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Enhancing Your Home's Outdoor Lighting
Outdoor lighting isn't always top of mind when it comes to improving your home, but it's a highly effective way of enhancing the appearance of your home's yard and exterior while making it safe and secure. Plus, you'll be able to enjoy your outdoor spaces more easily after dark. You'll have plenty of options to highlight the areas you'd like to call attention to, and, as an added bonus, outdoor lighting options are a relatively inexpensive upgrade.
Our real estate agents suggest the following ways to enhance your home's outdoor lighting:
- Start with lighting your home.
Although you might think to start with illuminating a pathway or your favorite tree in your yard, you should actually start by lighting your house. Position lighting fixtures to illuminate the walls of your home as well as any of its outdoor architectural features that look interesting. In addition to creating an attractive look, this type of lighting can help make your home more secure. - Illuminate your walkways.
Install lighting around the walkways to your home so you and your guests can safely navigate the paths in the evening or at night. In-ground lighting is a good option for this, but above-ground lights also work well. Just make sure to stagger the lighting so you don't create the look of an airplane runway. Motion sensor lights also work well for lighting a walkway. - Enhance your home's curb appeal with front porch lights.
Front porch lights add to your home's safety as well as its curb appeal. By choosing some warm, ambient lights, you can make your porch have a cozy feel, or, to prioritize safety, use some cooler bright lighting. Options include sconces, pendant lighting, and more. In addition to lighting the porch, they can also make stairs brighter and illuminate your front door. - Make your garden glow.
If you have a garden bed you're particularly proud of, make it stand out with a lantern-style fixture on a poll. Make sure your lighting is taller than your plants you want to showcase. - Create an interesting effect by lighting trees.
Depending on the size of your tree and the effect you're trying to achieve, you'll have several options to choose from when adding illumination to your trees. Uplighting can be used for a dramatic look on taller trees or to highlight a tree's canopy. If a tree has an interesting shape you'd like to call attention to, place your light source behind the tree, making sure you can't see the light source itself. Larger trees with open branches can also look impressive with a light source placed high in the tree and aimed downward. - Emphasize some hardscaping focal points.
Aim a few lights at objects you want to call attention to, such as a tree swing, arbor, or fountain. By using multiple lights, you'll create a softer effect that helps avoid harsh shadows. - Add deck lighting.
Deck lighting can help you enjoy your space after dark, whether you're just relaxing by yourself or are entertaining guests. String lights work well for this purpose, as do deck post cap lights. You can also surround your deck with torch lights staked into the ground. And remember to keep you and your guests safe by installing lights on your deck stairs.
If you're interested in buying a home on Long Island, contact us today. Our highly trained agents would love to show you Nassau County homes for sale as well as those in other counties on Long Island that you may be interested in.