Outdoor Lighting Trends to Consider for a Naperville, IL, Brick Patio
You want to enjoy your landscape as much as possible and proper lighting is absolutely essential. The lighting strategies you decide to use in your landscape can turn an unwelcoming area into the most fun place to be after the sun sets. Today’s lighting designs are a far cry from the single house-mounted floodlight of yesterday. Here are some outdoor lighting trends to consider for a Naperville, IL brick patio.
Taking Down the Floodlight
A single light source is the worst choice for illuminating an outdoor living space. In order to spread the light across the entire area that you want illuminated, this single source needs to give off an incredible amount of light. Anyone who looks at it will be temporarily blinded by the glare. Any interruptions in flat terrain will cast harsh shadows that can cause accidents. As well, what isn’t illuminated stands out as “pitch black” by contrast.
A Modern Approach
The technological advances in lighting have allowed light fixtures to be placed in much smaller and harder-to-reach places. Traditional light bulbs need to be replaced often, which is not only an inconvenient but expensive and wasteful way to keep your backyard illuminated.
Today’s light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are the most efficient bulbs in energy consumption and longevity. Their size, brightness, and longevity means you can get very creative with placement and effects.
Creative Placement for Lighting Zones
Each area of your landscape is used differently, and therefore has different lighting needs. An outdoor kitchen needs brighter illumination than a fire pit aea, for example. Take advantage of the many types of fixtures and lighting strategies available with LED lights, to give each zone the perfect amount of light.
LEDs can fit in small places within existing landscape features such as retaining walls, which can be used to softly illuminate an entire patio without the sports stadium effect. For extra ambience, some LED fixtures can be programmed to change color and use timers to fit the mood for any occasion.
Giving your night time landscape a rich visual texture from different light sources will accentuate its beauty, and help increase depth perception for those that have trouble seeing at night.
Spotlighting is a lighting strategy that can be used alongside ambient light sources such as masonry-embedded lights and pathway lighting to create drama and add illumination. The strategy places lights at ground level under an object for dramatic effect; ambient light will bounce off and wash over the surrounding area. Spotlighting is used to highlight the textures of vertical elements such as retaining walls; brick in particular is well-suited to the dramatic effects of spotlighting.
String Lighting
One of the main pleasures of summer is hosting friends and showing them a good time. String lighting creates a festive atmosphere on your brick patio. Place the string lights high above the boundaries of your patio and people will automatically flock to the area. Relatively easy to install and maintain, today’s string lights don’t need to be reserved for the holidays. String lights are an inexpensive way to improve your party atmosphere.
Moonlighting
If there’s a tree in the vicinity of your brick patio, consider using a lighting strategy called moonlighting. This tactic places a bluish/white light that mimics the bright moon, high in the tree. The light is pointed towards the ground. The resulting effect is soft light shining through the leaves or pines, that dances as the tree sways in the wind.
