Whether it is your attractive backyard, stunning home, or professional building, exterior lighting can transform your space to create a memorable atmosphere. So, for inspiration, here’s a look at the latest outdoor lighting trends for every season.
Outdoor lighting has many useful applications, whether your goal is to create ambiance for a party or social event, highlight landscape features, or for safety reasons. With so many technological advances coupled with stylish exteriors, the options really are endless.
But, with limitless possibilities, it can become tricky to decide which is the right fit for your home, especially if you want to stay versatile enough for every season. That’s where we come in.
Keep reading as we unpack our picks for the top trending unique outdoor lighting ideas.
9 Top Lighting Trends to Elevate Your Outdoor Areas
Let’s explore the nine top outdoor lighting trends and ideas to make your property look great all year round.
1. Linear Lighting Remains Reliable
Linear lighting is achieved with strips of LED lights applied on the bottom edge of an overhanging step tread or integrated into hardscape materials. It illuminates areas critical for safe mobility and functionality.
Popular linear lighting applications are path lights, stair lights, around spas, and sunken decks. It has a cool, elegant, modern feel while providing avenues for conversation and operating as a safety feature.
2. Take Advantage of Recessed Lighting
Recessed lighting is when the light is successfully integrated into the structure it is attached to. It is commonly used in roof soffits, decks, or pergolas to shine down on the ground below.
Another application of recessed lighting is using it for up-lighting. In this instance, lights are affixed flush into the deck or ground area facing up to illuminate building features or plant features. This is done where a normal stake-mounted spotlight cannot be used due to a solid surface area. The finished product is clean and effective, while the light fixtures themselves virtually vanish away from view.
3. Stick to Stylish Fixtures
Until recently, outdoor lighting fixtures were somewhat of an afterthought. Now, stylish options are flooding the markets, with brass and copper wall sconces being the most popular.
Options that appear vintage or modern can emphasize the personality of the space while also creating a fun or traditional mood. Beyond these, diffused wall light fixtures, pendant lights, and hanging lights are also popular.
With outdoor-indoor style spaces becoming so prevalent, it makes sense that lighting fixtures would reflect the interior-like feel of the space, playing off outdoor rugs or furniture to give a cohesive look.
4. Opting for Smart Outdoor Lighting
Outdoor smart lighting technology has improved greatly over the past few years. Low-voltage LED lighting systems are the go-to because they work better and are more energy-efficient, saving the homeowner money over time.
There are now options that can be controlled via a cell phone app and connect with other landscape features such as pool covers, sprinklers, hot tubs, and security cameras. With this growing smart lighting trend, convenience meets safety.
5. Create an Atmosphere with Color Changing Lights
Color-changing lights can be integrated into landscape designs or applied under steps, walkways, or inside fountains. In an outdoor entertainment space, having the option to vary color can be transformative to more than just the ambiance.
Studies have shown that color can change or enhance our moods. Cooler colors, such as blues and greens, create a relaxed feel, while warm colors, such as yellows and oranges, give an inviting glow.
Color-changing ambient lighting is a growing trend because it can shine a “whole new light” on any landscape with the simple flip of a switch. Ambient lighting integrated with smart technology is set to take center stage as it starts to match property owners’ architectural styles.
6. Lawn Bollards for Outdoor Settings
Lawn bollard light stands tend to have a modern, contemporary vibe. Traditionally, businesses and parks have utilized these structures. Now, more versatile, home-oriented options are entering the market.
Bright LEDs or softer light are available depending on the mood you are trying to convey or their placement in your landscape. You can add a boost to a seating area or illuminate a path or the pool. Many different styles are available to achieve the look you are trying to convey, whether you are looking to enhance focal points, boost the overall aesthetic, or improve landscape security.
Lawn bollard custom designs can complement your home’s architecture or landscape details. Aside from their aesthetically pleasing look, bollards also add depth and dimension to an area by casting shadow patterns onto hardscaping or nearby structures.
7. Seasonal Feature and Accent Lighting
Shifting seasons require homeowners to be adaptable, especially when wanting to incorporate feature or accent lighting into their outdoor spaces. This trend is the ideal solution, focusing on creating focal points and adding depth to a garden landscape.
Expect a rise in the use of uplights, downlights, and spotlights to draw attention to specific features, which can be adjusted as the seasons change. Highlight natural elements during the summer and spring for a vibrant and lively vibe. Winters calls for accentuating statement pieces to create a warm and inviting atmosphere.
8. Sustainable Backyard Lighting Designs
Steadily gaining popularity over recent years, environmental sustainability has arrived in outdoor lighting. With the widespread adoption of eco-friendly backyard lighting ideas and solutions, not only do you deliver a striking impression, but you also make a statement.
Modern homes are rapidly switching to lighting fixtures that ensure a well-lit outdoor space and function in an environmentally responsible way. These fixtures minimize energy waste, improving the property’s energy efficiency through solutions such as solar power and LED technology.
9. Keep Your Indoor and Outdoor Spaces Connected
While the idea of creating a transitional style between indoor and outdoor areas isn’t new, it has become more popular recently. Although seemingly challenging, transitional spaces are achieved through creative crossovers in outdoor fixtures that blend elements typically seen indoors with styling more suited for a home’s exterior. A perfect example is the usage of angular metal sconces to expand the depth of a transitional space.
Need Help with Your Outdoor Lighting Installation?
FAQs About Exterior Lighting Ideas for Every Season
There might still be a few questions about outdoor house lighting ideas and trends lingering in your mind. Here are answers to the most frequently asked.
What Type of Lighting Is Best for Outdoors?
When it comes to the best lighting options for your outdoor or backyard area, there are plenty of options, depending on your unique needs. Possibilities range from floodlights to motion-sensor lights, string lights, post lights, traditional lanterns, rope lights, and solar lights.
What Is the Most Common Type of Landscape Lighting Currently Used?
Path lighting has remained one of the most frequently used and recommended types of landscape lighting. It is suitable for any exterior house lighting ideas you might have. Its versatility also makes it stand out when illuminating walkways, driveways, and garden trails.
What Are the Most Efficient Outdoor Lighting Types?
When it comes to energy efficiency, there is simply no beating LED technology. Alongside the decrease in energy waste, LED lights last longer, produce better high-quality light, and run at lower temperatures, making them safer to handle.
Concerned About The Maintenance of Your Outdoor Lighting?
Final Thoughts on The Latest Trends in Outdoor Lighting
Lighting is an essential feature of any space, whether indoors or outdoors. When appropriately applied, lighting can emphasize an area’s features while providing a mood for entertainment, relaxation, or added safety.
Whether there is a landscape feature, deck, pool, or spa area, backyard lighting design and installation can bring it to life after nightfall and add value to the space. To utilize some of these landscape lighting design trends, consider upgrading old lighting for more energy-efficient options or a stylish lighting fixture that plays off your decor.
Never have there been so many options designed to enhance your outdoor space with lighting fully. Contact your local Lighthouse Lighting Designer for more information about making your home shine.