Hello, my wife and I are looking to add landscape lighting to our corner lot home. Additionally, we plan to upgrade our garden area and possibly add gutters this year as well. I am writing to see if you can help us with ideas for decorative lighting. At a minimum, we would like to light the brick pathway, front columns, and bush/tree in the corner of the front yard. We are also open to lighting the side of our house and the second story but do not want to over do it. As you can see by the first picture, we have soffit lights above the garage and on the front porch. I have a GFCI receptacle just on the side of the house where I plan to mount a low voltage transformer (last pic). Any suggestions including beam angle and fixture types would be helpful. Thanks in advance! This is a great service that you provide.
Hi, Chad. Fellow lighting enthusiast here. There's a million different ways to light a house like yours. But rather than recommending a specific plan, I want to discuss some of your options and questions for you to consider that will help you settle on a layout of your own. I'll also try to highlight pros and cons to different approaches, so you can perhaps eliminate some light fixture types that you consider to be off the table. I also strongly encourage you to look at lighting project gallery on VOLT's website and also look back at some of the dozens of lighting plans that have been recommended by members of the forum. One of the biggest questions to consider is how much overall light you want on your property. A common concern people express is that they'll go overboard with lighting and end up with more light on their house and yard than they want. Depending on the types of fixtures you go with, there's many different ways to avoid that issue. My feedback for now is based on the assumption that your porch light and garage lights will not be part of your plan. If you do want to include those lights in your plan, I can recommend some ways to build your landscape lighting plan around them if you like. I diagrammed one of your photos to guide you in your decision-making. The thing I noticed about your house right away is that you have nice deep soffits on both your upper and lower levels (including your porch) that appear to be ideal for soffit lighting like you have over your garage door. One great thing about soffit lights is that it's easier to position lights symmetrically when you have a built in "ruler" to guide you. Whether they're surface mounted or core drilled, it's easy to position lights so that they're parallel and the beams they cast onto your walls and columns will be uniform. So one approach is to go with all down/soffit lighting for your walls and columns where I've indicated. The orange graphics here are to show you different options to consider depending on where and how much light you want ont the facade. Like I said, there isn't any single best way to place your lights. On that second floor, you could go with just three lights (yellow graphics) or four (which would include the orange. You could even go with just two lights up there. One on the far left and one on the far right would work or you could just go with the two on the far right side. Ultimately your goal is cohesion and there's multiple ways to achieve that. While the soffit lights might require professional installation (if it's not something you want to tackle), there are several benefits. In addition to facilitating symmetry, soffit lights can perform a double or triple duty. In your case, they would illuminate the walls and columns but they'd also highlight the porch roof somewhat and the garden beds and even pathway to some extent. Another major benefit is that they are more discreet than other fixture types. The wires are usually tucked away out of sight. It's just creates less wire clutter and the fixtures blend into the architecture of your house. One other benefit is that because they're all pointing down, they're less likely to spoil your view of the night sky. On the con side, when those lights need to be replaced or serviced (which shouldn't be for a number of years after you install them), they're--well, they're up there. So you or your installer will need to climb back up there at some point in the distant future to repair or replace fixtures. The circles are meant to represent possible locations for path lights. You have a modestly sized front yard and the thing to keep in mind is that a little light goes a long way. As I suggested earlier, soffit lights (especially on your first level) might create more than enough illumination for your pathway and/or garden beds. Depending on the wattage/lumens you go with for the fixtures on your columns, even uplighting your columns could provide a sufficient level of ground level lighting. If you decide you need additional lighting for your pathway after all, a single well placed Max spread path light could sufficiently light your path and your steps. Alternatively, a couple of lights with a smaller spread placed at each end of your path could work for you. If you wanted to make sure the entry to your driveway is easier see, you might place a light where the green circle is, for instance. At the end of the day, you'll want to consider not just how you want your house and yard to look but also the extent to which you want to address practical issues like safety and making sure your guests are able to easily find your house. So, I hope this helps to get you started with your planning.
Hi Mesodude2, I am really thankful for your ideas and the time you took to help me get started. I have placed an order and will make the first lighting attempt in the next week or two. We have a strong preference for uplighting. I think we will try this first before considering adding additional soffit lights. I will post the results in the other forum. Thanks again!
Glad to help, Chad. One more tip: have fun with the process, enjoy experimenting and as long as you're being mindful of safety, don't be afraid to make mistakes. You'll likely be doing some tweaking before you get things looking exactly the way you want. Good luck.
