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When designing the illumination around a home, outdoor lighting is every bit as important as interior lighting. It can influence the perception of the space while also making it easier to navigate at night.
In this article, we will explore the various perks of outside lighting, while also providing a few outdoor lighting layout ideas to get you started.
The Importance of Exterior Lighting
Outdoor lighting does far more than simply add decoration to the exterior space around the home. It plays a massive role in the safety and atmosphere of your outdoor living area, too. It can enhance security as well by ensuring everything is well-lit and easy to see.
One of the most practical perks of outdoor lighting is the safety and security it can provide. By brightening the area enough to deter potential intruders to ensure you have safe lighting for garden steps, exterior illumination is critical to the use of the space.
By strategically placing lights around the entrances, steps and driveway areas, you can reduce the risk of falling and tripping by making it easier to see and navigate. Low-glare outdoor wall lights can also improve upon the visibility of the space by not creating harsh bright spots.
Creative garden illumination may also enhance the look of the house from the street. Exterior soffit lighting, porch lighting and pathway lighting can accentuate the house as well as the space leading up to it.
Mood lighting for outdoor entertaining areas is another important consideration when choosing lights for your outdoor space. Installing fixtures such as this Square Black Outdoor Wall Light can light up the walls on either side of entrances or create soft lighting for entertaining around patio areas without super bright, direct lighting.
Current Trends for Outdoor Lighting Around the Home
Much like any other style of lighting, Outdoor lighting trends come and go. Lately, the biggest trends for garden lighting inspiration tend to center around atmosphere and storytelling, transforming the outdoor living space.
In that vein, Stylish patio illumination whose colour temperature can be changed is popular. You can have brighter, cooler lights for tasks when working outdoors, or warmer outdoor lighting for entertaining. Smart lights that allow you to alter these light styles through an app or your voice modernise your exterior space immediately.
Playing up the materials and textures of porch lighting and patio lighting is another popular move. Fixtures with luxurious materials like matte metals, frosted glass, rattan and teak wood are increasingly popular. They can be enhanced with wall grazing lights such as spike lights and bollard light fixtures shining up close to the wall.
Statement fixtures that serve as outdoor art provide beautiful landscape lighting inspiration. You can make the lights themselves do the work of decoration while also bringing ample illumination to the space. Choose bold, large statement pieces and sculptural lighting to enhance the personality of the space.
How Much Light Do You Need for an Outdoor Space?
The amount of light that you will need outdoors depends entirely on the size of the space and what you wish to accomplish with it. For example, mood lighting for outdoor spaces is going to work better with dimmer illumination than pathway lighting that serves a navigational purpose.
The main thing to think about when it comes to brightness is the lumen count. Lumens measure the total amount of visible light that a bulb emits, as opposed to the old metric of watts that measured the power output and corresponding brightnesses.
A general rule of thumb for brightness in various outdoor locations are as follows:
- Pathway lighting should have between 100 and 200 lumens of light.
- Step lighting needs between 12 and 100 lumens of light.
- Accent lighting around sculptures and plants should have between 50 and 300 lumens of light.
- Deck and patio lighting should have around 300 to 700 lumens of light.
- Flood and security lighting should be ultra bright, somewhere between 700 and 1300 lumens of light.
- Driveway lighting should shoot for 500 to 1000 lumens of light.
You can get lights with brighter lumen counts, or you can install several lights with lower lumens to create a similar brightness. For example, if you’re looking for ways to light up patios and driveways, choosing a ground light like the 6 Watt 600mm Tall Black Spotlight LED Bollard Light is a great idea. It is bright enough that it can be used on its own in smaller outdoor spaces, but it can be paired with other similar lights to brighten up larger areas as well.
How to Make Sure Your Outdoor Lighting Is Safe
While lighting plays an important role in illuminating the space for atmosphere, it is also crucial for safety and security. Part of lighting safety is also the actual safety of the fixture itself, and how well it is protected against constant exposure to the elements.
Whether you are incorporating lighting ideas for alfresco dining that is partially covered or will have exterior stair lights fully exposed to the elements, you need to consider the IP rating. IP ratings, or Ingress Protection ratings, indicate the light’s ability to withstand exposure to moisture and debris. Higher IP ratings at IP65 or more make the light waterproof, so you won’t have to worry about wind and rain damaging it.
Lights such as the 6 Watt LED Black Garden Spike Light have an IP67 rating, which makes them totally waterproof. You can install lights like this completely in the open and never have to worry if they will rust or get water inside of them, giving you peace of mind.
You should also be protecting the cables and connections of your outdoor lights. Bury them at a minimum of 10 centimeters below the surface, and, if you are adding driveway lights, be sure you are buying ones durable enough to be driven over.
