We Love… Outdoor Lighting

Shorter days call for outdoor lighting, for safety, security and garden views.

It’s easy to assume that outdoor lighting is unattractive, and purely functional, but the truth is far from it; there are numerous choices when it comes to placement, style and function. Because of this, it’s important to consider what you want to achieve; do you want full view of the garden, or to focus more on specific areas? Will it be more functional, lighting pathways and entrances, or decorative? Whatever you decide, here are some of the most popular options and how they can be used.

Wall lights
One of the most popular types of lighting for outdoors is wall mounted lighting. These are usually mounted high up, above ground floor windows, and can be used to illuminate both large and small areas, depending on the type of light you go for. For full garden illumination, a number of floodlight-type lights will do the trick, or for a more subtle look, something like this bulkhead light will diffuse light over a fairly large area. These are great mounted on or near orangeries or garden rooms, as they will enable you to see almost all of the garden when it’s dark outside.

Alternatively, you may want to focus the light on certain areas; more contained lights like this box wall light provide more concentrated light, allowing you to strategically pick areas which you want to be visible at night. With more focused wall lighting, there is also the ability to use the light to create beautiful patterns and designs.

Recessed floor lights
Another way of introducing light to the garden is by recessing spotlights into the ground. Although it won’t illuminate as much of the surrounding garden as lights mounted on exterior walls, recessed ground lighting will light up your home from below, giving it a dramatic look – for example this will look stunning if placed around the border of the house.

Recessed lighting can also be used strategically to light pathways, making them safer at night as well as adding a point or two of visual interest to the garden.

Spotlighting
Spotlights can be used effectively at all heights; mounted high up, at a mid-point to use whilst entertaining, or at ground level. Ground level or recessed lights can be placed around the garden to highlight specific features – a statue, a potted plant, or a favourite tree or two, to provide an eye-catching view from indoors without flooding the whole area with light.

Using a combination of lights at different levels makes for a very interesting visual effect. If you have a patio as well as some lawn and planted buy hydrocodone in tijuana borders, consider wall mounted lights next to the house, so you can see the patio area immediately in front; this will provide safety and security by lighting entrances and making it easy to see if there is anyone outside. Combine this with low- and mid-level lighting out in the garden to highlight different points of interest for a dramatic look. Make sure that you space lights out adequately, otherwise your landscape will look unbalanced.

Decorative lights
Best teamed with functional lighting, decorative lights can be used in the garden to enhance natural features or create some nice focal points. Some of the most popular decorative lighting solutions are fairy lights; strings of delicate lights can be added to trees or other plants, or used around seating areas to give subtle, ambient lighting. Make sure that any strings of lights used in the garden are suitable for the outdoors though – many fairy lights look pretty, but are for indoor use only.

Other styles of decorative lights which are very popular include lanterns, hanging pendant lights, and light cables recessed into the edges of pathways. If these sound too arduous to install, however, up-cycled DIY lights are a really nice way to add some pretty, soft lighting to your garden when entertaining. For some DIY garden lighting inspiration, take a look at our lighting Pinterest boards.

Security lights
Finally, one great reason for outdoor lighting is certainly security, as touched on above. In order to ensure that you don’t ruin the aesthetic you’ve created with any other outdoor lighting, use motion sensor security lighting. Position so that doors, ground floor windows and any could-be access points are covered, so that the lights will detect comings and goings. Not only will this help with keeping your home secure, it will also light pathways for family and friends when they’re entering or leaving your home at night – an added benefit.

With winter well and truly upon us, the nights are drawing in early and it can make for a somewhat depressing evening with no outside light. The solution? Equip your home with efficient outdoor lighting – not only will this help you in a variety of ways, such as helping you navigate your way to your front door, it’ll also illuminate your garden to make sure that you continue to get panoramic views of the outside; particularly poignant if you have large amount of glazing, for example in an orangery or garden room.