Stumbling in the dark on nights when you get home late? You don’t need to—especially when you install beautiful walkway lighting to improve your home’s appearance and safety.
Fortunately, there are many stylish options for walkway lighting. ProActive Landscaping assists homeowners in the Tulsa area with outdoor lighting systems that delight the eye. Our team will be happy to work with you to determine a look that you’ll love.
To get you started, here are great tips and trends to consider for your walkway lighting.
11 Trends in Design and Style
A home’s walkway lighting does more than help you find your way in the dark—it also adds personality to your outdoor spaces. Today’s outdoor lighting comes in many styles so you can enjoy a look that is unique to your property.
So, what are some of today’s most popular lights for outdoor pathways? Here’s a list of 11 lighting options Tulsa homeowners enjoy:
- Luminaries — These small lights are often used to line driveways and walkways. They come in many styles, from simple white boxes to covers carved with ornamental shapes.
- Lantern Lights — A traditional look, lanterns are attractive and classic. Hung from poles at key points near carports and entry paths, lanterns can often cast superb lighting with ease.
- Tube Lights — As their name indicates, tube lights are shaped like tubes and can be hung from branches (similar to the LED lights you see displayed during the holidays).
- Globe Lights — These stringed lights with round bulbs are a favorite for hanging from large outdoor areas such as patios, porches, and decks. But you can get inventive by hanging them from poles along walkways as well.
- Fairy Lights — Like globe lights, fairy lights are versatile and charming. Since they are typically small and twinkly, they create a soft look. They’re easy to find, inexpensive, and can be wrapped around trees and poles in your yard.
- Log Lights — Place interesting pieces of unused wood, such as cracked logs, along your path and insert tube or fairy lights within or on top of them to create a whimsical look.
- Hidden Rock Lights — If you want your lights to blend as naturally as possible into your landscaping, install these lights, which mimic the look of real rock while working to illuminate paths.
- Stair/Wall Lights — For areas with stairs and walls, inset lighting can be a great option, enhancing safety for your guests.
- Embedded Lights — Today’s lights don’t have to be separate from the walkway. If you’re installing a new walkway or replacing an old one, pavers with embedded lighting can be a great option.
- Uplights — Similar in appearance to floodlights, uplights can be placed on the ground at key spots and pointed toward pathways to provide a soft, indirect form of illumination.
- Tree lights — Hang lighting from high in your trees: a unique approach that works well during spring and summer when your trees are full of leaves. The light cast downward mimics moonlight.
7 Tips for Creating Beautiful Pathway Lighting
Once you have decided on a style of landscape lighting you really like, it’s time to take the next step and install them. These tips can help you do so effectively, so that your outdoor spaces sparkle with beauty and charm.
1. Make pathway lighting part of an overall landscape design.
Landscape lighting is an important element in your overall landscaping style. As a hardscape element, outdoor lights can add texture and visual interest to balance the soft, grassy, and flowery parts of your yard.
To create striking curb appeal, think through how your walkway lights will work with all the other aspects of your landscaping. Play around with designs to be sure you like them, and then invest in a full installation.
2. Include motion lights as well as static lighting.
Motion lights can be used to great effect for illuminating walkways. You can install several small motion lights so that they turn on in sequence as guests approach your door. And you can mix them with lights that stay illuminated in areas where the steady lighting makes more sense.
3. Invest in a timer.
Outdoor lighting is a convenient tool for your home during evening hours. Maximize that convenience by connecting your outdoor illumination to timers. This gives you great versatility, allowing you to set lights to come on when you’ll be home late, and turn off after you go to bed.
4. Use smart outdoor lighting.
If you like to control home features with a smart hub or app, invest in smart outdoor lighting that you can control from anywhere. There are many types of smart outdoor lights available, and the list is growing daily.
5. Consider solar-powered options.
Just because it’s dark outside, it doesn’t mean you have to use electricity. There are many choices in landscape lighting that draw their power from the sun. This option works well for areas that are not near existing electrical lines, as well as areas that are hard to reach, such as rocky and steep parts of your yard.
6. Get creative.
For a landscaping design that really pops, take some risks. Whether that means mixing outdoor landscape lighting styles for an eclectic feel or investing in unique lamp shapes or colored lighting, don’t be afraid to push the envelope a bit.
7. Consult the pros.
Of course, hiring a landscaper is one of the best ways to add landscape lighting that blends with your existing yard features. Landscaping professionals love designing eye-catching outdoor spaces, and they know the latest styles, trends, and technologies. They’ll guide you to getting the look you want to achieve.
Enjoy Outdoor Landscaping that Impresses and Satisfies
You deserve to be delighted with every inch of your Tulsa home’s outdoor spaces. The creative design team at ProActive Landscaping loves helping homeowners like you create a plan that incorporates landscaping lighting along with other outdoor features to create a look that you’ll love. Contact us to get a free quote for pathway lights and all your landscaping projects.