How to Create Zones with Light in the Garden
In your garden, you will likely have different areas meant for different purposes. For example, you may want recessed lighting for patios and decks where you entertain guests, but you might also want super bright task lighting areas such as around the driveway.
Layering light in exterior design will allow you to light all of these different zones while still creating a cohesive look. Before getting started, define the different areas that you want to light. Pathways, transition areas, lounge spaces and outdoor kitchens will all need different levels of light, so take them into account.
Once you know what area needs what lighting, you can layer the lights strategically. Wall lights and soffit lights such as the 3 Watt Mini Recessed LED Soffit Downlight for the main ambient layer and step lights and bollards for the task lights. Add visual interest with spike lights and uplights, too.
You can use light to guide movement between the different zones as well. Low level bollard lighting along pathways, recessed step lights along changes in elevation and directional spike lighting can highlight shifts between areas.
How to Use Lighting to Highlight Textured Features in the Garden
Exterior lighting is critical for showing off different elements in your gardens. Alongside architectural lighting outdoors that highlights the building elements, you can also use lights to show off ornamental grasses, layered foliage or even the texture of sculptures and other lawn art.
One of the easiest ways to show off the texture of an item in the garden is to choose grazing lights. Grazing lights create sharp shadows from below which help show off the textures of brick, stone and even timber.
Uplighting can help you achieve this by placing uplights close to walls. You can also enhance tree trunks and other branching structures, as well as columns and climbing plants. Backlight the trees and shrubs for edge definition, placing lights behind the object so that you can create a soft silhouette.
Playing with patterns and shadows can also enhance the personality and dynamic appearance of your outdoor space. Use lights by ferns, palms and other plants with intricate leaf shapes. You may also use lattices and patterned screens to achieve a similar effect. Experiment with directional lighting as well.
If you want softer illumination, lights such as the 6 Watt 316 Stainless Steel Recessed LED Ground Light are a good choice. Recessed lights like this can be used along the edge of pathways, in the garden decking or around patios to enhance the ambiance of the space and provide indirect lighting to go with the more direct and dramatic uplights.
Modern or Classic? How to Choose the Best Style to Match Your Space
When trying to determine whether to choose modern or traditional lighting fixtures, consider the context of your architecture. Modern homes tend to have clean lines, flatter roofs and minimalist accents and fixtures. Traditional homes, on the other hand, have sloped roofs, Victorian terraces or ornate Georgian details.
Once you have determined which style best describes your home, you can then choose lights that fit the vibe. For example, modern style properties benefit from powder coated aluminium, stainless steel and frosted glass that give off a clean look. They also sometimes have cooler lighting colours above 4000K.
Classic styles look better with wrought iron, aged copper and clear glass. Their light colour temperatures tend to be around 2700K to 3300K, offering a warmer lighting temperature that is still bright enough to easily see by. Traditional lighting fixtures can still benefit from the modern appeal of LED lighting while maintaining their classic appearance.
How to Use Minimalist Lighting in an Outdoor Space
Minimalist outdoor lighting puts emphasis on simplicity. Clean lines and angles, simple finishes and a lack of excess are the key elements of this kind of space. To achieve minimalism in your outdoor lighting, begin by removing unnecessary clutter. Define clear zones for transitional spaces, seating and plants before beginning.
Then, use neutral materials like stainless steel and powder coated aluminium. Be sure that you are streamlining the light style as well, such as recessed lighting, slimline bollard lights, or linear wall washers.
Make the most out of the lights by using them as architectural illumination as well. You can stick to modern fixtures and use them to uplight trees with narrow beams or graze the light across walls that you want to show the texture of.
Above all, try to keep the light hidden when possible. Just having the illumination visible but not the fixture. This will provide the ultimate minimalism.
Ideas on How to Design Outdoor Lighting for a Multi-Use Outdoor Space
If your home is like most, then your exterior space doesn’t serve only one purpose. In order to make the most out of your outdoor area, it is best to plan the lighting around the main zones outdoors:
- Dining areas, like pergolas, patios and decks
- Relaxation areas with lounge chairs and fire pits
- Activity spaces with trampolines, pools and garden games
- Transitional spaces, like footpaths and stairways
- Feature zones, with trees, water features and sculptures
Once you have an idea of where the different lights go, you can begin to layer the lighting in those areas. Ambient lighting in seating areas, such as soffit lights, wall mounted lanterns and festoon lights, provide the foundational layer. Task lighting on steps and around pathways provide clearer visibility. Finally, accent lights such as wall washers, wall grazers and spike lights create nice focal points in the area.
Conclusion
Outdoor lighting can make or break the appearance and functionality of the space. By lighting it well, you can extend the hours of use outdoors well past sunset. In this article, we’ve taken a look at how to incorporate exterior lights, as well as some ideas to get you started.
