When it comes to focusing on curb appeal, many homeowners get caught up with plantings and fixtures, but fail to find ways to highlight all of their hard work. Whenever you add something new to the outside of your home, you’re going to want to show it off! Simple lighting fixtures can add a lot of nighttime drama to your home and make it look like a million bucks. This greatly enhances your home’s curb appeal and adds to the overall value of the home.
If you’re completely new to landscaping, it can be a little tough to decide where to put these lights. Instead of just buying a few and placing them willy-nilly, we’re going to show you how to design and implement an exterior lighting plan. It’s well worth the time and effort and you’ll be amazed by the results. Let’s get started!
First, you’ll need to work out a budget for how much you want to spend on your lights. This can dramatically impact your overall design, so this is the best place to start. Keep in mind that if you are installing hard wired lights you’re going to need to spend extra money having an electrician hook them up unless you are comfortable doing it yourself.
Once you have your budget figured out, you can move to the next step. Go outside and take a photo of your house. Sounds silly, but it’s a lot easier to work from a photo. The camera will pick up on things you may miss with the naked eye. If you’re using a digital camera, you can use your computer to help you with light placement. Either way, either get your film developed or print out your picture so that you have a hard copy to work from.
Figure out which areas you want to highlight and which areas may need camouflaging. If you’ve got some nice plants alongside the front of your home, but the paint is peeling, it’s not a good idea to throw a spotlight on them so the world can see that your house needs a coat of paint. Likewise, if you’ve got a spectacular flower garden, you need to show it off!
Once you have an idea of the areas that you want to highlight, you can fill in the rest of your idea with secondary lights. For example, if you have a walkway up to your front door, it is a very nice tough to line it with small lights that make it easier to see at night. This gives your home a very cozy and welcoming feel. Several homeowners also like to put a light fixture at the entrance of their drive. There are some fabulous old style lanterns that are perfect for this use.
Draw everything out on paper first. Once this is done, you can purchase your lights and install them according to your notes. While you can install lights without having an idea of where they should go, you’ll get a much nicer end product when you take the time to plan everything out.
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Exterior lighting can add immediate value to your home, but there is often a lot of confusion as to how it should be added and whether or not you’ll need the help of a professional to get the job done. Whether you have questions about placement of your exterior lights or the actual installation process, these tips will help you get started.
