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There was a time when our home’s exterior lighting was designed around one purpose: security. It provided illumination when walking along pathways and brightened spaces when movement was detected, creating a safer and more secure environment. 

Times have changed.

While we still address security lighting, today’s outdoor lighting has become much more. As lighting design erupted and low-voltage LED lighting became the norm, the possibilities in exterior lighting became endless. No longer simply a way to see in the dark, it’s a way to enliven every activity, set the mood, and create a welcoming oasis that inspires. 

In this YouTube video with Lee Travis from Wipliance and Davide Warfel of Light Can Help You, they explore the secrets to the ultimate exterior lighting design. Here, striking images say as much as the words. 

SEE ALSO: The Breathtaking Illumination Known as WAC Colorscaping

Lighting to Pass Code

If your home’s outdoor lighting consists of white light at the entryway and along the path to your door, it was probably laid out to pass code. It’s a minimum standard to ensure safety but does little to provide a warm greeting as the evening descends. 

The Difference Between Security Lighting & Lighting by Design

Instead of floodlights, lighting design incorporates accents and layers of light. This type of lighting extends your living space and creates a welcoming ambiance while maintaining the nighttime feel. These layers provide soft ambient lighting, like filtered light that flows through the branches of trees before touching the ground. 

It creates highlights, framing your home’s best architectural and landscape features in subtle yet stunning illumination. Depending on your exterior design, wall sconces, pendants, or lantern lights may provide the task lighting necessary for grilling or preparing dinner for your guests. String lights can create an atmosphere reminiscent of your favorite restaurant with outdoor dining.

Tricks of the Trade

For years, Lee and David have been incorporating lighting design into people’s homes and lives. In that time, they’ve discovered some applications that bring subtle yet deliberate beauty to your home. A few of these design strategies include: 

  • Installing cylinder fixtures on walls creates a soft wash of light on the landscape below it. 
  • Lighting by the front door should be welcoming and inviting. Instead of a sconce next to the door, consider recessed lighting on the door itself that softly illuminates the entryway, inviting guests in. 
  • Instead of one or two powerful light fixtures, softer illumination from numerous fixtures that accent different areas of the home creates a beautiful entryway without jarring floodlights. Planters, walls, and plants reveal their beauty in an elegant, understated way.

Lighting Outdoor Living Spaces

Outdoor living is becoming an essential part of people’s lives. Enjoying these spaces after dark requires lighting that captivates, adding beauty and depth to the evening. 

Softly illuminating the perimeter helps accomplish this, a technique David calls a “lighting hug” around your property. This lighting creates a comfortable space while drawing out the materials and elements of your property, such as stone, wood, and water.

Outdoor entertainment spaces, such as your patio, pool, and garden areas, are defined by lights, designating living zones and creating paths of light. This design element invites guests and family to wander, enjoy, and delight in the beauty that’s only visible after the sun sets. 

Technology & Fixtures

Today’s lighting technology offers limitless ways to create varying moods, accents, and intrigue. Linear LED lighting creates brilliant illumination from an unseen source, ambient lighting that can change colors and intensities to match the activity. Wall sconces or pendant lights on the patio produce a specific feel and aesthetics. 

Uplighting trees can create a mysterious atmosphere, while downlighting mimics natural light. Pathway lights illuminate a trail to your best-kept garden hideaways that come alive at night.

And we’ve only touched the surface of the power of outdoor lighting.

Are you ready to explore the impact that well-designed lighting can have on your exterior spaces? Beautiful lighting creates an oasis after dark, extending gatherings long into the night.

At Wipliance, we work closely with Light Can Help You, combining our lighting design and integration expertise to create the perfect solution for extending the sunset and helping you get the most out of your outdoor living. To learn more about the secrets to exterior lighting design, contact Wipliance. 

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