Accent lighting is a choice about what to leave dark
Most outdoor lighting answers the question of how to light a property. Accent lighting starts somewhere else. It is not coverage. Point it at a specimen tree, a stone column, a water feature, a front door and stop. The dark part is not an oversight. It is what makes the lit part read.That is really the whole idea, and it is not complicated. Choose two or three features and let the rest of the property stay dark. The pull is always toward adding, and holding it is the entire skill.
Good candidates
Some things take light well and plenty do not. Texture is the best predictor: masonry, tree bark, timber, anything with relief in it. Flat painted siding mostly just gets brighter. Form is the other thing to look for.
The most common mistake
Plans go wrong by addition. One feature turns into six as the plan grows. At some point there is no dark left to contrast against, and the accents stop being accents. A disciplined plan leaves most of the property dark on purpose.A good accent plan seems minimal on a page and lands properly once the sun is down and you are looking at it.
Where it sits among the other work
On most properties it is part of a larger plan. The other layers are path and bed lighting, security coverage, and the house itself. Accent lighting is what keeps the result from looking merely lit.
Output is a design decision
Output almost always ends up too high. Your eyes adjust to darkness, so a small amount of light reads as a lot. The goal is to draw attention, not to interrogate the shrubbery.
From below or from above
Direction changes the whole character. Light from below is not how daylight works, which is why it suits a column, a trunk or a stone face and flatters very little else. Light from above reads as ordinary, which is why it suits places people sit.
Accent lighting is not set and forget
Landscape accents point at plants, and plants move. Growth blocks the throw, and ground level fixtures get knocked out of position. It is a small thing that makes a big visual difference. Re aiming is worth doing periodically.Aim gets checked the way everything else here is judged:
https://evercrestlighting.com/ by standing on the property after dark and looking.
Getting it designed
Accent lighting comes out of walking the property and choosing. EverCrest Lighting installs accent lighting as part of a full outdoor lighting plan for homes and businesses across Upstate South Carolina and Western North Carolina, based in Greenville. The consultation is free. Reach them at (864) 252-1732 or
[email protected].