It’s time to prepare the exteriors for the summer. Advice? Plan for subtle, glare-free lighting. But how? Here we present you with six tips on landscape lighting. Keep reading!
Connect With Your Space And Personalize The Landscape Lighting
It is not the same to illuminate a terrace, a patio, or an isolated house. The objective, however, will be the same in all cases: that space that looks attractive during the day does not lose charm or visual quality at night. For a cozy atmosphere, a wall light is not enough. However, mind that you should not fall into excess landscape lighting design that does not portray a relaxing environment and detract from the night climate.
Adapt To The Style Of The House
Expert advice: the more rustic the house, the more essential and unnoticed the lighting has to be. But let’s see the two extremes are in detail:
- In townhouses, you will surely have a patio surrounded by party walls. It is not advisable for light to invade other properties. This means you should use light beams directed towards the floor or the wall at a medium-low height.
- In contemporary styles, you can sometimes make the mistake of over-lighting. It enhances subtle lighting that is integrated into the same architecture.
Propose Lighting That Leaves Room For Shadows And Gives Prominence To The Night Sky.
The fundamental difference between indoor and outdoor lighting is that, outside, the night sky is the protagonist and artificial lighting is the supporting actor. Divide the outdoor space into zones: you will know the degrees of intensity you need and the number of luminaires.
- If you have a roof, an umbrella, or a pergola, take the opportunity to hang a suspension lamp from this horizontal plane or install an adjustable spotlight. In the seating areas, you can have the support of a fixed light placed at a medium or low height. It discards the high beam, whose light is scattered and lost in the sky.
- The one-story terrace is limited space in a very direct relationship with the interior. Do not place lights that disturb or create reflections in the windows. In the corners of most used places, use low and indirect lights to disturb the neighbours less.
Interact With The Interior
The light that comes from the interior also adds in exteriors through the windows. For this reason, it is not advisable to create contrasts such as choosing warm light inside and cold light outside.
The interior also benefits from exterior lighting. If you mark your terrace’s silhouette or plot with low and subtle lighting, you will expand the interior perspectives also at night, eliminating the dark wall effect that you would have from the windows.
It is also interesting to plan scenographic lighting outside that you can enjoy from the inside all year round. Use lamps or garlands.
Ask the expert: How to create a play of light and shadow in a garden
Take Care Of Color Temperature And Color Reproduction
Cold light sources and high colour temperature are not advisable to create charming corners. Colour temperature is measured in Kelvin degrees. Mind that, for outdoors or landscape lighting, it should not exceed 2,700ºK – the lower this temperature is, the warmer the light will be.
Incorporate An Appropriate Electrical Installation.
For landscape lighting, take advantage of electrical installations and make the necessary conduits for the connection cables, boxes for mechanisms, housings for recessed luminaires, junction boxes, etc.
In large spaces, it is practical to have several watertight plugs embedded in the floor or walls. These products have an IP, a protection index of at least 44 – the minimum needed for a mechanism or luminaire to be outdoors and in a space without a cover. The other option is to have battery-powered luminaires.
TELL US
Have these tips helped you to start planning the lighting of your terrace or garden? Share your experience, opinion, and photos in the comments. And if you need some assistance, give us a call. We are Done Right, a team of experienced professionals known for installing and maintaining landscape lighting all around Florida. If you, too, need some help, knock at us. We are only a click away.
