Outdoor lights bring immense joy and beauty to your home’s exterior. But landscape lighting offers more than security and visibility – with the right fixtures and clever placement, you can use lights to fully transform your home’s curb appeal. As per experts like Fusion Lighting, get creative with these eight innovative ways to decorate the outside of your house using stylish, energy-efficient outdoor illumination.
Welcome Guests with a Lit Pathway
Guide visitors to your front door with a light-lined walkway. Opt for low-voltage path lighting or kinetic spotlights to highlight garden beds, light up stairways, and showcase towering trees as guests approach your home. Embed striking path lights along the driveway to serve both form and function.
Make a Bold Statement with Uplighting
Uplighting instantly draws the eye upward, creating drama and intrigue. Spotlight tall trees, home architecture, and structural landscaping elements like walls or arbors to make them pop against the night sky. For tropical vibes, uplight palms and banana trees. Use the ‘wall wash’ technique to bathe masonry, stucco, or wooden siding with a warm vertical glow.
Show off Lush Landscapes
Your vibrant garden and landscaping is likely the pride of your home. Utilize recessed lighting, dangling pendant lights, or lanterns to highlight the lush greenery and textures that make your outdoor oasis so inviting. Illuminate pathways to guide visitors through garden spaces and unwinding patios.
Set the Mood with String Lights
Few decorative lighting options set an ambiance quite like string lights. Drape them through trees, over arbors, along fences or railing. Opt for classic white bulbs or go bold with colors. Mix bulb sizes and shapes for playful impact. Light up patio seating areas to craft a relaxing hang-out space. Turn them on for everyday enjoyment or special occasions.
Add Visual Interest with Silhouettes
Create striking displays by highlighting the enchanting silhouettes of landscaping and architectural features. Uplight tall, statuesque trees from below or place lanterns behind them to make their shapes pop. Position pathway fixtures to project moving shadow designs along fences or walls. Build silhouette layers by lighting structures in the foreground and background.
Attract Attention with Novelty Lights
Inject personality into your home’s exterior by embracing novelty and statement-piece lighting trends. Metal animal shapes, glass orb fixtures, kinetic spinning lights, neon signs – let your imagination run wild. Novelty lighting adds artistic flair along walkways, patios, porches, and pools. Group multiplies together or mixes-and-match to create an eclectic wonderland.
Glow from Below with Deck & Stair Lights
Wooden decks and staircases almost demand creative lighting schemes – enter hardwired or solar-powered deck lights. Tucked tightly beneath stair treads or lining deck board seams, this lighting emanates a gorgeous uniform glow after dark. You can safely navigate outdoor living areas while showing off stylish architecture. Some deck light models feature RGB technology to change colors.
Craft a Cohesive Lighting Scheme
The most jaw-dropping lighting displays utilize cohesive planning rather than sporadic placement. Choose complementary fixtures in terms of size, materials, finishes, and light color. Repeat light styles in groupings of three or five. Select a color palette and theme then interweave creative accents throughout. With good outdoor lighting design principles, your home sparkles brighter as a cohesive display.
Conclusion
The next time you glance outside past sunset, imagine the possibilities. Follow these eight ideas to decorate your home’s exterior with gorgeous, functional outdoor lighting. Give your landscapes, structures and architectural elements the spotlight they deserve after dusk.