The term landscape lighting is somewhat broad. It can include anything from your front gate to your front door to the retaining wall at the very back side of your property. We generally categorize outdoor lighting into two categories – landscape lighting and architectural lighting with one being everything but the house facade and the other being the “everything else”. A lot of people ask if there are any quick and easy tips or tricks for designing landscape lighting. Of course there’s certainly not one right way to design anything but after designing outdoor lighting for over 10 years here in St. Louis, I do have some lighting do’s and don’ts that I follow for myself based on experience and design preference.
Don’t
Don’t try to light everything. It’s better to pick and area and light it well than to sparsely light a lot of areas and not do any of them well
Don’t focus on the fixture. Think of it this way. Outdoor lights are about how you want your home to look at night. Whether you use an artfully sculpted fixture or a plain-but-functional fixture, your your lighting goal of evening illumination renders that fixture barely visible if at all. On design features, focus on the design of those features. On lighting, focus on the effect.
Don’t put path lights in grass if it can be avoided. Grass needs to be cut. It gets walked on, run over by small legs, trampled over by dogs and destroyed by weed eaters. This is not the place you want to put up your outdoor lighting fixture. If you have a landscaping bed on the other side of the path or walkway, that is a much better place for path lights.
Don’t leave the critical areas dark. If an area of your front or back yard is not illuminated, people will not go there or walk there. Take this scenario for example. Let’s say you have a pool in your back yard. The pool has two paths that lead to it. One goes straight to the house into the living room. The other also goes to the house but through the mud room. Where would you rather have your wet swimmers enter your home? I’ve seen too many people light one path instead of the other and night swimmers will only take the illuminated path.
Don’t use too many fixtures. I’ve seen this so many times. Often an inexperienced landscape lighting designer or a landscaper not skilled in landscape lighting will install way too many fixtures. There are two unfortunate reasons they do this. Either they are using fixtures that are too weak to do the job or they are just plain selling you too many fixtures. Based on the bulb strength and direction as well as the placement of the fixtures and the bulbs within the fixtures, a couple of well designed and placed fixtures can do the work of 20 poorly placed and poor quality fixtures.
Patio lighting St. Louis
Top 5 Do’s for landscape lighting
Focus on lighting the house first and the trees second. Outdoor lighting’s primary focus should be the most beautiful and important thing on your grounds – your house. Outdoor lighting reveals the beauty of your home at night and makes it safer and more secure.
Keep fixtures close to the house so they’re not obtrusive to homeowner inside of home or tripping hazards to people outside the home
After lighting your house, focus on the area of your yard or grounds where you like to spend your time. When outdoors do you like to spend time on the deck, patio, or another place in your yard? Light that area next. Outdoor lighting makes it possible to enjoy your outdoors at night and not just during the day.
Think about lighting a focal tree or element. Often times, people want to light a tree line or another beautiful element of their yard when illuminating a beautiful 100 foot tree or water feature might add more to the enjoyment of the illuminated outdoor living area. For example, once you’ve lit your home and your deck, lighting a sculpture or tree or water feature might add to the ambiance without leading to over-lighting.
Do seriously weigh LED vs fluorescent and be VERY wary of anyone who tells you that one is better than the other. They both have tremendous benefits and both render outdoor light beautifully if designed correctly. Financially LED costs more up front and saves a lot year after year. Fluorescent bulbs cost a lot less up front but the maintenance and power bills cost a good bit more. As us for a financial analysis. Likely if you’re going to be in your home 5+ years, your initial investment may have already paid off.
Most importantly, talk to your lighting designer. Have them come out to your home. Ask them for their recommendations and ask them why. It’s very easy to spot a professional and it’s even easier to spot someone who doesn’t know what they’re doing. Make sure you call lighting designers that focus exclusively on outdoor lighting. A landscaper just isn’t going to have the knowledge or experience that a qualified professional seasoned lighting designer is going to have.
Jim Schwartz, owner of Outdoor Lighting Perspectives St. Louis
Also, make sure the consultation is at no charge. Give us a ring for a no-charge consultation (636) 561 – 1818 or email: JimSchwartz@OutdoorLights.com. We look forward to hearing from you.
