How to Give Your Landscape Lighting Design a Makeover

Oct 20, 2017

When it comes to lighting your landscape after dark, the first order of business is to address practical concerns first, whether that means adding illumination to walkways and entrances or installing motion-sensor floodlights for security. This not only adds functionality to your home, but helps to protect you against certain liabilities.

However, landscape lighting can also serve as a creative element in the design process. If you want your Sioux Falls home to really shine, you want to showcase gorgeous landscape and hardscape features, you want to create a certain ambience, or all of the above, it’s definitely time to start thinking about how you can give your landscape lighting design a makeover that pairs practicality with some panache.

Consider Usage

The ways in which you plan to use your outdoor spaces will have an impact on the type of landscape lighting you choose. Do you want a brightly-lit entertaining space to accommodate dozens of guests at summer soirees, or are looking to create a dimmer, more intimate setting for a close group of family and friends?

What are the areas in your outdoor space likely to get the most use? Naturally, you’re going to spend time at the grill or using your outdoor kitchen, and your family members and friends will want to make use of patio areas meant for gathering.

If you happen to have an outdoor pool, you’ll definitely need adequate lighting for safety reasons, but you might also want to add some illumination to other spots that are ideal for socializing, like near water features or fire pits. Practicality may come first, but you can definitely add some flair and set the mood with the type of lighting you choose, as well as the placement.

Highlight Key Features

Perhaps you enjoy a park-like atmosphere with tall lights scattered along walkways or you prefer the appeal of fairy lights among the branches of trees. Maybe you like the grandeur and austerity of uplighting on massive tree trunks or the blank sides of your house. You might want to install underlighting on benches or planter boxes to call out these features. Highlighting design elements in your landscape and hardscape can really add visual appeal to your property.

Ask for Help

We all have ideas about what we find visually appealing, but unless you’re a landscaping or lighting design specialist, you might not even know about all the many options available to you, and this could limit your creativity. A professional can provide you with a gallery of past work to give you some idea of capabilities, as well as create a mock-up of your lighting design plan based on your input and preferences.

You can certainly attempt to update your Sioux Falls landscape lighting design on your own, but a trained professional can create the breathtaking tableau that you never even knew was possible, and ensure that your practical concerns are covered in the process. This is the best way to get the landscape lighting makeover that will serve all of your wants and needs, now and in the future.