall lights? After all, if you’ve got a building of any sort, you’ve got walls!
Outdoor wall lights will cheer up the blank brick wall, providing a focal point, as well as transforming your patio or decking to a pleasant area for entertaining or al fresco eating. There’s not much you can buy nowadays that will add both style and functionality for such a reasonable outlay.
The fact is that nowadays garden lighting is not just for the chic and the well-heeled, it’s for everybody who has an outside space. We Brits seem to have finally realised that by illuminating the exterior of our homes we can use it more often. If you’re just at the beginning of your garden lighting odyssey, then wall lights are a very good place to start – they are simple to install and infinitely usable!
Reclaim your garden from the winter, from the rain, from the night, add to the value of your property, and get a real kick when you look out of the window on a dark winter’s night; outdoor wall lights will do all this for you (and possibly more).
Related posts
Outdoor Spot Lights
Every home or business establishment can benefit from the installation of outdoor spot lights. Outdoor spotlights have many purposes ranging from providing extra safety, providing extra security, high-lighting pathways, and providing various forms of ambiance. These lights are a terrific addition to any outdoor lighting scheme.
Initially, when we think of spot lights we picture figure skating events or rock concerts. At least that is what comes first to my mind. These notions are outdated. Spotlights have historically lit small targets from a distance. These days the use of spot lights has transcended the historical uses and now you can find spot lights in many different locations. These lights are regularly used in commercial spaces, industrial spaces, urban spaces, and residential spaces.
Effective use of these lights can be dramatic or simply functional. Both artistic or decorative and utilitarian functions can be served by the proper use of these lights.
Spot lights are often confused with flood lights. These two types of lights are very different and serve completely different purposes. They do, however, posses some similarities that lend themselves to the confusion. The most obvious similarity between these lights is that they are generally installed at a significant distance from the subject matter they are intended to illuminate. The most obvious difference between the lights is the intended focus of illumination. Flood lights disperse the light and light up a large area such as a football field or a parking lot. A spot light narrows the focus of illumination and targets a small area of illumination such as a singer or figure skater. Choose the type of light you want by the purpose you want served.
Spot lights can be used effectively at outdoor parties held at night. With careful usage these lights can serve a dual purpose. The proper use of these lights can act as a safety feature and also act as a form of decoration. Spotlights can highlight pathways, food areas, entry ways and exits. Additionally, properly positioned spot lights can highlight garden art. In the alternative, spotlights can be positioned to allow from crossed light beams which are always a nice effect.
Motion detector spotlights can be a very effective safety feature at gates, entrances and/or driveways. Motion detector lights are triggered by motion. The more modern of these lights will not be activated by cats or squirrels. These lights are an effective solution for those that want the security of lights but don’t want to waste the expense of having the lights powered full time. Motion detector lights are also a great way of conserving electricity for those people who take an interest in being “green”.
Related posts