Landscape lighting is often one of the most overlooked and underrated elements in an outdoor living space. Many homeowners and designers tend to treat it as an afterthought or even cut it out due to budget constraints. However, integrating landscape lighting into your outdoor area can transform your space, enhancing both its functionality and aesthetic appeal.
What is Landscape Lighting?
Landscape lighting can be used to light your home, hardscaping, paths, pergolas, landscaping, and more. These systems are typically low voltage (12 volts) and connect to a 120-volt transformer that is mounted to your home, which means there is no need to hire an electrician to install your landscape lighting system. Landscape lighting is designed to extend the usable time of your outdoor living space by allowing you and your family and friends to enjoy it long after the sun sets each night.
Benefits of Landscape Lighting
- Security: Landscape lighting ensures that your property is never dark, which deters potential intruders. A well-lit exterior makes it difficult for anyone to approach your home undetected, providing an added layer of security.
- Usability: With landscape lighting, you can continue using and enjoying your outdoor space all night. Whether it’s hosting a dinner party, enjoying a quiet evening on the patio, or navigating to your backyard shed, proper lighting enhances the usability of your outdoor areas.
- Safety: Landscape lighting helps illuminate paths, steps, and other potentially hazardous areas, ensuring the safety of you and your guests. By reducing the risk of trips and falls, you create a safer environment for everyone.
Professional vs. DIY
While many big box stores offer solar and hardwired landscape lighting options, there are several key differences between those and the professional-grade fixtures we provide at Distinct Outdoor Living.
Warranty
Many big box stores offer low-cost lighting options with a short warranty or none at all. At Distinct Outdoor Living, we install premium landscape lighting fixtures with a manufacturer’s lifetime warranty. This ensures you have peace of mind that your lighting system will always be covered by the very same people who made it.
Build Quality
Many DIY-style fixtures are made using plastic or cheap aluminum materials and small flimsy stakes that are prone to cracking. It’s also common for them to have integrated LED bulbs, meaning they aren’t replaceable down the line. Professional-grade landscape lighting fixtures are made with solid brass, premium stakes, and interchangeable LED bulbs, allowing for customization and replacement.
Different Options for Different Needs
- Uplights: Uplights are perfect for highlighting trees, pillars, houses, bushes, and more. They can be placed inside trees to create a shadow effect, adding depth and drama to your landscape.
- Pathway Lights: Pathway lights guide someone into an area, such as a path to a shed, backyard, front door, or pool house. They not only illuminate the way but also add a charming touch to your garden paths.
- Hardscape Lights: Hardscape lights are ideal for lighting pergolas, steps, grills, islands, and other structures. They can be seamlessly integrated into your hardscaping to provide functional and aesthetically pleasing illumination.
Special Features and State-of-the-art Technology
- Color-Changing Lights: With color-changing lights, you no longer need to spend extra on holiday lighting. Simply turn them red and green to create a festive atmosphere, or adapt the colors to match any vibe, season, or style.
- Smart Transformers: Smart transformers allow for individual control over your lights with an app, enabling you to dim, turn on, or turn off individual lights. Standard transformers are all-or-nothing, meaning all lights are either on or off, and cannot be dimmed individually. With smart transformers, you have complete control over your lighting system.
See the Lighting at your Property
Still not convinced? Ask us about our free temporary lighting demo! We will set up lights at your home to give you a sense of how they can enhance your outdoor space.
Landscape lighting is one of our most popular services, and our team is experienced in a wide variety of lighting solutions. Illuminate your landscape, extend the time you spend outside into the night, and enjoy the many benefits of professional landscape lighting. Contact us today to get started!