Relax and enjoy cool fall evenings in your outdoor living spaces with a professional lighting system from Heinen Landscape!
The sun may be setting earlier, but there’s still plenty of time to enjoy your outdoor living spaces. The right exterior lighting can make any lawn, patio, or deck area just as inviting (if not more so) after dark as it is during the day. Creating a relaxing mood and atmosphere while boosting the functionality and safety of those spaces means more hours of outdoor enjoyment this fall.
What types of lighting are best for outdoor living spaces?
The secret to great outdoor lighting is not to rely on just one or two main light sources. Instead, lighting systems should be designed with several types of light from different sources that work together to provide exactly the right kind of illumination, and in the right amounts, where it’s needed. After dark, outdoor spaces become more comfortable and inviting when exterior lighting isn’t too bright – it should add to the overall ambiance of the space without being a harsh distraction. The professional lighting system designers at Heinen Landscape achieve this by strategically using a variety of lighting and fixture types and creating a lighting plan designed specifically for your property.
Ambient Lighting
Ambient lighting provides a soft, even layer of light as the core of the lighting design plan. Soft ambient light – vs. direct spotlights – makes any outdoor space more welcoming after dark, creating the perfect atmosphere for conversation, dining, or just relaxing and enjoying a cool fall night.
Some examples of ambient lighting include:
- String lights around patios and decks to add a glowing canopy of light
- Pendant lights for covered patios or porches
- Wall sconces for soft lighting around walls and doors
- Recessed lighting for covered patios or pergolas
- Downlighting to subtly illuminate larger spaces
Accent Lighting
Accent lighting provides the flourish. It softly illuminates and flatters the decorative features of an outdoor space such as landscape plantings, sculptures, and water features. It can also be used in more functional areas, including stairs and sidewalks. With the correct accent lighting, specific design features of outdoor spaces and even the home’s exterior come into focus even after dark.
The combination of string lights and subtle wall lighting sets the perfect tone for this outdoor dining area.
Task Lighting
Task lighting is just that: lights designed to brightly and directly illuminate specific areas, improving visibility, access, and safety for outdoor kitchens, grill stations, and other functional work areas. More direct and brighter than ambient lighting, task lighting has a job to do, but it can still be designed to blend with the overall lighting plan.
In-Grade Lighting
In-grade lighting is installed flush with the ground, cleanly and subtly highlighting specifically targeted spots, especially the edges of pathways, driveways, and patios. And, being even with the ground, in-grade lighting is highly durable and holds up under foot traffic.
What type of lighting is best for patios and seating areas?
Lighting designers combine ambient lighting, downlighting, and accent lighting to create a balance of functionality and aesthetics for patios and outdoor seating areas. The goal is a balance of lighting that adds warmth to the gathering area along with enough light to aid in navigating the space – while not overwhelming it with too much light.
Well-planned ambient lighting is an essential element in creating a welcoming and inviting outdoor gathering space. It’s the overall glow of ambient lighting that establishes a warm and welcoming atmosphere for a space. For added functionality, designers often utilize fixtures and lighting control systems that can be easily adjusted to match the occasion – brighter lighting for large gatherings, softer lighting for relaxing evenings with the family.
What type of lighting is best for outdoor kitchens and dining areas?
In-grade lighting subtly, yet effectively, illuminates potential tripping hazards like the edge of patios or walkways.
Outdoor kitchens and dining areas generally need more lighting than just the ambient lighting of patio and conversational seating areas. Designers use a mix of task lighting for cooking or bartending and ambient lighting to create a mood around the area that is relaxing for guests while the host grills, mixes, or pours.
Task lighting can take the form of a strategically installed overhead light, under-counter lights, or recessed lights – all carefully placed as to not cast inconvenient shadows on the workspace.
Functional task lighting is less important for dining. More subtle, softer illumination is appropriate, and it is achieved with pendant lights, recessed lights, wall fixtures, and accent lamps, which can be used to highlight specific hardscape features like stonework, planters, or fireplaces.
How can you use outdoor lighting to improve safety?
Outdoor lighting not only adds visual appeal after dark but also improves safety for you and your guests. Walkways, stairs, entryways, and any change in elevation should be well illuminated so they are easier to navigate – but all of this can be accomplished without the addition of blinding floodlights. Instead, the strategic placement of specific types of lighting fixtures can bring attention to potential tripping hazard areas without compromising the mood and aesthetics of the overall space.
Lighting applications designed to improve safety include:
- Pathway lights
- Step and stair lighting
- Driveway lights to define edges
- Entry lighting
- Deck and patio lighting around seating, edges, and stair areas
- Motion-activated lighting around entrances, garages, and side yards
In addition to making your outdoor spaces easier to navigate, a thoroughly illuminated exterior, easily achieved through motion-activated lighting, also works as a deterrent to unwanted trespassers.
These small pole lights accent the ground cover plantings and illuminate the walkway for easier navigation.
Can you control outdoor lighting from your smartphone?
Modern, professionally installed lighting systems can easily be controlled and adjusted from most any smartphone. The lighting specialists at Heinen use top-quality lighting equipment from FX Luminaire. Their state-of-the-art equipment gives homeowners the power to adjust lighting zones, dim individual fixtures, create custom lighting schedules, and change the color of the lights, all through the FX Luminaire app.
The Professional Difference
Smartphone control is just one advantage of a professionally designed and installed lighting system. In addition to Heinen’s decades of experience designing custom lighting systems, the professional-grade quality of lighting control systems and purpose-built outdoor lighting fixtures ensures long-term, reliable use with limited maintenance.
Compared to DIY options available at home improvement stores, a professionally designed and installed system allows for greater customization, longer-lasting components, and better integration throughout the entire outdoor space. Solar lights or plug-in lights significantly limit where and how these lights can be used. Professional installation, quality components, and the addition of smartphone controls make it easier for homeowners to manage their outdoor lights and make them more dependable for many, many years to come.
Ready to upgrade your home’s outdoor lighting? The lighting pros at Heinen can create a custom system designed around your property’s unique features and how you plan to use your outdoor spaces.
Schedule a no-obligation consultation with the Heinen lighting experts today! Call Debbie at (913) 432-5011 or click here to send the team a message online!
