Beginner’s Guide to Home Exterior Lighting

With the winter now in full swing, it can be easy to neglect our home’s exterior. When met with the dilemma of tackling those pesky garden jobs that have been hanging around for months, or spending the day curled up on the sofa, the choice is hardly a difficult one. But, when those sunny days roll around, any time that you’ve dedicated to sprucing up your home’s exterior during winter can really pay dividends! Especially considering you won’t have to sacrifice any warm summer evenings labouring away, rather than sipping a martini and basking in your own success.

Exterior lighting is something that can add both atmosphere and value to your home. It’s something that can often be overlooked, but really is a vital element of your outdoor space. If you’re a newbie with exterior lighting, then worry not, as this is the ideal guide to help you make your outdoor space a thing of dreams. From accent to the ambience, you’ll be enhancing your exterior in no time at all!

Clearly Defined Objectives

Planning is perhaps the most important part of the process, as it will concern the aesthetic and functionality of your outdoor space. Ensure that you lay out objectives for your work, how you’d like your lighting to look, the level and warmth of the lighting, as well as any practical elements such as weatherproofing and electrical connections.

At this stage, it’s also worth considering how much budget you’ll be allocating to the project, whether you’ll need an electrician to fit the lighting and understanding how long the project will take. As much as we’d all love a quick fix, sometimes, those things that we’ve invested in pay the biggest returns.

Different Lighting Levels

When it comes to exterior lighting, there are three main lighting levels that should be considered. These are:

Task Lighting: This is important for when you’re carrying out activities in the space, from walking around your property to cooking on the BBQ. If you don’t have task lighting, everyday activities can become much more difficult when the sun sets, potentially causing safety hazards too.

Ambient Lighting: Responsible for the overall light level of the outdoors space, ambient lighting should never glare or be particularly obvious, coming from everywhere, rather than one specific source. It’s also important to consider reflections, especially if you have an outdoor pool or water feature, as this can significantly change how the light behaves. 

Accent Lighting: The final level of lighting is responsible for shining a light on any dramatic features within the outdoors space. Accent lighting creates drama and visual interest within the space, serving much more of an aesthetic benefit than a functional one.

Considerations

Before jumping in and buying up the entire lighting section of your local garden centre, there are some very important considerations that need to be taken into account when adding some fresh lighting to your outside area. These are:

Space: With this, common sense should prevail. If you have a smaller outside space, subtle lighting can be used to good effect, without the need for extensive works to be carried out. Also, consider your home’s lantern effect – where the home provides a source of light for the outside space – and whether this needs to be balanced using ambient lighting. More on this below…

Balance: Lighting, both interior and exterior, should always be balanced unless used to create a specific dynamic shift in atmospheres. Generally, a balance in lighting is a good thing, as that means that all areas can be seen and appreciated fully. It also looks more aesthetically pleasing, rather than having one overly lit section and one dark section of your space.

Safety: When installing lighting outdoors, there is one major safety aspect that you need to consider; weather. Many outdoor lights will be weatherproof, with a solid IP rating to ensure that they don’t let any rain in. However, these lights will need power, so ensure that any switches, power boxes and cables are properly protected from the rain, as this could cause major issues.

Security: Depending on the style of your home, where it is located and the outdoor space you have, security may need to be a consideration for you. Perhaps consider installing motion sensors so that your lights turn on when someone approaches the home. These can also help to save energy when the lights aren’t in use.

Style: There are countless different styles to choose from; therefore, you need to ensure that the style you choose suits your home. Retro industrial lighting is a style that can work with any interior. Coming in a variety of shapes and sizes, these lights can work perfectly with any exterior style.

Hopefully, you’re now ready to take on the exciting challenge of enhancing your home’s exterior lighting and really let your garden glow!