Increase the Safety of Your Outdoor Spaces by Adding These 5 Outdoor Lighting Ideas in Yorktown, Westchester County NY

The biggest concern for homeowners at night is the safety of their home and outdoor spaces. Without adequate lighting, it’s impossible to ensure the safety of your home. Increasing safety through landscape lighting is also an opportunity to make your landscape much more attractive in the process and transform your outdoor living space into a wonderful environment. You can increase the safety of your outdoor spaces by adding these five outdoor lighting ideas in Yorktown, Westchester County, NY.

Diversify Your Lighting Strategies

The most important strategy when designing a lighting scheme for your outdoor living space is following a “less is more” philosophy. First, do away with the huge flood light on top of your garage and opt for a series of smaller light fixtures that are spread throughout the landscape. This will create a diverse tapestry of lights and will end up doing a much better job than one or two bigger light fixtures. Depth perception will be increased and the amount of shadows will be decreased to improve the safety of your outdoor spaces.

Low-Lying Pathway Lights

The walkways, front doorstep, and patio should be your priority in safe lighting and the best way to do this is by setting low-lying pathway lights on the edge of your walkable spaces. The smaller light fixtures will effectively illuminate walking surfaces without casting strong shadows.

However, this technique alone isn’t enough because it creates a runway effect that doesn’t do anything to illuminate the rest of the landscape.

Layered Landscape Lighting

The darkest spots of your landscape may not be the most well-used, but subtly lighting them will add to your home’s security. Once you’ve lit the main parts of your outdoor space, walk around your landscape and find the dark spots that feel uncomfortable and unwelcoming. Put a stake or other marker in the center of the dark spot, then place a solar-powered pathway light in that spot to prevent a stark contrast between the well-lit spaces and the surrounding landscape. The darker areas will feel much less like a security risk, the night landscape will have added dimension, and the surrounding landscape is subtly illuminated for safety without disturbing the magic of the night.

A Combination of Task Lighting and Ambient Lighting

Task lighting is used throughout your home, illuminating spaces that need attention to detail. The same goes for outdoor spaces that require a little extra attention, such as the outdoor kitchen. If you’re entertaining guests with cocktail service or providing a delicious meal, task lighting will make the cooking experience better. Place task lights at several angles above the work space, and then add ambient lighting for atmosphere and safety since task lights alone aren’t enough to make an outdoor living space comfortable. Ambient lighting is softer and less obtrusive. It could be integrated into masonry features to prevent a clutter-free patio; or, you could install LED string lights for a more festive atmosphere.

Accent Lighting

The individual features of your outdoor space that you’re proud of deserve a place in the limelight once the sun goes down. This may be as straight-forward as a gorgeous statue that takes center stage on your patio, but you’ll find more creativity hidden in the details. Accentuate the textures of a beautiful tree or masonry retaining wall with spotlighting; create a romantic setting with moonlighting; or use a soft wash technique for ambient lighting beside a smooth wall.