Lighting for Patios and Outdoor Living, A Guide to Evening Outdoor Spaces|How Should a Patio Be Lit? Here Is What Works|Outdoor Living Lighting Done Properly

Two sides, two purposes

Front yard lighting is for people looking at the house. Out back you are inside the lighting, not looking at it. That flips the priorities. Nobody is grading the back yard from the street. The only test is whether the space gets used.All of which is a long way of saying the back yard is its own project. The front and the back rarely get solved by the same fixtures, and one light over the door is the usual result of not planning it. Two spaces, two separate sets of requirements to satisfy.

The thing that empties a patio

The fastest way to make a patio feel wrong is a bright fixture in somebody's line of sight. Look at a bright source and your eyes stop adapting to the dark. Aim for illumination without a visible bulb.

String lights are not a shortcut, they are a real technique

The reason overhead strings feel right is that they make a boundary. A patio without them has no top to it. With them it becomes an outdoor room. Keep them warm and low, always.None of this is a question of spending more, since most of what separates a good patio from a harsh one is where things point.

Layers, the way a designer thinks about it

Think of it as three jobs, not one switch. Something overhead to define the space. Something low for the steps, the edges and the path in. And something aimed at one or two features worth looking at. Separate switching is worth asking for.

Commercial outdoor dining

For a business with outdoor seating, this is not decoration, it is capacity. Bistro and string lighting across a patio makes the space usable and inviting after sunset. Nothing changes technically. The stakes are just higher.

The part that pays for itself

Without light, the back yard has a curfew. A lit one stays open well past the point the sun stops cooperating. In the Upstate there are plenty of mild nights well outside summer, and almost all of them are dark by six. The lighting is the thing standing between a nice evening and an unused patio.

Warm light near where people sit

Anybody who has sat under a porch light in summer has shared it https://privatebin.net/?2b1a706f23e54497#HoaaLZ1SnnaAjooZqDy8tZWmbiv6c29dwg4SWq3TgY8a with insects. Insects are drawn more strongly to the cool end, so a warm setting over a seating area is the better choice for more than one reason. It helps. It is not a solution. But it is a free consideration when choosing the setting.If a permanent system covers the rear elevation, set it warm and low for evenings outside, so nothing competes.

Getting your patio looked at

Patio lighting gets designed by somebody standing on the patio, ideally after dark. EverCrest Lighting designs and installs patio and outdoor living lighting for homes, restaurants and businesses across Upstate South Carolina and Western North Carolina, from Greenville. The consultation is free. Reach them at (864) 252-1732 or [email protected].

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