The front yard is the first part of your home that visitors see, and you want it to be the most welcoming. Nothing is worse than seeing a gorgeous home looking unsafe and scary at night. Lighting is an absolutely essential part of landscaping for several reasons – safety, security, elegance, artistic expression, and utility. The best idea for lighting a front yard is to use a combination of various techniques to provide a landscape with good visual texture and clear sight lines where necessary. Here are five outdoor lighting ideas for your front yard in Buffalo Grove and Wilmette, IL.
Say Goodbye to the Floodlight
The single worst lighting strategy today is probably the floodlight – a single light source from above that casts bright light from one angle and is expected to cover a textured landscape. This contrast creates harsh glare for anyone looking near it and black shadows where they might need to walk. The answer is instead in a more diversified set of lighting strategies.
Hidden Light Fixtures
Lighting technology improves and gets cheaper each year and LEDs (light-emitting diodes) are cheaper than ever. These wonderful inventions are tiny but provide a consistent amount of bright light, so they can be placed in hard-to-reach areas. They can be focused at a specific angle so that the light source never makes eye contact with someone as they’re walking. They use a low amount of light as compared to traditional bulbs and can be programmed with timers and to use different colors. Best of all, they require very infrequent replacement and thus, far less glass waste than traditional bulbs.
Taking Advantage of Trees
Beautiful trees should be celebrated at night just as they create a wonderful atmosphere during the day. The lighting strategy known as moonlighting takes a single light source high up in a tree that’s pointed downwards so the light intentionally filters through the leaves or pine needles. Not only does this provide excellent visual texture and allows the scope of the tree to be seen at night, but it also gives a great wash of soft light to the ground just as the moon does when it’s full. The slightest breeze will cause the leaves or needles to dance, giving the illuminated space a vibrant feel.
Welcoming String Lighting
Simple in their construction and use, string lights are perfect for creating a welcoming feeling both in the front yard and backyard. When set up high with LEDs and following the front walkway, they will help bring your guests to where the festivities are. They might be normally considered for the winter holidays, but they make excellent year-round additions to make a festive atmosphere whenever you please. They are also easily hidden within other landscape features so they’re always out of sight until you want them to be seen.
Highlighting Features
Any landscape feature you want in your front yard should be equally viewed at night to help inspire awe in your guests upon arrival. Lights can be strategically placed so that landscape features are highlighted with some bright yet unobstructive light. Small yet powerful lights can be placed at the base of a tree and pointed upwards so that the light bounces off the bark of the trunk. This is an opportunity to let all parts of your landscape shine.
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