I would like recommendations on lighting the front of my new home. i want soft, diffuse and even lighting in a 2700k color range. i don't want to see beam angles or bright spots near the ground. i am thinking either the round wall wash or wide spread R7S may be a good choice but am not sure how many to effectively light the front. The gables measure 17', 14', 28' porch area, 26' (from left to right). the second story gable is also about 17' wide and can be lighted from the front gutter. I am planning to down light the porch area and narrow beam light the 2 columns. thanks for any suggestions.
Hey Mike, I’d be happy to help with some general suggestions! I made some small edits to the photo you included just to help illustrate some possible installation points. For color temp, 2700K is definitely the most popular option for most residential systems – warm, natural and inviting. As far as what fixtures to use for the front, to avoid any light pouring into any of the windows or glare off the windows, spotlights and/or in-ground lights would likely be your best bet for an up-lighting approach IMO. With floodlights, especially the 700+ lumens and wide output you’d get with the R7S light you mentioned, you’d run the risk of illumination pouring inside and reflective glare. Spotlights and in-ground lights both offer the same up-lighting approach with their own unique benefits – spotlights generally offer more adjustability for fine-tuning at night, while well & in-grade lights offer the ultimately low-profile approach to further conceal light sources and minimize the footprint of the fixture in regards to yardwork or foot traffic. A set of Salty Dog MR16 Well Lights would be ideal for recessing within the stones in front of the columns – the MR16 style offers various wattage levels, extremely narrow beam spread (15-degrees) and the bulb housing can be slightly tilted as needed to adjust/focus light on the stonework & columns. I'd likely recommend 2W or 3Ws for the bulb wattages. Any of our Classic LED Path Lights scattered along the front path would look beautiful as well (marked in blue). Ideal spacing would be dependent on which hat style you chose which would determine the diameter of the area of illumination. For example, the Max Spread has a diameter of about 16ft so, you'd space these styles 8-10 feet apart for a consistent linear flow of illumination or further apart if you desired individual pools of light. For using the gutter for the second story as you mentioned, we do have a Brass Gutter Mount Kit. Typically, more compact spotlight fixtures are ideal for second story applications given the low-profile designs. We have MR11 and MR8 options for this. As far as what spotlights to use for the majority of the up lighting points, any of our MR16 Lamp-Ready Fixtures could accomplish the job with beautiful results. A lot would come down to budget and even personal preference on style. For the somewhat awkward corner spot (marked in green), perhaps if you intend to add landscaping in the future, you could use a spotlight or floodlight to cast a shadowing effect onto the wall from the small tree or plant - this would add a different design effect to your project and also help to highlight the texture of the brick in that area.
