Accent lighting is a choice about what to leave dark
The difference between accent lighting and general lighting is the question being asked. It is selective by definition. Point it at one tree, one column, one entry and stop. The dark part is not a gap in the plan. It is the other half of the effect.The concept takes one sentence and a lot of discipline. Choose a small number of things and light nothing else. The pull is always toward adding, and holding the line is what keeps the result looking designed.
What tends to earn it
Some things reward being lit and plenty do not. Anything with texture responds well, since the shadows a texture throws are the point. Flat painted siding gives you almost nothing back. Form is the other thing to look for.
The most common mistake
The failure mode is easy to describe: too many accents. The homeowner sees one lit feature and wants more, then a third, then the corners of the house, then the shrubs. At some point the property is evenly lit, and the accents stop being accents. Restraint is the technique.The best accent plans read as sparse in a drawing and correct once you are standing in front of the house after dark.
Where it sits among the other work
Accent lighting is usually one layer of several. Landscape lighting handles the yard. Security lighting deals with the places that need to be seen. Roofline work lights the architecture. Accent lighting is what keeps the result from looking merely lit.
Dimmer than you think
Output almost always ends up too high. After dark the threshold is low, and too much reads as a floodlight. You are highlighting something, not trying to read a book by it.
Two directions, two moods
Direction is a mood decision. Uplighting throws shadows upward, which nothing in nature does, so it feels staged, in a good way on the right subject. Light from above feels natural, which is why it suits places people sit.
Plants grow. The aim drifts
Anything aimed at a tree or a shrub will be aimed slightly wrong eventually. Growth blocks the throw, and ground level fixtures get knocked out of position. It is a small thing that makes a big visual difference. Re aiming every
https://waylonfrma182.hexaforgey.com/posts/landscape-lighting-installation-a-practical-guide-for-homeowners-thinking-about-landscape-lighting-start-with-the-yard-you-have couple of seasons keeps the plan looking the way it was designed to.The test is always the same: stand in the yard after dark. If a fixture has drifted off the subject, it takes a moment to correct.
Having a plan drawn
Accent lighting is decided at the property, after dark, by somebody looking at it. EverCrest Lighting does accent lighting as part of a full outdoor lighting plan for residential and commercial properties across Upstate South Carolina and Western North Carolina, from Greenville. The consultation is free. Call (864) 252-1732 or email
[email protected].