Great Tips For Enhancing Your Outdoor Environment – Houston Landscape Lighting How To Pt. 1
Here at Robert Huff Illumination, we receive numerous requests and questions from customers who are intimidated by landscaping and exterior lighting. However, assisting customers with adding value to their properties through the use of Houston residential outdoor lighting is my specialty, and I know many ways to make our customers’ outdoor areas – gardens, decks, backyards, front yards – look fantastic through the use of outdoor lighting techniques and fixtures.
The bottom line is that outdoor lighting doesn’t have to be a confusing or overwhelming project. You can make it as detailed or as simple as you would like it to be. After reviewing the following basics, also check out the ideas I have for putting them into practice – these are all things that you can do right now to enhance your outdoor areas.
My goal in writing this “Basics of Landscape Lighting” guide is to get some of the key outdoor lighting concepts introduced that you can get implemented immediately. To make it even more helpful, I will be using specific examples to illustrate the principles behind the concepts. That will provide you with plenty of information to starting thinking about what will work the best in your outdoor environment and how you can use lighting to create a beautiful outdoor area.
Some of the common questions that I get are “I would like to give my yard some extra life and would like to use lighting to do that. What do I need to know before I begin? Where do I start, and what should I do?” When you are considering how to best design your exterior landscape lighting, one of the most important things that you need to understand is that less is often more Since the eye is drawn into areas that have the highest level of visual contrast, you don’t necessarily need a lot of lighting fixtures in order to create an effect that is very beautiful. We also have a great blog to pull ideas from.
Once you have the fundamental “less is often more” concept in mind, your next step is to figure out what you would like to light. Do don’t want to light up your entire yard so that it resembles a Las Vegas casino. If you try to highlight everything, then nothing is going to be special or stand out. Instead, you should think about which features you would like to show off, and then determine how you are planning on using specific outdoor areas. Choose a few selected features, make sure they are lighted well (in terms of fixture placement, appropriate beam spread, and light quality), and then think about how you would like to fill other areas in.
Make sure you consider the perspective that you will be looking from and viewing objects when you are thinking about lighting. For example, if you will be featuring a tree that is seen from every side, then one accent light is not going to give you the effect that you desire. You are going to need to have other lights on the other viewable sides as well.
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How much light is needed for creating a nice outdoor environment?
Not too much if you just want to light objects in your yard. Just like with desk mounted, small task lamps, a little can go quite a long way when a small amount of light is placed exactly where it is needed. If overall light levels are kept low, then the contrast in between shadow and light of a highlighted outdoor feature will create a very dramatic effect.
For a favorite outdoor reading area, you can place a spot over a pergola or in a tree, and then direct the light over your shoulder and down. For outdoor entertaining and dining, you don’t need lots of light. There are numerous ways that you can use light to create a fun summer entertainment center, especially in Houston. Ultimately, what you want to do is create a relaxed and casual mood for your outdoor area.
Be sure to contact us or give us a call for all your Outdoor Lighting needs, also read the conclusion of this article!