18 Sep Your Complete Guide To Accent Lighting

Light up Your Whole House With Accent Lighting

Perhaps you’ve passed a house with incredible accent lighting outside before. You were likely stunned by how impressive the light made the house look. When done right, accent lighting can completely transform the exterior and interior of your home. It can highlight key areas that attract the eye and make the home look as though some white-collar architect or CEO owns it. How do you even get started with accent lighting? This article will help you get started.

1. Landscape First

The whole idea behind accent lighting is to showcase elements of your yard and home when it’s dark. You don’t want to show off a tangle of bushes or dirty siding or bricks. So, before you can even start to have lights installed outside, you need first to do some landscaping. Think about your yard. How large is it? What elements of decoration bring you a lot of joy and relaxation? Perhaps a water feature is something that could benefit your yard. Whether it be a fountain or even a stream, water can be a soothing feature that can offer a beautiful place to relax.

You might also want to consider putting in a garden. Brick pavers can run through the garden to create an elegant trail. Flowers and plants can add color to an otherwise green and brown yard.

Finally, make sure you trim away overgrown bushes and trees. You want people to be able to see the hard work that you’ve put into your landscaping and the exterior of your home. Once your landscape is ready, it’s time to highlight it with accent lighting.

2. Post Lighting

One of the options that you might want to include is post lighting, which works great for areas where you want to create a walkway or warm entrance. Popularly used at the ends and along a driveway, post lights are there for guiding someone down a path. You can also include them in your garden. Smaller post lights work well as guiding lights down the tracks you’ve created in your garden. They can almost look like fairie lights.

You can also place them on your porch or either side of your garage. The lights highlight where your guests should go and also shows off the fancy garage door you’ve had installed.

3. Underwater Lighting

Whether you have a pool, a fountain, or a stream, you might want to think about underwater lightning. For many, a pool is an excellent addition to the backyard. Underwater lighting can make sure that you can safely swim no matter what time it is. It also allows you to have late-night swim parties with your friends and family.

For those who have a unique design etched into the bottom of the pool, you can further highlight that with underwater lighting. It can make the design come to life. Besides just standard lights, there are plenty of other fun options, too. Colored lights, strobing lights, and even lights that you can easily switch on or off are all significant considerations for incredible accent lighting for your pool.

Lights can also work well in your fountain; perhaps you want to highlight its beautiful and intricate design. A light that stems from underwater can cast beautiful designs against it due to the moving water. It also lets you peer into the water no matter how dark it is outside.

Finally, think about adding lights to your self-made stream. For those who add fish into the mix, you can watch them swim around for hours even if it’s nighttime.

4. Tree Uplighting

If your yard has a lot of trees, then why not make them a central feature of your landscaping? By using uplighting, you can cast bright lights that make the trees appear even taller. Depending on how high you cast the light, you can make the tree appear as though it stretches into the night sky overhead. Uplighting trees that have white petals or other colored petals can also make your yard look almost magical when lit up. Passersby can be dazzled by the flash of color each time they pass your home.

Substantially, uplighting trees can add either elegance or a sense of magic to your home. Its beauty is undeniable.

5. Spotlighting

Does your home have an intricate design? Perhaps it possesses an architectural design that you want people to notice. The best way to attract the eye to certain areas of your home is with spotlighting. These are bright lights that are entrenched at the base of the house and shine upwards against the exterior of your home. You can place in a myriad of different ways to ensure that the part you want highlighted isn’t missed. These lights are a great way to show off an elegant arch or a unique point that your home possesses.

Even if you don’t have any particular stunning designs to show off, spotlighting can still cast your home in a bright light that makes it look elegant and fancy. Directly shining a series of lights along the exterior walls of your home can make it look impressive and stately.

Accent Lighting Ideas Inside Your Home

Depending on what you want to illuminate, we have many accent lighting ideas and options:

• Picture lights: Artwork and photographs can really pop with a picture light mounted on the wall directly above each frame. Picture lights are usually reserved for formal settings because they can create an art gallery look.
• Cabinet, shelf, and bookcase lighting: Show off your favorite collection with lights mounted on the underside of cabinets or bookshelves. These can include puck lights, surface-mount lights, battery-operated lights, and micro fluorescent lights.

• Recessed lighting: Often positioned across the ceiling for general lighting, recessed lights can also serve as good accent lighting ideas. Aim the light at a piece of art or another key focus for effective accent lighting.
• Track lighting: Popular in modern or industrial designs, track lighting features three to five independently swiveling heads on a track. You can aim these fixtures however you want, using them to light up a built-in bookshelf or to provide indirect lighting around the room’s perimeter.
• LED rope, tape, and strip lights: These are perfect for highlighting unique architectural features. Mount rope, tape, or strip lights above your cabinets or in a cove ceiling to make such features stand out.
• String lights: For a fun, playful feel, hang string lights in arches across the ceiling. These temporary accent lighting ideas are especially perfect for holiday parties.

 

Using Accent Lighting Ideas

So, what’s the point of using accent lighting inside your home? Consider these benefits:

• Add beauty: The most obvious reason to include accent lighting in your interior design is to set your home apart. Lighting plays a vital role in how your home appears, especially at night, and accent lighting enhances that look.
• Entertain better: String lights in particular add a fun, spunky feel to your home when you host parties. Your guests will appreciate the added beauty of your fun accent lighting ideas.
• Improve nighttime safety: You can choose to leave some accent lighting on all night to serve as nightlights. Toe kick lighting in the bathroom, for example, prevents you from stubbing your toe, and rope lights under kitchen cabinets light your way to the fridge for a midnight snack.
• Increase home value: If you’re moving soon, the addition of accent lighting is sure to make your home look its best during open houses. You may even be able to cushion the asking price after adding custom accent lights in a few rooms.

 

Do It The Right Way

Because lights require electricity to work, you’re going to need an electrician. Mister Sparky should be the call that you make to have them installed. With experienced and professional service, they can help you plan where you want the lights to be and have them installed smoothly. The last thing you want is to have malfunctioning lights. Call Mister Sparky today to have a knowledgable electrician dispatched to your home. Accent lighting is only a call away.

Mister Sparky Electrician OKC, America’s On-Time Electrician, serves the Oklahoma City, OK area with a team of certified electricians in Edmond, Midwest City, Norman, Yukon, and Del City. In addition to emergency electrical repairs, some of the electrician services provided by the company include electrical outlet/switch repair, ceiling fan installation, lighting installation, residential wiring repair, landscape lighting installation and home electrical inspections. Call us today at (405) 735-9303 to schedule an appointment!