Optimize Your Home’s Illumination

Photos courtesy of Designscapes Colorado

Low voltage outdoor lighting lets you enjoy your landscape for an additional 6-10 hours each day that it is not illuminated by natural light. It creates a relaxing, inviting atmosphere and living space that draws attention to the beautiful areas of your home and grounds that would otherwise be dark and uninviting.

Here are several next-level lighting ideas to upgrade your landscape design and enhance your outdoor lifestyle.

1. Automation

For maximum efficiency and minimum effort, there are many kinds of automation available for landscape lighting: 

Astronomical timers. Controlled by satellites, these timers are programmed to automatically turn on your lights at dusk—whether dusk is at 8:30 p.m. in the summer or 4:30 p.m. in the winter—and turn off at any time during the night through dawn. 

Home automation systems. Outdoor lighting can be incorporated into your home automation system such as Crestron™, Savant™ and Lutron™. 

Smart Apps. Your lighting system can also be controlled via Smart Apps for IOS and Android phones. Functions include on/off, timers, zone control, dimming and color changing.

2. Customizable Features

Fixtures can be adjusted to insure the perfect scene and illumination for any lifestyle, personality, home and landscape. Customizable features include:

Lamps. Adjusting the wattage, lumen, kelvin temp or beam spread can create the perfect atmosphere and scene, depending on your taste or preference.

Lenses. In addition to numerous color choices, lenses can also be clear or frosted for a unique look.

Placement. There are many creative locations to install lighting in your yard, including mounted from trees or the roof, submerged in ponds and waterfalls, recessed in walkways, and staked in the ground along paths or a garden.

3. Creative Installation Techniques

Among many installation techniques, a few of the most popular are:

Moonlighting. Fixtures are placed in the canopy of a tree or from an elevated architectural point, and the light is cast downward. This softly illuminates the details of branches, leaves and pathways—creating a moonlight effect.

Silhouetting. This technique lights the area behind an object to accent that object’s shape.

Shadowing. For this installation method, the fixtures can project certain landscape features or art in your yard onto the surface behind the object.

Drew DaHarb is a lighting designer for Designscapes Colorado, a landscape architecture and design firm based in Centennial, CO. Marissa Cooper is the Marketing Coordinator for Designscapes Colorado. View their profile or contact them at 303.721.9003.

Content for this article provided by Designscapes Colorado.