Signature Lighting and Fans, Calgary, Alberta

Designing with Light

Outdoor ideas

Outdoor Lighting Tips from Lighting Tips from Signature Lighting & Fans
SAFETY AND SECURITY are the starting points for outdoor lighting schemes, but new designs fold these into subtle, decorative landscaping plans. Glare and harsh point sources are outdoor bugaboos. Be sure that light sources are shielded; it’s best if they’re not seen at all. Multiple light sources are much better than a single glaring flood or clear-glass point source. (See outdoor lighting).

Driveways – especially if they’re long and wooded – should have some kind of low, soft lights to define their boundaries. The garage area needs security lighting, preferably controlled by switches both inside and out. Motion-sensitive fixtures mounted on a garage are also useful.

Front walks and steps are easiest to light if their surfaces are a light, reflective color. Low fixtures that spread soft pools of light can guide guests and the at the same time highlight your gardens’s virtues along the walkway. If your house has deep eaves or an overhang that extends the length of your walk, consider installing weatherproof downlights. Even single steps should be illuminated if they’re any distance from the door.

At the front door, you’ll want light to serve several purposes. Besides illuminating your house number and welcoming guests, it should provide sufficient brightness for you to see a caller’s face. If you choose decorative fixtures of clear glass at the front door, keep low-wattage bulbs in them to avoid uncomfortable brightness.

On decks and patios, a low level of light is often enough for quiet conversation or alfresco dining. By lighting steps, railings, or benches from underneath – or directly, with strips of lights – you can outline the edges of your structure for safety. Don’t forget to add stronger light wherever you do your serving or barbecuing. Downlights are a popular choice for this, but indirect lighting – diffused through plastic or another translucent material – is also useful.

Light swimming pools and spas for safety and also to make them attractive from inside the house. To avoid glare off the water, consider putting pool lights on a dimmer. For relaxing and entertaining, all the lights that’s needed is a soft glow to outline the water’s edges, but the light should be at full brightness when children are swimming. A spa or garden pool can be illuminated with low-voltage strip lights that will subtly outline its perimeter or steps. Water and electricity don’t mix – when planning these systems, it’s best to get professional help.

Uplighting, downlighting, and backlighting are all effective ways to light foliage. Decorative mini-lights lend sparkle to trees, shrubs, and outdoor structures. Be aware that plant species and type (deciduous or evergreen) will affect the spread of light. Translucent foliage transmits light; dense leaves drink it up. And keep in mind that unless you prune regularly, your lighting effects will change significantly as plantings mature. Conversely, fixture and bulb spread can dramatically alter landscaping effects; so can the use of colored filters.

Outdoor Lighting Tips from Lighting Tips from Signature Lighting & Fans

Garden path lights can be garden decor; too-day or night. This fixture has a handblown glass shade "flower" and a patinaed copper "stem."

Viewed through the open gate, this inviting entry corridor has equally inviting lighting. Shielded eye-level lights shine both up and down off arbor and stone columns, while arbor eaves house uplighting and some well-placed downlights. At the far end, the interior entry light glows warmly through decorative glass doors.

Here's an easy and subtle way to add night light to a patio fence: a hollow wood sleeve with a low-voltage light built into the top. The unit slips over any tall 4-by-4 post, leaving enough room for the power cord.

The house itself can be a glowing light source, both decorative and welcoming. This translucent overhead marks the front entry; it's lit by wall-mounted downlights from above, casting a warm glow across the entry deck below.

Outdoor Lighting Tips from Lighting Tips from Signature Lighting & Fans
A long, shielded fluorescent fixture safely lights the entry walkway while highlighting a garden bench and the rough concrete wall behind. Large windows and skylights add light from inside the house.

This octagonal umbrella casts cooling shade by day and warm, reflected light by night. Four bulbs nestle at the top of the center pole, bouncing a soft glow off the umbrella and back down below.

A wide-open house plan that intentionally bridges inside and outside living areas calls for good outdoor lighting, too. Living-space lighting here features efficient monospots and floor lamps. Outside the telescoping French doors, a sitting area is highlighted by crisp halogen downlighting and accented, for fun, with low-voltage rope lights tied to the copper-clad arbor.

In a whimsically splayed line-up, classic candle lanterns tilt to and fro along winding garden step; they're both functional and festive.

Outdoor grazing highlights stone and wood textures here, adding ambient light and minimizing glare. Post-mounted arbor lights shine both up and down but are shielded at eye level.

Special occasions such as holidays or outdoor parties may call for temporary lighting. Classic Mexican luminarias-open paper bags that contain votive candles set in sand-have now been electrified. A broad range of lanterns is also available, from hurricane lamps that burn oil to glass-sided lanterns that house candles.

Path lights to mark direction and distance at night can look great, too-witness the unusual fixtures above. Choose between bold, bright and standard-voltage fixtures and smaller; low-voltage options; the latter can be repositioned until you get things just right.

At night, the view ends where the light ends, but this forest of oaks and madrones presents a multilayered drama, thanks to careful fixture placement. The 150-watt, standard-voltage uplights are mounted to deck fascias; softer downlights for foot traffic are attached to house siding and fitted with glare-reducing louvers. The strong light penetrates tinted windows, allowing the owners to view the trees from inside the house.

Recessed, sealed well lights graze colorful concrete walls, forming a soft, textured backdrop for alfresco dining. Candles add their warm, decorative glow atop the table.

The homeowners stretched their indoor space by fashioning this outdoor "living room," complete with a lighting scheme that echoes indoor lighting. Fluorescent wall sconces provide ambient light; plantings are accented with buried halogen uplights. Each colorful tile cube is backlit by its own step light; safety lights mark stair risers. Pool and waterfall are highlighted by two submersible pool lights.

This naturalistic garden pond features a combination of subtle light sources, Uplights tucked into rocks accent water plants, while submerged pool lights create the water's glow and show off the waterfall shelf.

A classical poolside loggia is ready for a quiet summer evening's repose. Above the dining table, a hanging candelabra with votive candles produces a soft glow; it's augmented with a central downlight above. Accent light comes from 75-watt reflector bulbs housed in arbor-mounted downlights; two flank the back of each column, backlighting them dramatically. The water's glow is the result of two wall-mounted pool fixtures.

Punchy uplights accent massive oaks, reflected in a quiet, shimmering swimming pool; other discreet fixtures paint surrounding plantings. The pool should have its own lights, separately controlled, for safe swimming.