The natural beauty of your backyard needs to be shown in full display whether it's daytime or nighttime. With the sun providing all the substantial illumination you need throughout the year, there’s the other half that you need to worry about. Even the most incredible backyard can turn into a dark and unwelcoming place without proper lighting. Using a mix of lighting strategies will get you the best results. Here’s how to showcase your backyard with these five outdoor lighting hacks in the Buffalo Grove and Glenview, IL areas.
Safety First! Prioritize Your Walkways
Walking through darkness in areas with poor lighting dramatically heightens the risk of tripping, falling, and injury. Place some low-lying light fixtures along the walkways and driveway and the edge of your patio and pool deck to give your friends and family safe passage in the night. These light fixtures can be solar-powered light-emitting diode (LED) fixtures. They will sit individually off-the-grid to dramatically reduce your outdoor electricity costs while also providing adequate and long-lasting light that’s charged by the sun’s energy during the day. For maintenance benefits, you won’t need to replace the lights every year and there are no underground wires to keep aware of during gardening and landscape renovation.
Avoid the Runway Look
For best results, though, avoid placing pathway lights just along the walkway or along the perimeter of your patio: this does nothing to illuminate the landscape beyond, which will still look dark compared to the lighted spaces. A better strategy is to incorporate low-lying lights within the landscape to create a layered effect that transitions more gradually from illuminated living spaces to the landscape beyond.
Set the Mood and Keep Things Safe
Any water feature of your landscape can be used as a light booster at night. This includes your pool, spa, waterfalls, and fountains. Due to the refractive capabilities of water, any light you place underwater will help spread the light in dazzling fashion. An underwater light inside a pool is absolutely crucial for safety for those both swimming in the pool and walking near it. The resulting effect will create a wonderful blue glow with illuminated ripples that dance on surrounding surfaces at the slightest disruption of the water.
Create a Party Atmosphere
For your backyard social gatherings, consider adding a set of string lights to your patio and walkways. Put some festive string lights around your house so once your guests arrive, they’ll know where to go. These relatively inexpensive lights truly create a party atmosphere. Shop around and choose some string lights that fit your design aesthetic; and be sure to have them professionally installed if you plan on placing them high in tree canopies.
Enhance the Landscape’s Visual Texture and Depth Perception
Three lighting strategies complement one another and add lots of character to your nighttime landscape: backsplashing, uplighting, and spotlighting. Spotlighting is a lighting strategy that amplifies the presence of a single feature by giving lots of bright light to showcase its beauty. Uplighting places lights at the base of a vertical object such as a wall or tree, to highlight its texture. Backsplashing is the practice of shining a spotlight against a blank vertical surface such as a wall, fence, or rock outcropping, which bounces the light back and creates an indirect glow. Both of these strategies will increase depth perception while adding to the visual texture of your beautiful landscape.
Related: 9 Outdoor Lighting Options For Poolsides In Buffalo Grove, IL
