By RLAdmin | 31 May 2019 | 1 Comments
Here at Radiant Lighting, we believe that landscape lighting is equally as important as interior lighting. At night, external lighting brings life to your home’s architectural features and overall aesthetic, along with all your garden choices. Landscape lighting enhances functionality, ambience and character to any external space.
When selecting your external lighting, make sure to incorporate three basic types: ambient, task, and accent lighting. These are essential when making the perfect outdoor oasis for any home, at any time of the year.
Ambient lighting can be achieved through hanging lights, post lights and wall lights. Our number one rule is to never over-light a space as your dinner guests won’t enjoy a bright spotlight beaming down onto them while they’re trying to enjoy their dinner- you’re better off opting for lights that give a soft glow. Another good thing to remember is to use a dimmer with these fixtures - that way you can have full functional light when cooking or preparing food and then dim them down to soften and create ambience while you’re eating or enjoying a drink.
Task lights do just what their name suggests – they illuminate areas where you are performing a specific task. In your outdoor area, this can be as simple as navigating around after dark. Outdoor task lighting can include pathway lights, deck and inground lights. One of the more versatile solutions would be the Hunza or LuxR inground, specifically the Floor Spots. These illuminate directly up and provide welcoming, guiding light along areas like pathways. For a seamless look, LED Strip-lighting can be recessed under steps, in hand railing or in roof cavities. These can be used in all-weather situations, as well as have a number of applications and lighting colour options that you can play with.
Accent lighting is another important part of an outdoor space; if you have a favourite area or object you want to highlight, you can do so with fittings like spotlights, wall sconces or track lighting. One of our favourites is the HUNZA Spike Spots; they are the most versatile solution for garden beds, up-lighting medium sized trees or high-level hedges, plus they can be easily moved around according to the life of the plant as they grow. If you have larger trees, there is the High-Power Spike Spot which is brighter and projects the light much further.
One last tip is to take a look at your outdoor lighting design from the inside of your house; this can help you decide what fittings to choose and how to implement them around the exterior and landscape. What is visible from the interior? What do you want to highlight or showcase? Correctly lit outdoor areas that are visible from your living room can create the illusion of an expanded spatial experience, also allowing you to enjoy the exterior environment of your home without necessarily being in it.
Take a look below at some of our previous landscape lighting projects and if you would like to know more, you can follow the links to each individual project page. Alternatively, you come visit our showroom and have a chat with any of our lighting consultants – they are happy to assist with your project and can advise the best fittings, optimal beam angles, lumen output, IP rating and switching for your space!
Watch our Landscape Lighting video here for more tips and tricks!
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