We’ve all noticed that the days are getting shorter in the DMV, and that means many of our clients are thinking about how they can make their homes safe and more attractive with outdoor lighting. Mowers may be getting quiet, but there’s so much you can do to keep your landscape looking gorgeous all winter long. High-quality outdoor lighting gives your home a warm, welcoming look, keeps your family and visitors safe from accidents and boosts the security factor on your property by keeping things light and bright. All of these factors add up to make outdoor lighting one of the best exterior improvements you can make to increase your home’s aesthetics and property value.
Highlight Your Home and Landscape with Outdoor Lighting
Aesthetics is a compelling reason for adding outdoor lighting. Instead of looking at the short days and long nights as a negative, we can use lighting to avoid dreary winter landscapes and provide your home with a cozy glow. Exterior lights add charm and warmth all year long. Here are just a few approaches we love for lighting:
- Spotlight trees and shrubs that look pretty even in the cold winter months.
- Use outdoor lights to highlight your home’s most attractive exterior features, including columns and bay windows.
- Use permanent string lights on the patio to create a twinkly wonderland for the holidays and beyond.
- Illuminate entryways with soft exterior lights to make your home look warm and inviting.
- Install a professionally crafted fire pit to use all year long.
- Light up walkways and pathways for a warm and cozy look that also makes your property safe.
Illuminate Walkways and Driveways For Curb Appeal and Security
In winter, so many of our comings and goings happen when it’s dark outside. We may leave before sunrise and return home after dark during this period of long nights and short days. Lighting for walkways and driveways can help keep us safe, both in terms of avoiding accidents, slips and falls and boosting security by increasing visibility around your home. There’s something incredibly comforting to coming home to a well-lit property, and it looks great to friends, neighbors, and prospective home buyers.
- Gentle path lights are not only beautiful, they also increase safety, reducing the risk of falls.
- Lighting steps and entrances gives your home a warm, welcoming glow and makes nighttime activities safer.
- Adding extra lighting in the driveway is a simple and effective safety measure, improving visibility in ice and snow and making parking easier for holiday guests.
Outdoor Lighting: Solar vs. Electric
Choosing the right outdoor lighting is key. You’ll want to select high quality, weather-resistant lights, and you’ll need to decide whether to go with electric or solar lights or a combination of both.
Solar lighting: Solar is a trend as homeowners look for ways, big and small, that can help our environment. Solar lights are easy to install because they don’t require electrical access or outdoor cables making them ideal for spots that are farther away from your house. Solar LED lights recharge by absorbing sunlight, so you’ll just need to make sure your lights get enough sunlight to recharge the batteries regularly. Solar lights may not be quite as bright as electric lights and in some cases, they may dim as they age. But you’ll save a lot on your electric bill!
Electric Lighting: Low voltage electrical lights are also a popular and environmentally-friendly choice. We love their brightness, and they can be put on a timer or a Bluetooth transformer, so they’re only shining when you want them to shine. Electric is a good choice for lighting that’s relatively close to the house. But keep in mind that they require more hardware than solar lights: you’ll need a transformer and cables buried just below the surface of the ground.
Choose Epling for Your Outdoor Lighting Needs
Many of our fans know we’re the tops in Northern Virginia lawn care, but our skills and services go way beyond your lawn. Our staff has the talent and know-how to help you with all of your landscaping needs year-round, including outdoor lighting. In the dark winter months, lighting is one of the most effective landscape improvements you can make in terms of curb appeal. Our landscape artists have the eye to help you install your outdoor lighting in a way that highlights the very best features of your home and landscape and gives you that warm, comforting feeling all winter long.
