26 Aug

8 Fall Landscape Lighting Ideas

With fall approaching comes the promise of (slightly) lower temperatures and plenty of outdoor entertainment opportunities, making it a perfect time to change up your landscape lighting design. In this post, we’ll go over our top 8 ideas for a fall landscape lighting makeover and touch on routine maintenance needs in the fall.

1. Get Thematic

Fall offers several occasions to jazz up your lawn. Halloween and Thanksgiving are the two most notable holidays, but Veterans Day and even Oktoberfest also give some unique chances to decorate and show off your holiday flair. Read More

10 Jul

Update Your Home’s Curb Appeal with Color-Changing Landscape Lighting

Whether you’re renovating, getting ready to sell, or just looking for an easy way to improve your outdoor spaces, now is the time to add color-changing LED landscape lighting to your home. Landscape lighting has always added elegance to a home’s exterior, but with color-changing LED landscape lighting, we can turn your outdoor spaces into an experience.

Updated landscape lighting, masterfully done in Tampa Bay by the team at Decorating Elves, impacts four key elements on your property: Read More

10 Feb

How Shadowing Can Create Dramatic Landscape Lighting Effects

Outdoor lighting is an art form, and any artist will tell you that good art incorporates both bright and dark. That’s why the experts here at Decorating Elves in Clearwater will design your landscape lighting with special attention to the effects of shadows. There are many outdoor lighting techniques that create dynamic shadow effects, but none are quite as dramatic as the technique known as shadowing.

What is Shadowing?

Shadowing involves casting the shadow of a prominent feature in your yard onto a background. The background can be large or small, but we always recommend shadowing on a larger background for maximum effect.  Read More

15 Feb

How Lighting Can Impact Your Landscaping

Achieving the perfect outdoor lighting for your home requires a true blend of art and science. When lighting design is carefully paired with landscape design, something magical happens. As you work with a professional lighting company like Decorating Elves to paint your nighttime landscape with the beautiful accents of light, take these tips and ideas into consideration.  Read More

15 Nov

Using Customizable Outdoor Landscape Lighting for Photographic Moments

Is there a stately tree in your yard that is perfect for family photos? Or maybe you have a wide porch that accommodates your large family for holiday pictures. In any case, landscape lighting can help make such moments possible, not just once, but whenever you need them.

You don’t have to have a grand manse to make customizable outdoor lighting worth the investment. Whether it’s six lights or three dozen, we can install the perfect lighting in cooperation with your landscape design. We have many affordable options, but the more customizable features included, the higher the price. Read More

15 Jun

Using Permanent Lighting to Shine in Dark Times

Do you wish you could brighten up the mood of your neighborhood? In these dark times of a global pandemic, many people are isolating themselves and keeping their contact with others to a minimum. As summer goes on, people are missing their neighborhood barbecues and block parties. Everyone is feeling isolated, depressed, and scared.

Sometimes it can help boost everyone’s mood if they just know that they are not alone. You can help them feel as though you are there celebrating summer with them with a well-planned, permanent lighting scheme for your home that the entire neighborhood can enjoy. Read More

15 Apr

Why Lighting Makes You Awesome

Outdoor lighting might be an afterthought for some, but truly awesome people instinctively know that the right outdoor lighting is essential. Installing permanent lighting outside your home isn’t just about making it safer or increasing a home’s value. There are so many awesome things you can do when you have the right outdoor lighting scheme.

Cookouts

Everyone knows the guy hosting the cookout is the most awesome of the group. With outdoor lighting, you can host cookouts any time of the day or night. You could host a cookout that starts with lunch, segues into a sports game, then goes through dinner. You could also cook out no matter what time of year it was, even if it was dark at 5 P.M. Read More

15 Apr

The Best Outdoor Lighting for Handicap Accessibility

With a little specialized knowledge, you can create an outdoor lighting design that is both beautiful and handicap accessible. There are just a few key aspects of your outdoor lighting design you need to keep in mind to create that accessibility. It is important to pay attention to the glare of your lighting, how well-lit your pathways are, and how easily switches can be accessed.

Reducing Glare From Lighting

Glare causes visibility issues for those who use wheelchairs. The reason for this is that many people who install lights hanging from cabinets, coming from the ground, or hanging downwards are thinking of the visual effect for people of an average height who are standing. Many lights can, accidentally, be placed in a way that shines light directly into the eyes of someone traveling through your outdoor space in a wheelchair.

To reduce the glare coming from your outdoor lighting design, keep the various eyeline levels of people in mind when placing lights. You can position some lights at a lower level so they won’t shine in anyone’s eyes. Frost-tinted bulbs are another way to reduce glare and make your space more handicap accessible. Read More

15 Jan

Commit to Better Lighting This Year

Outdoor lighting is an important feature of your home. Not only does it provide safety, but it can also highlight the beauty of your home and landscaping. A comprehensive and unique outdoor lighting system also adds home value. There are several different techniques you can use to improve the safety and attractiveness of your home.

Hardscape Lighting

Walkways, stairs, decks, patios, and driveways should all be well lit at night to prevent falls. Lighting along the hardscape to project onto the pathway is common for walkways and driveways. You can also get lighting to shine down from above. This type of lighting offers the most security against intruders or trespassers. Read More

20 Aug

How to Use Your Outdoor Lights to Honor Important Initiatives This Fall

Every year, Choose Hope and other organizations encourage Americans to learn more about important causes by representing each initiative with a ribbon color. However, wearing a colored shirt and adding a ribbon into your Facebook profile picture aren’t the only ways to spread awareness for a cause.

You can also use the lighting outside of your home or business to draw attention to a cause you want to champion. Changing the color of your outdoor lights for a week or month will encourage neighbors and visitors to ask about your lighting theme. This will give you the opportunity to spread awareness and encourage others to learn more about your cause. Read More