Selecting lighting for your interior may not be an easy task, but indeed it is an essential aspect of interior design and decoration. It plays a crucial role in offering comfort, making the place beautiful, and increasing the value of your living space. Without proper lighting, the details of your home architecture and the focal area go unnoticed. Still, many home decorators choose to give more attention to other aspects such as furniture, walls, and false ceilings instead of lighting.
Installing excellent indoor and outdoor lights instantly adds new energy to your space. Here are some reasons why lighting is vital to every element of home design:
- Lighting instantly elevate the aesthetic appeal of the house
- Exterior lights improve the safety and security of your home
- Well-lit places foster a welcoming environment for all
- Lighting helps to accentuate details of the home
- Proper lighting in the house increases your productivity
- It also lowers the risk of accidents and injuries
- Various types of lighting can create a different illusion to home areas
- Adequate lighting helps everyone, along with kids and adults, to move freely
- Both indoor and outdoor lights add value to your house
Lightings have the potential to transform how your house functions, looks and feels. Whether you own an apartment or a townhouse, you should give equal consideration to exterior lights as you do to interior lights. After all, outdoor lights are essential to enhance the nighttime beauty of your home.
Outdoor Lighting Guide – Types, Tips, and More
One of the common reasons why homeowners invest in outdoor lighting is for its aesthetically pleasing charm. When you get help from a professional to install these lights, it also increases your home’s evening curb appeal. Here are things you need to know to get your outdoor lighting right.
Identify the Areas to Light
Once you start thinking about exterior lighting, you must list spaces that you want to illuminate. Consider these things:
- List out areas that you like the most. It can be a pond, a tree, a seating area, a pool, a fountain, or any other architectural element.
- Think about adding drama to a space that does not stand out during the day. In such areas, installing some wonderful outdoor lights can bring extra attention to that space.
- Give particular focus to the functionality and safety factor. Stairs, pathways, boundaries, and home entrances require perfect lighting to move around outdoor space without the risk of injury.
- Include fixture requirements in your lighting plan. Come up with a practical plan that can make installation and maintenance easy.
- Make sure your lighting works with the colour theme of your outdoor space. For example, the yellow and golden-coloured area will need reflective lighting, while a lighter colour theme requires bright, white lighting.
- Finally, make sure you get lighting that befits the aura of the house and your personality.
Types of Outdoor Lighting
After you know the purpose behind outdoor lighting space, learn the basics of lighting. Here are the three basic types of lighting:
Accent Lighting: Accent lighting helps to highlight any particular artwork or architectural features. It can create drama for statues, water features, specific plants, or more for outdoor lighting. Some examples:
- Floodlights
- Chandelier with dimmers
- Direct track lights
- Candlelights
- Spike lights
Ambience Lighting: General lighting is a source of lighting for your pathways, staircase, and seating areas. It helps people to navigate quickly and safely around the house. Some examples:
- Lanterns
- Rope lights
- Wall-mounted lights
- Track lights
- LED downlights
Task Lighting: Task lighting is more intense lighting and helps you perform specific tasks. You can add task lighting to the outdoor sports room, cooking area, and dining area. It illuminates only one particular area, not the entire space. Some examples:
- LED strip lights
- Desk lamps
- Table lamps
- Pendant lights
- Vanity lights
Tips for Outdoor Lighting
Proper lighting can make your outdoor space more cosy, fun, and safe. Here are some outdoor lighting tips you can consider when designing your exterior space.
Create Dramatic Moonlighting Effect: Got trees in your home surroundings? Then, moonlighting can create a dramatic effect in your backyard. All you need to do is select tall trees and place some elegant and low-voltage light on them. Make sure to angle them all towards the branches. These lights will illuminate through the leaves that will create beautiful natural patterns and shadows.
Use Accent Lights for Wall Washing: Wall washing is another lighting technique that highlights a particular wall from top to bottom. You can fix accent lights or track lights on the ceiling at a wider distance from the wall. Make sure these lights fall on the wall. It will create an equal and uniform pattern, making your wall look outstanding.
Enhance Your Mood with Mood Lights: Mood lights are gaining popularity because it makes your space inviting. You can install mood lights in and around your patio or near the swimming pool. Go for a series of lanterns, flattering colour-changing lights, or LED strips. Mood lights instantly add softness and calmness to people’s moods and circulate good vibes.
Enlighten Your Walkways with LED Lights: Today, more people are investing in LED lights because they create beautiful effects and are energy efficient. They are practical, use less energy, and last longer than standard light bulbs. You can fix LED lights almost everywhere outdoors. Patio, decks, pathways, staircases, and many more places are suitable for LED lights.
At HomeLane, you get a range of outdoor lighting options. From garden lights to step lights and fairy lights, you can choose from a range of modern styles and patterns to add that dynamic touch to your exterior space.
