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LIGHTING YOUR OUTSIDE ROOM
By Sally Storey, Design Director of John Cullen Lighting Your garden can be such a pleasure during the day, but is it forgotten at night? Even if it is small, a garden could become an extra room in your house, and provide an added dimension to the character of your home. If your garden has a well-designed lighting scheme, your eye will be drawn outside to all the features you have lit, and the feeling of space will expand to include the area surrounding your home. 'Don't be shy have your say - share your views' Register for FREE if you have not already registered and then click HERE and to create a NEWTOPIC and tell us about your some of your favorites?
Never has it been a better time to light your garden, as the new generation of 1w LED products now allow you to light a simple terrace for under 10 watts or a full garden for under 60 watts; less than the power used for one 60w light bulb! A garden can appear magical at night by simply lighting a few carefully chosen features. Even a lantern in a small summer house can be enough to provide a glow or focus. Here are some tips to make the most of lighting your garden:- A little light goes a long way at night; it is therefore important to decide what features to light and to what intensity. Use lighting selectively, making use of the darkness and enhance the best elements at the same time as concealing the worst. The key to successful garden lighting is flexibility: use spiked fittings so the position of the lighting can be changed to suit the changing seasons and planting growth. New 1w Kew LED spots and 1w Hampton floodlights are available that mean the garden can be lit with 1w rather than 35w fittings so you do not need to feel guilty about your energy consumption. Consider using energy efficient LED step-lights to create atmosphere and for safety. If you cannot incorporate these, simply use night lights in small glass holders which are a pretty way of emphasising a staircase or a low level wall. Garden light fittings generally tend to be black, but the neatest ones are those finished in dark green, as they blend in with the foliage more effectively. Copper fittings can be similarly effective as they will patinate to a natural green colour with age. Bronze fittings are also suitable, particularly if they are mounted in a tree, as they blend in with the colour of the trunk and can be used if high up as a downlight. Water can be a wonderful medium to light as it reflects and refracts light creating wonderful patterns of ripples which reflect on the surrounding area. Use a simple Pond Light under a water flow. Alternatively water can be lit by combining fibre optics within the water jets. John Cullen offer a design service along with a wide selection of products which you can see in their garden at the showroom at 561–563 Kings Road, London SW6 2EB. www.johncullenlighting.co.uk 'Don't be shy have your say - share your views' Register for FREE if you have not already registered and then click HERE and to create a NEWTOPIC and tell us about your some of your favorites? |
