Garden Lighting Design Ideas

Before you install new lighting, take a look at what you've already got.

What you already have, even if you do not have anything, is sunshine and moonlight. Before you go spend a bunch of money running wiring and sticking solar fixtures into the ground, stop and take a look at the way your plantings, statuary and water features look in natural light.

What you may find is that you do not really need to do that much. For one thing, if your backyard or garden is a small, simple affair, you may already be just about done. A few carefully placed accent lights may be all that you need.

If you have a larger space to tackle, make sure you walk through it at night. Are you able to move around the yard without danger of tripping over plans or wandering off the walkway? If so you may again be able to get away with some accent lighting and perhaps spotlights for gathering areas. If not you will have to put together a more comprehensive plan to ensure that you can use your outdoor space in the way that you intend.

Too much of a good thing is too much of a good thing -- do not use too many garden lights!

Just a few properly positioned lights of the correct type can do more to make your garden beautiful and functional than a ring of bright floodlights around the perimeter. Make sure that you're only lighting the areas that need to be lighted, whether for functionality or to enhance the beauty of the space. Use only as much electricity as you need to - you will be helping the environment and saving money at the same time. One of the few win-win situations you run up against while doing home improvement.

Consider the characteristics of your plantings and how they react to outdoor lighting.

The kinds of plants, statuary, water features and other structures that you have in your garden will have a tremendous bearing upon the effect of your garden lighting. Plants with shiny, highly reflective foliage will not need as much light as will duller darker ones. For the same reason, if the majority of your garden consists of such plants you will need more numerous and brighter fixtures.

Use your garden lights to highlight what matters

Make sure that your final garden lighting design illuminates the important features of your garden and backyard. Walkways should be clearly be marked as should entry points and exits. Any water features, low walls or small pieces of statuary should have their own spotlighting or Accent lighting to prevent accidents and property damage.

If you take the above points into consideration when putting together your garden lighting plan I am sure that whether you're doing it yourself or engaging the services of electrical contractor to be more than happy with your results.

Creating a truly modern garden lighting design can add so much to your home. All types of properties can benefit from a garden lighting makeover, from small apartments with limited outside space to large palatial country mansions. You can create designs that are practical and those that simply impress your neighbors. But how do you achieve this in a contemporary style? This can be done using a few tips and techniques, all that is required is a little forward planning and thought as to how the end result will look.

Use contemporary looking landscape light units for starters. The style and design of the light units themselves can influence the overall appearance of the project. Avoid using the old fashioned lantern style lights or even those common stick in solar lights, they just look dated. Go for sleek designs in chrome or stainless steel. When using floodlights again pick out something that looks nice and modern not the standard black housing that is so common today. Don't forget you will see many of these lighting units, in the daytime at least.