Enhance the Atmosphere with Landscape Lighting

Whether you’re designing an outdoor space where you can relax and entertain or simply improving the landscape to increase the value of your home, choosing the proper lighting will help you achieve the desired look and feel. Consider the placement, color and style of lights as you illuminate your open-air scene.

Create Drama

Just as an attractive yard layout features well-placed greenery and accents, an eye-catching landscape lighting design St Louis MO includes well-aimed illumination. Add depth with up lighting — small beams that rise from the base of trees, statues or columns to generate striking highlights and shadows in your outdoor space. Conversely, subtle down lighting can simulate moonlight as it filters through trees or romantically reflects on the surface of a pool or fountain.

Set the Mood

Because lighting can make an emotional impact, consider different colors, hues, and temperatures to cultivate the feelings you wish to invoke in your outdoor area. While the lively glow of white lights will brighten landscape features and boost energy, bulbs that produce a warmer, amber hue will give the space a more soothing feel. For additional impact, use lens kits to temporarily turn white lights green, blue or red to lend a festive touch to alfresco events.

Be Imaginative

From twinkling ambient lighting in trees to glowing lanterns near seating areas to subtle rope lights along walkways, illumination from unexpected sources can add whimsy and originality to your landscape. In addition, rather than overwhelm an area with harsh white beams, use an indirect source, such as a floodlight aimed across an entire wall that will reflect and add a gentle wash of radiance to your gathering space.

As you plan the look of the outdoor areas around your home, give the lights as much consideration as you’d give the plants, hardscaping, seating and ornaments. Well-chosen landscape lighting can not only brighten your outdoor space but also enrich your experience while you spend time in it.