The definition nobody gives you
Most outdoor lighting is trying to cover ground. Accent lighting answers a different one: what deserves attention. It is selective by definition. Point it at one tree, one column, one entry and leave the rest alone. The dark part is not a gap in the plan. It is the other half of the effect.That is really the whole idea, stated as plainly as it can be. Choose a small number of things and let the rest of the property stay dark. Every plan drifts toward more, and the pressure comes from both directions.
What tends to earn it
Some things take light well and some do not. Anything with texture picks up light and shows it off, since the shadows a texture throws are the point. Flat painted siding gives you almost nothing back. Shape helps too: a strong silhouette, a distinct form.
The most common mistake
Plans go wrong when the list grows. The homeowner likes the first uplit tree and asks for a second, then a third, then the corners of the house, then the shrubs. At some point there is no dark left to contrast against, and the accents stop being accents. A disciplined plan says no more than it says yes.A good accent plan seems minimal on a page and lands properly once the sun is down and you are looking at it.
Accent lighting next to the other outdoor categories
On most properties it is part of a larger plan. The other layers are landscape,
https://evercrestlighting.com/contact/ security and roofline work. Accent lighting is what keeps the result from looking merely lit.
One more thing about brightness
Output is easy to get wrong upward. Your eyes adjust to darkness, so a modest amount of light on a dark property does a great deal. The goal is to draw attention, not to interrogate the shrubbery.
Two directions, two moods
Direction is a mood decision. Uplighting comes from below, so it feels staged, in a good way on the right subject. Downlighting from up in a tree or under a soffit imitates moonlight, so nobody notices the technique.
Plants grow. The aim drifts
Anything aimed at a tree or a shrub will be aimed slightly wrong eventually. A shrub uplit perfectly when it went in will grow past the beam. Nothing is broken. It simply needs adjusting. Re aiming is worth doing periodically.Aim gets checked the way everything else here is judged: by standing on the property after dark and looking.
Having a plan drawn
The choices only make sense in front of the actual house, so the plan begins with somebody coming out. EverCrest Lighting installs 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. Reach them at (864) 252-1732 or
[email protected].