19 Jun No quality Outdoor lighting? You are missing out
by Mike Gambino,
If you do not have some form of quality outdoor lighting on your property then you are missing the opportunity to utilize or appreciate your entire home and property after dark.
Even if you never leave the confines of the interior walls of your home at night. Having outdoor lighting that is properly balanced with the interior makes it possible to see out onto the yard and garden from windows, french and sliding glass doors giving the appearance of spaciousness and depth. This in essence is like adding usable square footage to your home without the hassle or significant cost and disruption of construction work.
A well designed and balanced system will seamlessly integrate the interior with the exterior making the out of doors more inviting and appealing at night. Without this balance of illumination, all of the glass on the exterior walls of your home that allow you to see outside during the daylight hours can work against you and are boundaries imposed by darkness at night. They become black mirrors reflecting images back into interior spaces where there can be no appreciation of the exterior environment. Inclement weather will not diminish the enjoyability of your exterior space after dark because you can view it no matter what mother nature dishes out.
So what is quality lighting? In my humble opinion quality lighting is all of the following
#1- It creates a mood and a feeling of safety and security in a space.
#2- Identifies potential hazardous and dangerous areas such as steps or changes in grade and minimizes the risk.
#3- Color of light or the light itself does not become decoration rather it enhances or showcases whatever it is focused upon.
#4- Is indirect and minimizes glare or light that directly reaches the eye.
#5- Fixtures are concealed or blend with the environment and are not focal points themselves in the day or nighttime garden. Viewer should subconsciously be wondering where is the light originating from.
#6- Properly balanced as to draw the eye and attention to the more pleasing aspects of the yard and leaves in shadow the less attractive ones.
#7- Creates continuity and depth with eye pleasing flow or theme across the space. It is void of large unlighted area within a lighted space also referred to as “dark black holes”.
#8- Increases property value and useability. Invites one out of doors.
This Los Angeles family wanted to enjoy this exterior view from the interior of their family room french doors every day of the year no matter what the weather. They feel we have successfully accomplished their goal with a Gambino landscape lighting system.
What quality lighting is not
#1- Home improvement store bought light kits.
#2- Post or wall mounted lanterns installed by the home builder without any garden lighting to complement it.
#3- Lighting that is glaring and uncomfortable to the viewer.
#4- Lighting that is ineffective in that it does not identify and mitigate potentially hazardous areas of the yard.
#5- Unflattering or gloom lighting that is dim to the point that color is unattractive and brings attention to itself.
#6- Not properly balanced with interior lighting to bring exterior views inside the dwelling at night.
This landscape lighting blog is published by Mike Gambino of Gambino landscape lighting inc. all rights reserved. Mike is a professional landscape lighting system designer/ builder and has been designing, installing and maintaining landscape lighting systems for more than 20 years. Mike resides in the Los Angeles area with his wife and 2 sons. To visit his website go to www.gambinolighting.com . To inquire about hiring Mike please click here .
Blog articles may be published with permission on other websites without editing or removing links.
No Comments