One of our most popular services is landscape lighting. Although we offer architectural lighting, lighting to enhance your home’s safety, deck lighting, pool lighting, and commercial outdoor lighting, landscape lighting is at the top of the list. Your landscape lighting includes:
hedge row lighting
tree-line lighting
focal tree lighting
water feature lighting
garden lighting
outdoor sculpture lighting
trellis lighting
and so much more. We are asked so many questions about which elements of your yard are the best ones to light up or the “best bang for the buck”. We are also asked about how much of your landscaping and focal features you should illuminate. We are constantly asked about LED vs. low voltage outdoor lighting. So, we’ve decided to create a short series looking at landscape lighting. Over the next two weeks, we will add 2 blog posts addressing considerations, ideas and answering some of your questions. Whether you’re reading this article now or stumble up it at a later date, email us a question you’d like answered and we will get back to you with some thoughts and ideas.
Here is a slide show to get some great ideas started:
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For more information, view our website, give us a call (636) 561 – 1818, or email us JimSchwartz@OutdoorLights.com
This image shows the beloved Mary fretting over her garden's beauty.
Who can forget the old English nursery rhyme about “Mary, Mary quite contrary” and the many means she talked about using to make her garden beautiful. Outdoor Lighting Perspectives of St. Louis can help you capture the same magic in your garden. One of our outdoor lighting specialties is superior garden lighting which lets you capture every bloom, and every bud in all it’s glory in the evening hours.
Take a look at what we can do to please the gardener in you…
Jim Schwartz, owner of Outdoor Lighting Perspectives St. Louis
To learn more about creating your own ethereal garden of Eden under the night sky, contact Outdoor Living Perspectives of St. Louis. You can call us at (636) 561 – 1818 or email us at JimSchwartz@OutdoorLights.com
To see more imagery of gardens beautifully highlighted in the evening with garden lighting, visit our garden and landscape lighting galleries located on our website.
LED technology gives you freedom, convenience and energy savings when used in your outdoor lighting system
There are many reasons to use LED outdoor lighting but I’ve highlighted the top 4 below.
Outdoor Lighting Perspectives of St. Louis uses LED lighting to achieve stunning results such as these.
LED = Savings
Here’s a realistic scenario to consider when thinking of using LED’s. Let’s say you spend $100 per month in power to light your outdoor lighting system. This comes out to an average annual usage cost of $1,200 per year. Just by choosing LED lights you will use 90% less energy, and this converts to a system that now costs $120 per year to operate. Who can argue with that kind of economic advantage?
LED = Environmentally friendly
Along with the energy savings LED outdoor lighting provides, there is also a”green” payback that comes along with LED usage. LED bulbs are 100% recyclable and contain no toxic materials, hazardous mercury, or halogen gases. This also means that disposal of spent LED bulbs will not impact the environment is a negative way. LEDs do not require a Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) or hazardous waste disposal like those required of fluorescents and their counterparts. LED’s also emit no ultraviolet rays or infrared radiation.
LED= Safety
Since LED technology transfers power to light instead of heat and therefore generates very little heat and results in a cool burning bulb. There is little danger of LED’s creating a fire hazard because they do not use ballasts which can sometimes fail and post a danger within their setting. They also exhibit extreme durability and work well in both warm and cold environments and can also withstand moderate surges of power.
Outdoor Lighting Perspectives of St. Louis uses LED technology to beautifully illuminate your deck or patio
LED= Peace of mind
When you take all of the positive aspects of using LED lighting in your outdoor lighting design, the upfront costs of installing an LED system, or converting your existing system to LED seems trivial. In just a brief period the upfront investments involved with LED’s are recouped by way of short and long-term savings on your monthly power bill. How could you possibly second guess installing an outdoor lighting system using bulbs that last an astounding 50,000 hours? Making the decision to go LED is proof positive that a little green up front goes a long way with saving a whole lot of green in the long run.
Our LED outdoor lighting includes architectural and facade lighting, garden and landscape lighting, path lighting, deck and patio lighting, tree lighting and even outdoor holiday lighting. If you have an outdoor area in need of illumination we can expertly design and install an LED lighting scenario to take care of your needs.
Jim Schwartz, owner of Outdoor Lighting Perspectives St. Louis
Contact Outdoor Lighting Perspectives of St. Louis to learn more about our LED outdoor lighting designs, and to discuss the positive impact their use can play in your lifestyle, and your wallet. In many cases we can even retro-fit your existing outdoor lighting fixtures to LED with ease. Call us at (636) 561 – 1818 or email us at JimSchwartz@OutdoorLights.com
These little gems offer elegance and classic designs.
When you look at the holiday lighting to the right, you think of old world charm and character. This type of holiday lighting is simple, elegant and stands the test of time. These lights offer simplicity and vintage appeal. Homeowners that want to capture a refined and sophisticated look in their holiday lighting often choose to use this classic style of lighting. These lights come in a host of holiday colors, but the most readily used among our clients is the clear or white lights.
