Darkness doesn’t have to ruin your backyard plans. With the right outdoor lighting, you can protect your property, improve the atmosphere, and keep the fun going long after sunset. With options including safety, landscape, and accent lighting, there are plenty of ways to light up your life. Here, we’ll tell you about the best ways to improve your home’s outdoor lighting.
Security Lights
The brightest among outdoor lights, security lighting is meant to illuminate open areas and discourage would-be intruders. Powered by a 120V current, security lights are often installed above garages and in eaves for maximum effect.
To make your yard more secure, consider installing motion-sensing floodlights with multi-bulb housings. The bright light will deter prowlers and improve visibility around the outside of your home.
Path Lighting
These are low- to medium-bright landscape and safety lights that help homeowners navigate pathways while accentuating them. Pathway lights are usually installed at ground level along walkways, from front doors to gates, and around landscaping features. Path lighting is typically offered in solar and low-voltage options that include decorative housings and short stakes that are driven into the ground.
While low-voltage lights will require the use of a transformer, solar versions need no extra wiring. Even if a walkway is partly shaded, solar lights will stay on for a few hours after dark thanks to their remote solar panels or rechargeable batteries.
String Lights
With string lighting, you’ll get low-voltage, soft accent lights that create an intimate, warm ambiance that’s perfect for nighttime entertaining. Hang these lights wherever the fun is when you’re hosting a backyard barbecue or illuminating a sitting area.
Look for rechargeable, traditional, or waterproof string lights, especially those with durable LED bulbs. These lights don’t just stay on in the rain, they also make it easier to illuminate far corners while reducing the need for extension cords.
Wall Lights
Outdoor wall lights are a moderately bright, yet low-voltage type of accent and safety lighting that’s used to improve navigation in dark, out-of-the-way areas. They can be mounted on pergolas, above stairways, and around low-lying seating areas.
Lanterns
A lantern is a low-voltage, soft accent light that accentuates architectural features and highlights your outdoor décor. They’re often installed near doors to illuminate arches and transom windows. Most are semi-flush-mounted, consisting of metal and glass housings attached to arms that are affixed to exterior walls. However, a battery-powered tabletop lantern will bring similar visual appeal to a level that’s perfect for outdoor entertaining.
Deck Lights
These mid-to high-intensity, standard-voltage outdoor lights are meant to help homeowners and visitors get across, up, and down decks at night. With them, you’ll avoid visual clutter, minimize trip hazards, and accentuate landscaping features. Deck lights are often installed in a series, recessed into grooves within the deck’s surface. However, they’re sometimes installed in between stair steps and along railings.
Spotlights
Sometimes referred to as landscape lighting or up-lighting, spotlights are standard-voltage lights that shine a mid-to high-intensity beam upwards to accentuate a landscaping or architectural feature. Consider installing spotlights near or at ground level to make lawn ornaments and shrubs look even more imposing.
To illuminate a taller object like a tree, choose a bullet-shaped light that’s mounted on a stake. These lights have heads that sit above ground and cast bright beams over long distances. For shorter landscaping features like bushes, try well lighting. These round lights are driven into the ground on stakes, casting light upward over a shorter distance. Because they’re more unobtrusive, well lights allow your outdoor décor to attract more attention.
Garage Lights
If your home has a garage, its door is likely one of the structure’s most prominent features. The use of outdoor Lighting fixtures will highlight this feature tastefully. For instance, recessed lights will offer a glow that blends perfectly with any garage’s design and style. Floodlights, when installed facing the garage door, can also provide valuable illumination. However, it’s important not to create a glare that will blind you as you’re coming into or leaving the garage.
Light Up the Outdoors
Your home is one of your biggest investments, so it’s important to care for its exterior. Installing outdoor lighting is one way to do it, and when it’s done right, these lights can improve your home’s aesthetics while increasing its resale value.
By considering one or more of these types of outdoor lighting, St. Simons Island’s homeowners can beautify their surroundings, stay safer outdoors, and expand their homes’ livable area. Count on the pros at Full Moon Lighting to bring your outdoor living dreams into the light.