Make your outdoor living space look high end with landscape lighting

You’ve got it all going on back there: pool with interlock surrounds, lounge area with a firepit, sound system, outdoor kitchen, meandering walkways, beautifully manicured hedges and shrubs and some unique looking trees. But there’s something missing from the ambiance this evening. The mood isn’t just right. And your dinner guests aren’t noticing the subtle design details you agonized over for hours. What’s the je ne sais quoi?

Excellent outdoor lighting – that’s the finishing touch that makes a showstopper of high end landscaping.

Where do you get the best bang for your buck when it comes to landscape lighting? For starters, use lighting to highlight features you like – the details you want to call attention to like a prize-winning plant or a unique custom structure. Then think about the kind of mood you want to strike – intimate, grand, refined, warm, cheery, cool, calm? Lighting and its placement can really change a space, so take some time to consider the style you want to create.

Here are a few ideas we like at Exact Landscapes:

Path lighting

Walkways that are lined with path lights are a wonderful way of encouraging guests to take a stroll through a landscape. Choose a yellow-hued lighting to create a warm and intimate feel.

 

Grazing lighting

Grazing lighting, when lighting is used to create a defined line along a hard surface, can be used for lighting up an outdoor bar, the side of a house to create height, or to dramatize virtually any hard edgy surface. Use grazing to create a grand, cool, and refined style.

 

Underwater pool lighting

Like to keep your pool open at night? Pool lighting – which comes in every imaginable colour and style – positions a pool as a centerpiece of an outdoor living space, and is nice way to to illuminate a larger space surrounding it. Have fun and get creative with underwater pool lighting, or use it to create a softer more elegant look.

 

Fire lighting

A fire naturally draws people in. It creates an intimate gathering place for family and friends by gently lighting up only the space where people sit around it. Backyard fireplaces can take many different shapes and styles. We have always liked the open, raised fire pit as a casual but refined approach to a classic Canadian pastime.

 

Shadow lighting

Shadow lights create a soft, yet moody feeling to a space. Use shadow lights around the hard periphery of an area to define a space, or along other hard objects to cast light in interesting ways.

 

What’s your favourite kind of landscaping lighting?