Imagine this situation. It’s still daytime, the weather is great, and your backyard looks amazing: the grass is mown, the flowers on the borders of the yard are blooming, patio furniture is set up nicely. Now imagine how all this beauty disappears just twenty minutes later, with the sun going down. You cannot see those flowers anymore; the grass becomes just a silhouette, and patio furniture looks like there’s no such thing on the planet. Your backyard, where you’ve spent so much time preparing an hour ago, quietly fades into the darkness,s and this is something we usually accept.
There is an alternative to that – using proper outdoor lighting. If you think about it and use it properly, instead of adding it last minute, outdoor lighting can make your backyard alive after sunset. Not only will it be visible at night, but it’ll become even more atmospheric. The point here is not to create stadium brightness in your backyard. The point is to think of which parts of your yard require lighting and give those parts a proper type of lighting.
Why So Many Backyards Are Getting Dark As Soon as the Sun Sets
After dealing with the fundamental safety lights in doorways and stairs, the exciting phase of the project starts with illuminating the backyard, not the paths to it. Here the lawn light really performs its work in a way that most people cannot imagine a small light can do. Hidden in the flowerbed, placed at the edge of the garden, or directed upwards towards the tree, it focuses attention on the landscaping rather than on the dark silhouette behind the patio.
The problem described above is quite common for rooms with only one source of light in the house. One light creates one harsh spot of visibility while the surrounding area is left completely ignored and unusable. Outside of the house, it becomes useless lawn, garden beds, a nd patio, pretty much everything you wanted to pay attention to. The backyard should be lit evenly and not in the form of one isolated light spot near the entrance door.
Such an effect is very subtle; in fact, that is what makes it work. A yard with several lights on will not draw attention to the fact that there are lights on the premises. On the contrary, the impression will be created of a garden that keeps its natural state long after sunset. It will not look like a dark rectangle behind the patio furniture anymore; instead, guests will be able to notice the shrubs, shapes of flower beds, and even the texture of the lawn. This is exactly the difference between a yard that is lifeless from the moment the sun sets and the one that keeps its outdoor evening atmosphere well past midnight.
Providing People With a Reason to Stay Outside After Dinner
Of course, creating proper lighting for a backyard is not only about landscaping. It is also about providing some kind of comfortable environment for gathering, which is exactly the point of creating an attractive backyard in the first place. Having dinner outdoors on a warm evening, drinks at the patio table while kids run around the backyard lawn, the evening conversations after dinner, etc.– all this does not happen comfortably when there is no light, and it is impossible to see the person on the opposite side of the table.
This is the situation when an outdoor table light can become almost indispensable. When placed at a patio table or a side table near the seating area, it will create a warm light that will make people stay outside instead of going back inside right after dinner. At first sight, it might seem that it is a small and insignificant detail, but in reality, it completely changes the dynamics of a backyard evening and turns the backyard into a destination itself rather than some space that should be passed by before getting somewhere else.
The common feature of good patio lighting ideas is low, warm, a nd slightly forgiving light instead of bright and clinical light. It is obvious that nobody wants to relax in the backyard illuminated by light that seems to belong to the parking lot while relaxing after dinner.
A Couple More Little Things that Make a Big Difference
In addition to placing the appropriate fixtures into the appropriate zones, there are a few more small details that influence the look and feel of the whole yard after it has been illuminated. One of them is the height of the fixtures – lighting mounted too high flattens the space under it, just like a single light bulb in the ceiling flattens a room. Most outdoor lights should be mounted relatively low, at the level where people would usually be sitting or standing, in order to create a soft, layered look of the outdoor space.
Color temperature is another detail that is important both inside and outside of the house. Cool white-blue tones of the lights give the impression of a sterile, institutional look that looks out of place in the backyard – more fitting for a parking garage. In fact, warm, orange-yellowish tones similar to those emitted by candle flame or early evening sun work much better for a garden and patio. And if the backyard is used for socializing, these types of light look great even in photographs.
Illuminating the Functional Corners While Keeping the Warm Feel
It goes without saying that not all spaces in the backyard should create a warm, pleasant ambience. There are functional zones in the yard that require bright and reliable illumination, and an attempt to decorate them is bound to lead to failure. This includes side doors, garage, shed, and other functional areas, and especially all the paths that will be walked at night.
Bulkhead light are made for this purpose. They are mounted near the back door, garage entrance, utility areas, and other spaces that require bright and reliable illumination, and they are able to withstand weather conditions and do this job perfectly, without being mistaken for ambient lighting that they aren’t intended for. Keeping these types of fixtures apart from softer, warmer lights in other parts of the backyard will contribute to the overall thoughtfulness of the design.
Tying it All Back into a Whole Backyard After Night Falls
Those yards that seem most completely transformed after dark are seldom the yards crammed full of the greatest number of lights. Instead, they’re the ones where every light serves an exact purpose. Something bright and reliable near the entry points and paths around the yard. Something subtle and gentle distributed among the flower beds. Something soft and warmly glowing near where people gather to sit and chat. By working together to fulfill all these needs rather than trying to be the brightest thing in the backyard, the yard becomes a seamless extension of the house.
Nothing about this requires ripping up what is already there and starting over from scratch. The good news about most backyards is that they already come with a solid foundation on which the perfect nighttime lighting can be built. All that’s left to do is make sure the right number of lights are strategically placed.