They are available in energy-efficient LED. This energy savings is another great reason to choose these lights this season for your residential holiday lighting display.
This vintage ad. for GE holiday lighting features the use of the C9
You probably remember seeing these lights used in your parents Christmas lighting , or may even your grandparents holiday lighting. These lights were originally introduced by GE ( General Electric) , in 1927 and are still being used today to create the ultimate in elegant outdoor holiday lighting. The lights became quite popular following World War II and were all the rage all through the 1950′s. Not much has changed about the ambiance they exude, but the technology has improved immensely. These lights use parallel circuitry, which means that if one light goes out the rest stay lit, this means no more trying to figure out which bulb is out. They are long-lasting, being higher quality made than your average string of lights mean they can be used year after year without having to worry about replacement as often as regular lights. You only need a tree, a bush or a roofline to create a stunning holiday display with the C9, they offer higher visibility than a twinkle light, and lend themselves to drama from even a great distance.
Stunning holiday outdoor tree lighting with c9 outdoor Christmas lights
Outdoor Lighting Perspective of St. Louis can help you bring back the magic into your holiday lighting display with the use of these elegant lights with vintage appeal. We readily use them as part of our holiday outdoor lighting program, along with a myriad of other unique lighting choices you don’t see in your average residential holiday lighting display. Our holiday outdoor lighting program entails your holiday lighting design, installation and removal for the utmost in convenience. We even store your holiday lighting display in our temperature controlled warehouses for you after the holiday season is over. Our convenient lighting program also gives you the opportunity to add onto your holiday display year to beautiful year without the worry of having to take up your valuable storage space.
To learn more about all the elegant and classic outdoor holiday lighting choices we have available to help you create a magical Christmas lighting display, contact Outdoor Lighting Perspectives of St. Louis. (636) 561 – 1818 JimSchwartz@OutdoorLights.com
Jim Schwartz, owner of Outdoor Lighting Perspectives St. Louis
Your home can be stunning each and every day with landscape and architectural lighting
Ah… the holiday time of year. You drive down any street and witness enchanting holiday lighting. Witnessing holiday lighting gives you that same feeling as hearing an old favorite song. It creates a mood. It creates a feeling of enchantment and warmth. It’s a sign that magic is happening. Homeowners each year hire us to design and install their outdoor holiday lighting to make their homes a little more festive and a lot more beautiful for the holidays. Many of those same homeowners that take advantage of our holiday lighting also have our traditional outdoor lighting throughout the entire year.
Architectural facade lighting can make your home look even more stunning than it already is. Many of our customers tell us their home looks bigger and even more beautiful at night than it does during the day. We pay special attention to any customized elements within your home’s architecture to make sure they are subtly enhanced. Elements like dormers, columns, or even custom masonry or stonework won’t go unnoticed with architectural and facade lighting. These are just some of the key pieces used in designing an outdoor lighting system that turns heads. Along with architectural and facade lighting, we also provide superior landscape and garden outdoor lighting designs to enhance the look of your property as well as your home.
Landscape and garden lighting can add beauty to your landscaping and outdoor structures that during the day are already beautiful, but under the glow of outdoor lighting are breathtaking. Our landscape lighting focuses on the beauty within your landscape like flower beds, select trees or specialized plantings, garden statuary, and landscape borders. A well-lit home deserves a well-lit landscape so the two can harmonize together as one.
Outdoor lighting can also make your home safer. A well-lit home is less likely to be the target of a break-in. Adding the essence of outdoor lighting makes it easier for you and your family to navigate paths, walkways and driveways in the evening. Properly executed outdoor lighting will help prevent accidents like tripping over that limb that blew out of your beloved oak tree and onto your front walkway just before your dinner guests arrive after dusk. With outdoor lighting you never have to worry if you left that floodlight on for your teenage daughter to return home after a night out with the “girls” because our outdoor lighting can be programmed to automatically turn on and off at specific times to suit your individual needs.
Safety, beauty and elegance entwined with Landscape and architectural lighting by Outdoor Lighting Perspectives of St. Louis
Think about how the outdoor holiday lighting that is used throughout your community to add Christmas magic can make each evening magical for you as well with landscape and architectural lighting 365 days a year.
