Being creative with solar lighting

A well-lit yard gives you the option of keeping the party going after the sun goes down.  It adds safety and security to your property.  By adding outdoor solar lighting to your yard it allows you an inexpensive and quick way to give your home a new look.  Here are some tips for adding lighting to your yard.

Before deciding on a certain type of solar light, take a walk around your yard during the day and decide what area should be lit.  There are many things to consider when deciding what to light.  Keep in mind that the fewer elements you choose to light, the stronger the visual impact will be.

Perhaps the easiest area to decide what to light would be your pathways around your yard.  Areas around doors are obvious places that need lighting, as well as areas for entertaining.  You should consider adding motion detector lights for security in areas that you don't want to spotlight.

When you decide what you want to see at night, walk to where you think people will be viewing it most often. You might want to see some objects from your living room, while others you may want to see from the street. Make sure that nothing obstructs that view, then place your lights to highlight the side that will be seen the most.

During the day, the sun lights everything from the same angle, but at night, you can choose where the light will go.  Use different lighting styles to accent the unique characteristics of the object you're lighting. For example, a unique bush will look better lit up than its leaves, but a rose bush may look gorgeous lighting up its flower.

Here are some lighting techniques:

• Down lighting lights a large area, either for security or for entertaining, by placing a large spotlight near an area around your home.
• Up lighting points low-set spotlights upwards to light architecture or plants.
• Wall Lighting uses lanterns hanging on walls to light a high activity area.
• Spotlighting is intense lighting that provides plenty of light to an area.
• Silhouetting focuses light on a wall or fence behind an object, usually a bush, giving a dramatic effect.
• Cross Lighting focuses two or more spotlights onto opposite sides of a tree, bush or sculpture, either at a low level or even height, to reveal texture on the object.

All in all, solar lighting  can add real dramatic effects to your backyard or front yard.  It’s all in what you want lit.