Are you looking for outdoor lighting tips and ideas to make your outdoor space glow properly? Gone are the days when gardens and outdoor spaces were just used during hours of sunshine, and everyone would move indoors when the sun would descend. Now, with an increase in proper options for lighting in outdoor areas, homeowners can now go for a number of lighting options.
Today, we have a plethora of garden ideas that use smart lighting to transform the look of your outdoor space and give you proper outdoor expertise.
In this article, we take a look at the outdoor lighting tips for your garden. These tips have been formalized after due consideration and care and give you an option to reinvigorate your lighting.
Know When it is Too Much
Too much of everything can be harmful, which is why you need to know just when your outdoor lighting ideas are getting too much. Many exterior design décor and lighting experts believe that the right way to go about lighting is to be clever about placement and to prefer form over function. Quantity doesn’t necessarily mean better, which is why you should go for the best possible option.
Going for more considerate and scarce sources of light can be beneficial in the long run. Whether you are going for a gentle wave of light across a surface or highlighting an object in the distance, you can always create a sophisticated look in your home.
Highlight Different Areas
We absolutely deplore lighting options that brightly light up one area of the garden while leaving other areas in complete darkness. If you want to create different light zones out in the open, it won’t work in the same way as it would in an indoor space. Hence, if you go outdoors, make sure that you keep in mind the consistency in the lighting.
Moreover, you should also look to light up design elements rather than lighting up spaces when outdoors. If you want to light up your patio table and chairs, you should focus on lighting that prioritizes the specific design elements. You can also go for lighting trees and trunks or the canopy to create defined design elements.
Create a Focal Point by a Tree
Since your garden is all about nature, you should look to add a natural touch by lighting up your trees through the clever use of lights.
Start by putting a small plant pot or a spotlight in-between two trees to create a mesmerizing spotlight that looks brilliantly lit and comes with amazing prowess.
A battery-operated plant with illumination can also be a good way to create a natural focal point that sparks up your garden lighting.
‘Hedging is hard to light successfully,’ says garden expert Charlotte Rowe. ‘Instead, plant trees within an enclosed hedge space and uplight them.’
Illuminate the Main Garden Area
You cannot possibly think of lighting up your garden area without focusing on the main garden. The garden itself includes different elements that can be lit up with the right resources. You can use different sources of light to highlight sculptures, dramatise trees and even create an event-centric look for Halloween, Christmas and other festivities.
You can employ downlighting, uplighting, silhouetting and spot lighting to create an amazing chic look for your garden. Uplighting is the most common of these garden lighting tricks, as it is used to light up special structures such as trees and sculptures. The use of spotlights is recommended as well, as the shiny beam originating from spotlights can help create a majestic structure in the darkness.
Light up Water
A lot of people have pools and fountains placed in the center of their garden area as well. You can use techniques here to create reflective pools, contemporary cascades and even go for sparkling fountains. Underwater lights work like a charm as you have choices to choose from LED, fiber optics and halogen. The lights should have waterproof ratings for appropriate longevity.
Light inside water structures can give your garden space a nice look. The light from inside the pool can create dancing shadows during the night, which look mesmerizing to the naked eye.
‘For small cascades, direct underwater spotlights onto the plinth of flowing water, or run a color-changing LED strip along the rill from which the water emerges,’ suggests Sally Storey, a pool lighting expert.
‘Fiber optics can also be fully integrated into a cascade or fountain, making the water look like it’s illuminated from within while locating a fiber optic within the jet of a bubbling fountain gives the impression of a night light glowing inside.’
Go for Solar Lighting
Solar lighting is the need of the hour today, as it saves on energy bills, gives a longer life span and operates without maintenance. You can bring life back to your garden with some solar light tips.
Solar panels can save the energy generated from the sun during the day to eventually power your garden lights after nightfall. The light generated through these panels gives positive vibes and allows homeowners to enjoy their garden space and lighting without worrying about energy bills.
Use Colored Lighting
You can benefit by introducing color into a dark space. Colored lighting will look extremely cool and comforting in your garden space after nightfall. You can use soft, colorful lights that focus on plants and painted walls. The amalgam of colors injected into each other will create a nice feel and will add a spark to the indoor space.
Stay Secure
While most of the ideas here are for leisure and aesthetics, you should also keep security in mind. Your lights should be placed in a way that keeps intruders and threat actors away. You can easily brighten an entranceway with secure garden lights so that everything is secure and intruders are scared away.
Garden lights plan an important role in maintaining the aesthetics of your home. We hope you find these outdoor lighting tips helpful and can work on them to get the results you require.