Contact Outdoor Lighting Perspectives of St. Louis to talk about a customized outdoor lighting design for your home. Call today (636) 561 – 1818 or email JimSchwartz@OutdoorLights.com
Jim Schwartz, owner of Outdoor Lighting Perspectives St. Louis
This outdoor holiday lighting display includes a lighted yard display of an elegant lighted swan
Do you remember the magical feeling you felt as a child when you saw houses decorated with holiday lighting so beautiful that you just wanted to drive in the driveway, get out, tap on the door and say “I’m home”? I sometimes wonder if my love for outdoor lighting was founded on these early impressions of outdoor lighting which planted the seeds for what is now my career. In those days, the lighted holiday yard displays were mostly one-dimensional, rudimentary designs that were based on simplicity and fun. Today’s lighted yard displays are anything but simple. Outdoor Lighting Perspectives of St. Louis offers a wide variety of holiday lighted yard displays that span from traditional to unique and everything in-between.
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Lighted yard displays of presents under a lighted exterior holiday Christmas tree
Our self-standing yard displays give you the capacity to build an entire theme within your landscape, or create one special yard display to compliment your entire outdoor holiday lighting display. Many of our yard displays are available in LED as well as standard bulbs. Some of our unique displays even feature changing light patterns that simulate motion to add an element of excitement and whimsy into your outdoor holiday lighting design.
We offer a large variety of lighted yard displays to choose from that are sure to transform your yard into a winter wonderland of light. Our yard displays come in both three-dimensional and one-dimensional designs. Some of our most popular lighted yard displays include lighted candy canes, lighted toy soldiers, lighted snowflakes, lighted gift boxes, lighted angels, lighted Santa and reindeer and lighted Christmas carolers just to name a few.
Many of our outdoor holiday lighting customers like to integrate our lighted holiday yard displays into the theme of their Christmas lighting design. For instance, adding a sidewalk lined with lighted candy canes in conjunction with candy cane roofline lighting creates a a fun “Christmas candyland” effect.
Jim Schwartz, owner of Outdoor Lighting Perspectives St. Louis
To learn more about bringing back the childlike fascination and enchantment in your outdoor holiday lighting design, contact Outdoor Lighting Perspectives of St. Louis. We can design and install a holiday lighting display that will inspire you with our holiday lighted yard displays among all the many facets of Christmas lighting we offer to make your holidays unforgettable. You can call us at (636) 561 – 1818 or email us at JimSchwartz@OutdoorLights.com to discuss turning your property into a winter wonderland of lights.
These elegant and quaint holiday lights become the star of the show.
Amidst all the outdoor holiday lighting that you see each year which ones best defines elegance? The large bulbs that you see used as classic roofline holiday lighting may likely be your pick. This large classic light is called the C9 light and has been a favorite among those who want to convey a sense of traditionalism and refinement in their outdoor Christmas lighting designs.
Stunning holiday outdoor tree lighting with c9 outdoor Christmas lights
Not only are these vintage style holiday lights beautiful, they are also energy-efficient and offer green appeal by utilizing LED technology. LED has significant advantages over standard halogen or incandescent bulbs as it relates to power consumption. It uses about 1/10 of the power of its counterparts.That’s right – they use 90% less energy!
These magical bulbs also live to be a ripe old age, with a longer bulb life than other bulbs. Some LED’s can last upwards of 20,000 hours, and that adds up to a great deal of holiday enjoyment for many seasons to come. Durability is another key factor in the charm of these quaint holiday lights. Since the LED contains no filament the bulbs cannot become damaged by shock or vibration. They also offer silent operation and instant turn-on time.
Sometimes when I think of Christmas, I cringe at the waste with all of the paper being thrown away and all of the boxes being thrown away. But, you don’t need to throw away energy if you use LED outdoor holiday lighting. You can feel confident that their use is better for our environment. When you use these stunning lights, they not only help save energy but they also produce no UV emissions and very little heat because they run off of a low voltage power supply. Not only is the lack of heat another “green” characteristic of these lights, it makes for a safer light as well. This unobtrusive bulb packs a great deal of punch in a small package. This lighting technology costs a little more to initially install but pays for itself and saves you a lot of green over a short period of time. Make sure to get the most out of your investment by hiring an outdoor lighting professional to install your lights.
Outdoor Lighting Perspectives of St.Louis says Merry Christmas
Mungenast Honda here in St. Louis, MO is getting "decked" out for the holiday season courtesy of Outdoor Lighting Perspectives of St. Louis
Imagine this. It’s December and it’s cooooold outside. You just celebrated date night having an amazing dinner at your favorite restaurant with your favorite spouse – well hopefully your favorite spouse:). Your bellies are full and you can still taste the sweet whip cream that was atop your deliciously hot coffee before you left. You’re driving home through “car dealership row”. The bright lights that illuminate the shiny cars are in full force. But one dealership is decorated beautifully for Christmas with those classic roofline lights that remind you of a quaint downtown from your childhood or an old world feel. The huge lighted wreath is the icing on the cake and you figure out the perfect way to walk off that full belly. You pull in, park your car, and stroll around the lot. The holiday cheer from the lighted garlands and lighted wreaths make the cars on the lot look even shinier and you consider driving one off the lot imagining that big red bow that you see on car commercials this time of year.
