The front yard is a key feature in the curb appeal of a home and good front yard design doesn’t just think about the front yard in the daytime. It considers the night too, and builds various lighting techniques into the design. The front yard should be a safe and welcoming place that gives visitors a glimpse into the tastes and personality of the homeowners as they approach the front door. Creative landscape lighting solutions can make an incredible difference in the safety and perception of your home, no matter how gorgeous it is during the day. These five outdoor lighting ideas can beautify and brighten up your front yard in Wyomissing and South Whitehall, PA.
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Walkway Lighting
More than anything else, your front yard needs to act as a safe space for people approaching your home. These spaces should be comprehensively illuminated to avoid too much contrast between shadows and illuminated areas, and should avoid eye contact with bright lights. Low-lying walkway lights are the best solution. These lights are placed near the ground surface and focus their energy on the ground to create a safer place to walk. We recommend using hard-wired pathway lighting rather than solar for this purpose, since multiple cloudy days in a row could mean significantly weaker lights; and the lights won’t work well if covered by snow.
The Front Door
The front door has a huge impact on the feeling of welcome. A brightly lit space is key, along with taking care that there’s glare in people’s eyes. Use spotlights to make the sides of the door prominent, showcasing the texture of the home and any decorations. On blank walls, employ a backsplash technique (bouncing light off a wall of your home) that will provide ambient light for the landing area outside the front door.
Ambient Light
The technique of moonlighting has been used in many landscape designs since it helps create a pleasing ambience. Moonlighting places a white light in the upper reaches of a tree canopy and points it downwards, evoking the light of the moon as it bounces off leaves and branches. This will create a shimmering image of white light, helping a great deal with visibility just like what occurs during every full moon. It’s a great way to make subtle changes in helping a front yard feel more safe and welcoming.
Eliminating Dark Spots
While most of the front yard doesn’t have much use at nighttime, there should still be some lighting strategy devoted to the unused sections. These dark spots can help create tunnel vision and make your visitors feel uncomfortable, prompting them to get to the front door as soon as possible instead of in a relaxed manner. Less is more for this method, so you could fill in these dark spots with solar-powered walkway lights to increase visual texture and strengthen the entire lighting scheme of your front yard. These lights are off the grid, so you won’t see a change in your electricity bill.
Layering Techniques
For the best front yard landscape lighting design scheme, employ a variety of techniques in layers across the area. This combination of techniques starts with the obvious areas that need to prioritize safety, then focuses on subtle lighting in the background. A rich visual texture in the front yard will make guests feel welcome and increase the curb appeal of your home. To further enhance layering, illuminate fire features, water features, and use string lights and spotlighting to highlight special features like an interesting tree.
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