How can you make your home beautiful at first glance? It’s all about curb appeal, the art of the first impression. Special touches and updates added to your front garden and your home can make your house look appealing to visitors or to those who are considering buying your home. 

Exterior lighting can have a huge impact on the aesthetic appeal of your home. It can highlight specific home features to add visual appeal while also improving the safety and security of your home. 

Add Lighting for Safety 

One of the main reasons that people add lights around their home is to enhance the feeling of safety. Lights add visibility to your pathways and front porch. When you have visitors to your home, you want them to feel secure navigating pathways to your front door, even when it’s dark. To increase the security of your home and garden using lights, you can: 

• Add a spotlight on the front door.
• Place lights around front patios, decks, and porches.
• Light up your stairs to avoid tripping hazards.
• Add pathway lighting beside paths. 
• Place lights around drop-offs or hazards, such as the edges of a porch or a front garden water feature.

Choose long-lasting LED lights that will add to your home for many years. According to House Logic, “once disparaged for their high cost and cold, bluish glow, LEDs are now the light source of choice for lighting designers.” By choosing LEDs, your home will remain lit and more secure for a long time, and you don’t need to think about replacing them.

Use Lights to Set a Mood 

Lights aren’t just about safety. They’re also about creating an atmosphere around your home. According to Whitmers LIghting, “before you create your landscape lighting design, start with the outcome you are looking for when lighting your space.” 

• Use warm, torch-like light to illuminate a deck living area.
• Add twinkling lights in the trees to delight guests on a summer evening. 
• Place pathways lights in plantings to soften the look of the light. 
• Use warmer lights to create a feeling of gentle warmth rather than a glare.

As you plan your garden lighting, think about what’s important in your garden, what mood you want to set with your lights, and how you plan to achieve this. Make sure that your lighting is appropriate to the task, and not intrusive to others, such as neighbors or those walking along the pathways. Use lighting shields or glare guards to avoid making your exterior lighting overly bright, so that you have consistent, soft light rather than areas of brightness and shadow.

Shine a Spotlight on Focal Points Around Your Home  

In addition to using lighting for safety, you can also use lights to add depth to your existing landscaping. For example, if you’ve decided to add a few feature plants to your front garden, or you’ve installed a new garden bed, you can use spotlights to highlight this garden bed, even when it’s dark out. Use focused light to

• Light up a water feature. 
• Create atmosphere by adding spotlights to your garden art. 
• Shine onto a tree or shrub.
• Focus lights on certain parts of your home at night. 

As you use light to add focal points to your landscaping, make sure that your lighting is soft and warm, so that you create an atmosphere of welcome rather than a glare.

At Harry Helmet, we’re proud to be able to support your family in your home renovations. Whether you’re thinking about a new roof, awnings, gutter replacement, or gutter covers, we can help your home look beautiful. Contact us today to schedule a free estimate.

Written by Del Thebaud