Brightening up your outdoor space

Your landscaped spaces can be an oasis from the hectic everyday world. The carefully manicured lawns, flower beds and trees not only take your property to the next level, but make the outdoors just as enjoyable as the indoors. Just as you can use lighting to highlight features within your home, exterior lighting can help liven up your overall design. 

“At night, the landscape lighting can really make a difference. You can showcase your house in different ways with the lighting, or your entire property,” says Brian Kenny, the president of Edenscape Landscaping in Akron. According to Kenny, lighting can be integrated into a natural setting to create something unique. 

Large trees can be gorgeous additions to a home. Each day, homeowners can see the lovely foliage—a natural decoration for the property. When the sun sets, though, the greenery is concealed. With a little help, your trees can be a bright piece of the landscape in the evening, too. “We’ve done some really cool lighting with oak trees that are 50 feet tall,” says Kenny. “You get someone to climb up there and mount the lights and brighten up that canopy.” The affect is a diffuse glow high off the ground, adding an ethereal feel to your yard.   

Lighting can also be utilized closer to ground level. Combining your green-friendly inclinations with a desire to light up your space, Kenny suggests looking into LED lights. “[In the past], the LED looked a little hot and it was more of a fluorescent light. Now, they’ve gotten them back to the point where they’re softer and more subtle,” says Kenny. Whether you decide to use strings of lights, café style, or individual lighting features throughout the space, LEDs provide warmth to the area.

As the warmer weather melts away your winter blues, lighted outdoor spaces welcome you into the great outdoors for some evening entertainment. No matter how you integrate lighting into your design, it can certainly liven up the area.