Tips on Landscape Lighting

There is no denying that Massachusetts boasts immense beauty. With intoxicatingly deep red hues during the fall months and vibrant greens during spring and summer, Medfield is undoubtedly one of the most stunning places in the United States. 

As Medfield homeowners, we are fortunate enough to own a slice of this gorgeous state in our own backyards. But some may wonder how to best pay tribute to this beautiful state. 

One way to do this is to improve your property with sophisticated landscape lighting that highlights our state’s natural beauty.

Landscape lighting design and installation methods strategically place outdoor lights around a property. The purpose is to illuminate the yard and highlight impressive features like intricate exterior architecture, pool yards, garden beds, and more. 

By utilizing proper landscape lighting, homeowners can illuminate their front and back yards to craft a breathtaking nighttime oasis. 

But like with any home improvement undertaking, homeowners must be aware of certain pitfalls when they are planning out their landscape light design. 

Read on to learn some landscape lighting tips so you can design the best yard possible.

Landscape Lighting: The Basics 

Landscape spotlights are a home design tool that homeowners can use to light up their properties at night. 

When done correctly, landscape lighting can paint a beautiful picture of your property. It can highlight various areas of your yard, such as a deck, patio, pool, or gazebo. Or you can use lights to illuminate walkways and illuminate your house. 

However, a disorganized approach to mapping out your lighting landscape can create a final result that’s nothing like what you imagined. For example, simply tossing some lights here and there can lead to a jumbled, unplanned mess that draws the eye away from what should be the center spotlight: your home. 

Because of this, you should not place lights in your landscape until you have a firm idea of the layout of your property. 

If you have just moved into your home and are still figuring out whether you want a walkway or an outdoor sitting area, it’s best to hold off on placing lights until you have a more solidified idea of your exterior layout. That way, the lights can illuminate your property strategically and as a result, much more successfully. 

It is also important for homeowners to remember that a little goes a long way. We get it – it is tempting to get carried away and overdo it with the number of exterior lights. 

However, when homeowners add too much light, the result can confuse and disorient viewers.

How Do You Illuminate a House’s Exterior?

More often than not, the area that a homeowner chooses to focus on brightening is their house itself. 

Illuminating your house’s exterior is a great way to draw eyes to a pleasing architectural style. It also makes you safer, as adding a robust lighting plan can deter intruders from staking out your home. Additionally, landscape lighting can keep you safe as you walk to and from your home at night because you can better see the path. 

The best way to illuminate your house’s exterior is to place lights so that they highlight the walls of your home as well as any standout architectural features. 

When placing lights, make sure to spread the lights across at consistent, even spaces and pull special attention to the front door.

Of course, you do not want to have these lights be overpowering, which is why you should always position these lights at an angle. 

Additionally, you should always make sure to use lights that are made for the outdoors. Your lights will be durable and hold up to the Medfield elements.

Choosing the Right Bulb 

When you design your garden lighting, you must make sure to purchase a specific kind of light bulb. 

Outdoor spaces require bulbs that will not be too bright or blind people. They need to be much more mellow than indoor lights and instead emit low, pleasant light for a serene, comforting ambiance. 

Outdoor light bulbs are usually broken into five main types. 

• Incandescent
• Halogen
• Fluorescent
• LED
• Solar

Each of those bulb types has varying benefits and drawbacks. For example, solar lights are much more environmentally friendly than other types because they don’t rely on electricity to power on. 

LED lights are also fairly eco-friendly. They have an impressively low energy consumption rate. 

While incandescent lights emit a very pleasing light, they are not that energy efficient as they have a short lifespan.

Placing Lights in Flower Beds 

Placing landscape lights in flower beds is an exciting element to landscape light design and is a great way to highlight your beautiful garden during the nighttime. 

There are two significant ways to achieve a successful flower bed lighting landscape design. The first is to highlight the garden’s individual plants. You can achieve this by placing a light at the base of the plant you want to feature. 

Once the light is placed at the base of the plant, you can angle the light up so that it illuminates the plant of your choice. This method works incredibly well for large, tall plants. 

You can also highlight your garden bed as a whole by placing smaller lights closer to the ground, circling the perimeter of your flower bed. Doing this will draw attention to the entire flower bed as opposed to one individual plant.

Creating the Perfect Path

When done correctly, a view of lit-up outdoor path lights can look like it was torn straight from a fairytale book. When done incorrectly, it can look bizarre and displeasing to the eye. 

The trick to creating the perfect illuminated path is never to plan a pathway in a straight line. Instead, make sure the path has a nice, easy curve. When you have a straight pathway with lights on either end, it can look like an airport tarmac.

On the other hand, if the curves are too sharp, it can confuse the eye and make it seem like lights are placed haphazardly.

For the best effect, make sure your outdoor path moves in gentle, gracious curves around your property.

Accent Lights 

Accent lights are an excellent tool to use to liven up the dark spaces and corners in your yard. By placing smaller accent lights in the corners of your property, you help craft a more cohesive light design. 

Using accent lights can have other benefits, too. By illuminating small crevices and spaces, you drastically reduce the area in which a potential intruder can hide.

Make sure not to clump too many of these accent lights together. If it’s too bright, it will draw the eye away from your home and create a chaotic, confusing light design.

Hire Professional Electricians 

While lighting design can feel overwhelming, it doesn’t have to. With the help of a licensed electrician, you can plan out your light design so that it is just as gorgeous and functional as you want it to be.

Because you are dealing with a complicated outdoor lighting electrical system, it’s easiest to hire a certified, professional electrician to help map out your landscape lighting plan. 

We can help you with all of your landscape lighting needs. From offering general lighting advice to guiding what bulbs to use to planning the layout, we can transform your yard into an illuminated masterpiece. 

Through our team of eager, knowledgeable staff, top talent, and a dedication to customer satisfaction, we’re the best lighting experts.

Call Paul Macrina Electrical Contracting, Inc. today to book an appointment.