Successful outdoor lighting is important. Lighting around your home is for security, to help prevent accidents and to add to your curb appeal. Appraisers have stated that investing in the right outdoor lighting can get you a 50 percent return on your money when you are ready to sell.
So now that we have established that lighting is important here are some tips for lighting that I think you can use.
- Highlight trees in your yard. Illuminate them from below or place a light in the tree itself, either way lighting trees is a stunning effect.
- Up lights. When used in moderation, up lighting is a good, dramatic way to highlight landscaping or architectural features around your home. Up lighting is surprising.
- Focus central. Use lighting to create a focal point for your home such as the entryway. Let the light draw people in.
- Beauty and function. Break up that runway look along your walkway by adding pointed lighting in plantings near the walkway instead.
- Use different fixtures. We are all used to seeing spotlights and floodlights, but some landscape designers will use step lights, area lights, post light or bollards.
- Warm light accents. Instead of having Christmas all year long opt for the standard warm white lights. Show off the accents of your yard and home instead of providing a light show.
- Control the effect. Use timers and plan which areas of your landscape is lighted and for how long. Set the timer to turn off at midnight so that just the security lighting remains active.
Now this might seem like a lot of lights and you are thinking that the cost could be through the roof but you can now take advantage of LED lighting. LEDs are dropping in price and are cheaper to run per year than incandescent lights. You also have the alternative of using solar powered spots and floods. They will collect battery power through the day and turn off when the battery is depleted. There has been improvement in photovoltaic cells and battery options.
Another option is to use hybrid lighting where the steady light is an LED but when motion is detected it turns to an incandescent for brighter temporary lighting.
Most if not all of these lighting options can be found at your local home improvement center if you are a DIYer. If not, I can get you a recommendation for a professional landscape contractor that can get you an estimate for placing lighting around your yard.
Emcee Arah – “the REALTOR with Architectural Dimension” – is both a Certified Distress Property Expert (CDPE) and a Certified Investor Agent Specialist (CIAS). He is uniquely equipped to assist you in navigating the residential real estate market in DC and the Maryland suburbs. Contact us by phone at (301) 452-5252. And don’t forget to leave your comments below, or on our Facebook page – we’d love to hear from you!
