Why should I have an Entropic Accents low voltage lighting system?
There are many reasons to have an Entropic Accents low voltage lighting system: safety and curb appeal are the most obvious. However, other important reasons are what we call space creation and visual direction. For example, if you have a pool area, patio, fire pit, etc. in your backyard, you know how dark and uninviting it can be at night. If you turn on the flood lights, the glare can be very annoying. With the proper Entropic Accents lighting system, a pool area can become a resort, a patio a wonderful spot to entertain guests, and your landscape an enchanted garden. This can only be accomplished by using well placed and properly concealed fixtures that are part of an Entropic Accents system.
Visual direction is achieved by subtly drawing the eye to a focal point such as a bench, a waterfall or even (for safety) steps. It is also used to highlight architectural features that often go unnoticed in the daylight. However, perhaps the most important use of visual direction is to draw the attention to the front entry of the home by lighting any entry columns and always, if possible, the front door. How many homes have you seen that have lighting but the front door looks like a cave? The entry of the home is always the most important focal point and should be inviting to guests.
How would you design a lightscape for the front of my house to make it stand out from my neighbor's house?
In the front we usually want to achieve two goals: the first is to make the residence look unique, luxurious, elegant and interesting from the curb (the primary perspective) and the second is to provide enough light to get you and your guests to the front door safely. To achieve the first goal we look for architectural details that set your home apart from the neighbors, such as solder courses or coining or perhaps an interesting roof line and gables. The lighting of the home’s architecture is almost always the primary goal. Once this is achieved we look at any interest points in the landscape such as a specimen tree, unique plant arrangements or colors. The lighting of the landscape is almost always secondary. Often we see architecture and landscape each only partially lit and it looks unprofessional – they both look incomplete!
To get guests to the front door safely, the first rule is: show them where it is! While the front door/entry is always a must for lighting, it is imperative that the lighting fixtures are well concealed. Whether entering or exiting the residence there should be no glare or your guests could miss those steps – oops! There are several techniques we use to achieve excellent entry lighting. Columns around the entry way can be uplit in order to frame the entry and provide visual direction to the door. A down light placed at the peak between the columns will light the porch and any steps. If the entry is deep, we will often add brass fixtures cored into the porch on either side of the door. This will show the volume of the entry and also silhouette any pots that may be anchoring the door. Finally, a second downlight focused on the bottom of the door can really make your entryway pop! In addition, we use area lights or downlights on surrounding trees which provide enough light for guests to comfortably stroll up to your entry without being so bright as to compete with the entry.
How do you create your lighting design for the back of a house?
Our approach to lighting the back of the residence is completely different than that of lighting the front yard. Remember, in the front we want to show off your architecture and landscape (in that order) and get guests safely to the entry. However, in the back we want to create an outdoor living space that is inviting when viewed from inside and comfortable when being enjoyed at night. To achieve this we start with what makes your backyard interesting or unique. If you have a screened pool, we will often cage mount downlights to highlight certain pool features (hot tub, waterfalls etc.) and deck space. This effect creates an intimate, romantic level of light that is very soothing.
If there is a feature or specimen tree, we will often use uplights to expand the space and downlights to provide an invitation to walk in that area or to simply highlight colorful groundcovers or benches. Benches are great in most backyards because they extend an invitation to that space. Perimeter lighting is also often effective in defining the borders of the area, serving as a backdrop to anchor any foreground focal points and especially to get rid of that “spooky effect” that often occurs if all of the lighting is too close to the house.
Lighting fixture placement and proper lensing
Have you ever noticed that many lighted houses look like they simply have headlights shining at them? The reason is because the installer either used the wrong fixture or perhaps used the proper fixture but didn’t place it properly. The trick to lighting architecture is to place the fixture just far enough from the foundation to vertically graze the wall/columns etc. This distance is a function of the materials used on the house (i.e. drystacked stone vs. stucco vs. lap siding).
The lighting of columns can be very difficult to get right. For example, placing a light in the center of a square column obviously lights only one side of that column. But what if we move the fixture slightly off the column corner? By doing this, we have now not only lit the face of the column but have created a secondary light level on the side of the column. This is a great technique for achieving visual direction and interest.
Proper lensing is as critical as fixture placement. A clear lens is almost never appropriate for architectural lighting (unless the architectural materials are very dark in color). The proper lens will make the architecture glow – that is our trademark at Entropic Accents.
