When looking at the architecture of houses, there are dozens of styles of homes on the market. Whether you have a Cape, an Art Deco, a Craftsman, a Colonial or any other style of house, chances are that you’ll have at least one unique architectural element that deserves some attention. Why not make your home’s unique architecture stand out even more during the night hours with beautiful outdoor lighting? “There are several outdoor lighting techniques that work best for homeowners who are looking to highlight their home’s architectural elements”. says Jim O’Loughlin, General manager for Nite Time Décor by All American Turf Beauty.

Choosing What to Highlight

When looking at your home’s exterior, it can be overwhelming to try and decide what aspects to accentuate with outdoor lighting in the nighttime. That’s why it’s important to consult with a professional to get a plan that’s right for you. First, survey your home and pick your favorite features. Does your home have beautiful brick work? Are you looking to highlight your front door? Or maybe your home has architectural shaped windows. No matter what your favorite features are, placing outdoor lighting to emphasize these features can increase your home’s curb appeal dramatically and make your home stand out as the sleekest on the block.

Deciphering Outdoor Lighting Techniques

Now that you’ve decided what features to highlight, it’s time to decide what lighting styles you should use. Depending on what you’re accentuating, you’ll need to use different lighting techniques and a variation of products. Some common lighting techniques to highlight your home’s architecture and front yard include:

• Wash Lighting: This style of lighting is perfect for homeowners who are looking to highlight a home’s brick walls. This style of lighting creates interesting highlights and shadows by aiming a wide beam of light away onto the wall of a home.
• Spotlighting: If you’re looking to accentuate a certain focal point, then doing so with spotlights is a great idea. Utilizing this type of front yard lighting can help you highlight specific areas of your home’s architecture while leaving other areas in the dark, creating a dramatic effect.
• Greenspace Lighting: So there’s nothing special about your home? That doesn’t mean your home needs to stay in the dark! Consider opting for greenspace lighting to highlight your home’s pathways, gardens, trees or other elements that may not be built into your house, but built into your lawn instead.

Homeowners don’t need to choose just one outdoor lighting technique to highlight their homes’ exterior. Combining techniques can help to create a beautiful, ambient effect that will make your home look elegant when the sun goes down.

Picking a Product Line

Choosing outdoor lighting products to do the job is perhaps one of the most important steps in the process. Many homeowners look to install outdoor lighting themselves and buy their products from a local home improvement store to save money. However, in the long-run this could be more costly. Buying cheaper products may seem like a good idea now, but they oftentimes are less durable and corrode or rust faster than higher-quality products, which will leave you needing to climb up and down ladders probably more than you’d like to fix lighting issues.

“Instead of opting for a DIY outdoor lighting installation, it’s wise to seek out an outdoor lighting professional who uses high-quality outdoor lighting products in his or her installations.” says O’Loughlin.
For example, you can’t find Nite Time Décor’s product line in home improvement stores. Nite Time Décor only makes its exclusive product line available to outdoor lighting contractors so they can optimally install these durable and immaculate-looking products. These outdoor lighting products are long-lasting, are specially designed to seamlessly blend in with a home’s exterior and can withstand a variety of harsh climates. Choosing a line of premium products may be slightly more expensive but it will save homeowners money in the long run in terms of maintenance and upkeep costs.

Nite time Décor By All American Turf Beauty provides lighting services throughout the state of Iowa. Professional lighting consultations and estimates are free of charge. Call 1-800-365-8873 today.