Don’t let a little thing like the dark of night keep you from enjoying your gorgeously landscaped yard. With proper lighting, you can spend quality time with your family and friends outdoors by throwing a night party, having a heart-to-heart talk moment with your special someone, or just watching the stars and the moon.
Landscape lighting can add value to your property because it can highlight the best features of your home. In this post, you'll learn the best landscape lighting upgrades that can improve curb appeal. Let's get started!
1. Entrance Lighting
Check your entrance lighting to ensure it still provides sufficient light to your entryway.
Many homeowners neglect to upgrade deteriorating entrance lighting, which is a crucial aspect of your home's curb appeal. It creates the first impression among your visitors as they visit you during the night for an evening party or any special celebration.
Here's what you can do to upgrade your entrance lighting:
- Read online resources about landscape lighting that can improve curb appeal.
- Choose a lighting fixture that matches your home's overall style (e.g., bold and simple design for a contemporary house design or intricate curvy, vine, or floral design for a sophisticated style home).
- Your entrance lighting should highlight your landscaping and architectural designs around your doorways (e.g., circular or oval shape entrance lighting to match your Juniper bonsai cascade style).
- Light the architectural elements in your entryway with a warmer temperature bulb (2,500 to 2,700 Kelvin temperature).
- LED lights are bright enough to provide sufficient lighting to your entryway.
2. Pathway Lighting
Providing adequate lighting along walkways and driveways is also a good idea. It will prevent trips and slip accidents, most especially if it's raining. Your guests will love it. You can use solar-powered lights to save money on your electricity bill.
Here are some tips when selecting light bulbs for your landscape lighting:
- Say goodbye to incandescent bulbs because you can replace them with LED lights which are brighter and energy-saving that can last for up to 40,000 hours. It is equal to approximately 20 years of use.
- Halogens, which have a lifespan of two years with regular use, can provide a cheaper upfront cost for lighting.
- You can highlight your plants by using lights with a cooler temperature (about 3,000 to 4,000 Kelvin temperature).
3. Fence Lighting
Solar lights are perfect and convenient for fence and stakes lighting because the required installation is minimal.
If you're worried about needing abundant sunshine to charge solar lights, don't bother because there are solar LED lights available. These lights do not need much charging of solar power.
Your guests will surely appreciate if you provide a good light not just in your entryway and pathway, but also around the perimeter of your property. Fence lighting will not just highlight the overall look of your home at night but also help passersby see their way. It can also help you in increasing your home’s value when negotiating for a sale.
4. Opt-in Modern Lighting
Whether you have a traditional, a contemporary designed, or a smart home, modern lighting is applicable.
Here are some tips when it comes to installing this, which is perfect for the lighting of your landscape:
- Think of geometric shapes, clean lines, and wide beams (e.g., triangular or diamond-shaped lighting fixture).
- Light up your house's entire segment in a wall of light. It will highlight its texture and create a “grazing effect.”
- Replace your worn out lamp shades most especially if you can notice cracks or any flaw from the outside.
- The windows should not be too cluttered with the light sources, so it prevents competing with what you have outdoors.
5. Consider Accent Lighting
You spend thousands of dollars to ensure that your landscape is properly maintained. Be proud with your landscape and show it off through accent lighting.
You can highlight your home's prominent features such as spires, bay windows, and other embellishments through accent lighting. On the other hand, modern architectural designed homes shows clean and simple lines.
Here are some accent lighting tips:
- Use accent lighting to artfully display your flowers, trees, bushes, or even your vast expanses of lawn.
- Create a park-like atmosphere by hanging globe lights around trees.
- Turn your accent landscape lighting into an artistic display with colorful lanterns.
Conclusion
When it comes to upgrading your landscape lighting, homeowners should consider not only the aesthetic appeal but also the cost-effective options to ensure you don't spend more on utility bills in the long run.
Lighting is a practical and functional décor, and upgrading it will undoubtedly improve the curb appeal of your home. If you're planning to sell your home in the future, invest in lighting upgrades as early as now to ensure that potential buyers won't miss appreciating the beauty of your home.