Imagine now that you were the car dealer that very night. Were it not for the glow of holiday lights and glistening garland, your car dealership might never have distracted that happy couple from relishing the feeling of their full bellies and the warm enchanting feel of date night. In fact, if they were thinking about test driving some cars on the way home, without that holiday lighting, your dealership wouldn’t have had that charm and holiday appeal. Something as simple as holiday lighting reaped the return on the first night you switched on the commercial holiday lights. Had it not been for the stunning holiday lighting and decorations that were glowing out of the car lot of the dealership that night like a diamond in the night sky, the couple could have just as easily have pulled into any one of the other dealerships on “the row”.
Is that Santa up on the rooftop? No that is the crew of Outdoor Lighting Perspectives of St. Louis installing roofline holiday lighting for Mungenast Honda in St. Louis
Sometimes it is hard to believe the payoff that adding a little holiday cheer can do for your business. Tis the season after all, when you’re looking for a way to turn heads and add some Christmas cheer at the most magical time of year. Adorning your storefront with beautiful and inviting Christmas lighting does more for a business than just putting your customers in the holiday mood. Fourth quarter sales account for the largest percentage of total yearly sales, and some beautifully orchestrated holiday lighting could make the difference between a good year and a great year. A well-designed holiday lighting display will also improve on employee productivity and morale during the busy (and competitive) holiday season.
Here is another photo of our 'elves" busy at work installing holiday lights at Mungenast Honda in St. Louis
The bottom line is whether you have a Lexus dealership, a Honda dealership, a grocery store, or a hardware store, great holiday outdoor lighting that’s set up early and designed right will dramatically increase your end-of-year sales. To schedule a consultation contact Outdoor Lighting Perspectives of St. Louis, we can make your business or storefront merry and bright just in time for the holidays! Call us (636) 561 – 1818 or send us an email at JimSchwartz@OutdoorLights.com
Jim Schwartz, owner of Outdoor Lighting Perspectives St. Louis
You may also want to visit our commercial outdoor lighting gallery also located on our website, to see how adding lights to your business can improve your productivity and exposure to potential clients.
This homes holiday lighting display shows the use of the C9 at its best
Just the other night my wife and I were driving through a small town and noticed the beauty of the C9 lights that are used along the roof lines of the town’s historic buildings up and down Main street. Their quaint beauty makes the turn of the century architecture prevalent in this area comes to life with the use of the C9′s. These lights are desirable in residential outdoor holiday lighting designs as well as commercial holiday lighting and many businesses choose to leave C9′s up year round due to their appeal.
This image shows the beauty of the C9 up close as being used to outline this homes dormer and roof line
Charming, endearing, classic and timeless is the only way to describe the use of C9 lights in professional outdoor lighting displays. There is a lot more than meets the eye when it comes to the C9 though. C9′s are a reasonably priced and a versatile way to create ambiance and set the mood at your home for holidays or your place of business all year through. The C9 is available in a myriad of colors as well as the ever popular white C9′s. Today’s C9′s use LED technology to bring you a not only beautiful and long-lasting bulb, but a super energy-efficient bulb as well. LED lighting costs just pennies in operation costs and produce an ethereal like clear illumination unlike any other bulb.
Many businesses choose to leave their C9 lights up all year because of their old world charm
Jim Schwartz, owner of Outdoor Lighting Perspectives St. Louis
If you are ready to put the ladder away and concentrate on enjoying your holiday season then contact Outdoor Lighting Perspectives of St. Louis to take the headaches out of the holidays. Our holiday lighting designs will take your breath away. (636) 561 – 1818 and JimSchwartz@OutdoorLights.com
The term landscape lighting is somewhat broad. It can include anything from your front gate to your front door to the retaining wall at the very back side of your property. We generally categorize outdoor lighting into two categories – landscape lighting and architectural lighting with one being everything but the house facade and the other being the “everything else”. A lot of people ask if there are any quick and easy tips or tricks for designing landscape lighting. Of course there’s certainly not one right way to design anything but after designing outdoor lighting for over 10 years here in St. Louis, I do have some lighting do’s and don’ts that I follow for myself based on experience and design preference.
