4 Benefits of Including Outdoor Lighting in Your Landscape Design in Short Pump and Rockville, VA
Outdoor lighting is often overlooked in a landscape design but this can be an essential feature to upgrade your Short Pump and Rockville, VA outdoor spaces. A thoughtful landscape lighting plan can improve the appearance of your house and property after dark, add safety by illuminating dark spaces, and highlight your favorite features that don’t stand out in the daylight. Here are some options to consider for a landscape lighting plan.
Landscape Lighting Benefits
Investing in your lawn and landscape design can be an important decision. Once the sun sets, losing the lovely views and ability to go outside and admire your property can be discouraging but this can be remedied with a landscape lighting strategy that makes all your outdoor areas accessible.
Increase safety: Imagine the relief you will feel when you can arrive home to a landscape with no dark, uncertain corners or areas that make you feel uneasy at night. Thoughtful landscape illumination ensures the dark spaces have lighting so you feel confident turning from the main road into the driveway where you can park in the garage.
Highlight favorite features: A new stone façade on the master wing of your house, the fountain that delights you in the circular driveway, or a majestic willow tree that is a stately presence in the front yard—all of these outdoor features can be lit with ambient outdoor light fixtures that bring them to the visual forefront after dark. With illumination, you can see them and revel in their beauty at any time of day.
Make the areas more functional: Cooking an al fresco meal, listening to the kids play basketball in the driveway, and swimming in the pool after dark requires lighting to provide visibility. In the warm summer temperatures, most families spend more outdoor time and prefer not to be limited to only the daylight hours. Focused lighting and ambient illumination can ensure you can enjoy all your favorite outdoor activities well into the night.
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Landscape Lighting Strategies
With the variety of outdoor light fixtures and placements within the property, every part of the landscape can be illuminated perfectly.
An array of decorative light fixtures can increase the illumination while adding whimsical, streamlined, or classic fixtures to areas like walkways, driveways, and around patios. Choosing a fixture in a style that blends well with your house aesthetic can add light while blending well with your style.
Recessed light fixtures are not meant to be seen so they don’t stand out. Their purpose is to illuminate an area like a retaining wall where you want light but the focus should be on the texture of the stone and the dark nooks where the rocks meet. Patios can be an ideal spot for recessed lights that fit discreetly into the floor where they can add visibility and enhance the textures of the pavers.
Well lights fit into the ground to shine light upward into tree boughs, tree trunks, and boundary fencing. The brightness of these well lights can increase the visibility of outdoor features or remain faint for gentle illumination.
Done well, outdoor lighting can change the perception of your landscape after dark by elevating the visual drama of certain outdoor spaces while increasing the useability of others.
Related: Make a Retaining Wall a Statement Piece of Your Landscape Design in the Rockville, VA Area
With one lawn mower and a lot of determination, Josh Goff started Commonwealth Curb Appeal in 2004 as a way to make a living while spending time in the great outdoors.
In 2007, he traded the lawn mower for masonry and carpentry skills and began building outdoor living spaces. By 2015, he was named among the Top 40 Under 40. Over the years, the company has grown into the full-service landscape design and build firm it is today.
