A Guide to Outdoor Lighting
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Introducing lighting to a garden can completely transform it, not only after dark, but year-round. A garden that is well-lit in winter, as well as on those balmy summer evenings spent outside, truly becomes a garden for all seasons.
Experts in LED Lighting, Detail Lighting offers beautiful, functional lighting solutions to help deliver extraordinary schemes. From driveways to dedicated zones, outdoor lighting should be considered and planned carefully. Here, Director of Detail Lighting, Piero De Marchis, provides expert advice on the key things to consider when planning your exterior lighting.
Create and link zones
“It’s important to study how light falls on your outdoor spaces and understand what it looks like as daylight fades. Then you can decide what needs lighting and how. Also, you may have architectural features, trees or shrubs that would add drama with carefully placed lighting. Never underestimate the power of lighting to connect different zones.”
Be calm and consistent, not cool and glaring
"Harsh, bright cold lighting isn’t exactly conducive to relaxation. For external lighting, it can be too hard on the eyes which is why we always recommend using warm white LED lighting for outdoor spaces – something with a colour temperature in the region of 2700K -3000K. This bathes areas in a wonderfully golden light that feels cosy and comforting. In-ground uplights and spotlights should always have a form of glare control cowl, honeycomb or baffle. For subtlety, avoid direct light – either wash walls with light or uplight to gently highlight features, including garden furniture from below. Spike lights are great too for tactical lighting."
Make a dramatic entrance
“Doors, entrances and porches are obvious external features to light, and they need it from a practical point of view. It increases security too and it can deter unwanted intruders. To create a warm and welcoming feeling, an entrance should be well lit, but not over lit. Consider wall lights either side of the door or possibly a recessed spotlight from above for a porch. If you are opting for one light, place it on the side where the keyhole and door handle are as it will make it easier when unlocking your door. Above all, ensure it is warm, inviting and makes guests feel safe.”
Light the way
“Exterior lighting for walkways, driveways and steps is far easier and more effective if you plan it in at the construction stage. This not only gives you more options which are likely to be less intrusive, it enables you to custom install cabling before anything is built. There’s nothing worse than having to channel through a perfectly set driveway or dig up the perfect lawn. Advances in safe low voltage, IP65 waterproof LED lighting technology with discreet transformers have made external lighting much easier to retrofit, cheaper to run and more resistant to the elements and condensation. Retro-fitting LED lighting is of course possible and there are plenty of ways to do this. Discreet exterior in-ground path lights and spike lights angled are great lighting solutions that create interest and depth.”
Wash walls with light
“Outdoor lighting can also be highly effective at creating something from nothing. A wall that you might not think twice about during the day can become a dramatic feature at night with clever lighting. By aiming a wide beam of light from below or above, a wall can be washed with light and bring its warm tones to life. Alternatively, positioning the beam closer to the wall can catch and accentuate the natural texture of the wall itself using light and shadow. However, if you have a modern home with a “perfect” finish, any slight imperfections and undulations would be exposed by positioning the light close to the wall. So, consider the position of your exterior lighting carefully – possibly even experiment at night using a wide beamed torch to see how light affects the surface.”
Illuminate life
“Entertaining outdoors has become increasingly popular and with that, more attention is being paid to the ambience of our external living spaces such as patios, dining and cooking areas. We tend of think of these areas as extensions of our homes – outdoor rooms, even. Patios are now our outdoor lounges where we can sit and socialise with friends and family well into the evening. Al fresco eating areas are our outdoor dining rooms. Both require subtle, intimate lighting that relaxes guests and encourages conversation. Consider soft indirect lighting and use surfaces to absorb and diffuse light. Strategically situated dimmable LED linear lighting and inground lighting can create a feel of floating whilst thoughtful pendant lights and ceiling lighting can illuminate faces and table settings.”
