Pimp your outdoors
Increased enjoyment of your outdoors is a major benefit of installing outdoor lighting, even more so that summer is on its way.
Whether you choose to work with a landscape lighting designer, hang a few string lights in your pergola, or install some well-placed spotlights, it will be well worth the investment. Good outdoor lighting has an immediate, positive impact, and can also increase your property value.
Aesthetics aside, outdoor lighting has numerous benefits, from illuminating the path to your front door, to deterring would-be burglars, and creating stunning visual effects of light and shadow among your plants. A favourite is lighting up the night on the front verandah, porch, or your pergola.
These are the basic types of outdoor lighting fixtures:
1. Spotlights generally point only in one direction; often used to illuminate garden art, plants, walls, and patios.
2. Flood lights are the most useful for brightening large areas; often used to light up driveways and patios from above.
3. Up and downlights are spotlights used to highlight specific objects or plants.
4. Step lights either go on walls beside steps or stairs, or on the front, vertical face.
5. Garden lights in natural areas can showcase your favourite plants, creating a soft ambient glow at ground level.
6. Bollard lights are inset or mounted on the tops of posts, and with no covers they cast light in every direction.
7. String lights or fairy lights are perfect for stringing through trees, on pergolas, and around porches, providing more subtle light for a picturesque scene.
