Many people marvel at how beautiful homes look during the holiday season with strings of lights hung everywhere. Yet few of them take the time to create a similarly pleasing effect year round with outdoor accent lighting. Landscape accent lighting will increase the pleasure you and your guests take from your home, while also improving the safety and security of your residence.
Lightscaping
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but sometimes that eye needs to be guided. Accent lighting is a way to draw attention to and emphasize the interesting landscape or architectural features of your home. This can be done through a wide array of methods (see our article on How to Light Landscape with Accent Lighting), all of which provide three primary benefits:
- Beauty
Outdoor accent lights are full of theatrical gestures. They can soften, dramatize, highlight, reveal, and even conceal. Well placed accent lighting can create fascinating silhouettes and shadows using trees and other natural features. Antique post lanterns create ambiance, while garden lights lend nature's own colors to the evening.
- Safety and security
Many different types of outdoor accent lighting can also deter intruders and make walkways safer. Path lights and step lights are both charming and unobtrusive. Post and bollard lights or pagoda lights stylishly illuminate a driveway. The addition of a flood light and motion sensor to an existing landscape lighting system would help prevent accidents.
- Better home usage
Having a yard is one of the greatest advantages of owning a home. Outdoor accent lighting by decks, patios, and swimming pools prolongs the hours you spend enjoying your yard. You could even add features such as a gazebo or garden bridge, or a porch swing for summer nights. Accent lights increase the decorative possibilities of your landscape.
