Almost 90% of real estate agents encourage homeowners to invest in landscaping before selling their homes. That’s no surprise; good landscaping can increase home’s resale value by 14%.
All aspects of landscaping are important, but an often overlooked aspect of landscaping is lighting. Great landscaping can be undone by poor lighting. Conversely, great lighting design can enhance the beauty of your entire home.
If you’re thinking about high end landscape lighting design for your home, here are the things you should consider:
Upgrading Your Exterior
As mentioned above, high quality landscaping increases the value of your home. The majority (64%) of homeowners who upgrade their land focus on the backyard and for good reason, too: over half of homeowners (51%) who upgrade their homes spend six or more hours per week outside. People spend the most time doing one of three activities: relaxing, gardening and entertaining.
If you any kind of outdoor activities, you can benefit from quality exterior lighting design. It can not only make you feel comfortable relaxing well into the night, it help provide your plants with necessary light on dark days, in addition to making your patio or terrace look beautiful for any occasion.
Energy
Do you try to be conscious of of your energy usage, whether it be for environmental reasons or just to save money on your electric bills? Take heed in this next section.
Lighting plays a large role in your energy consumption. According to the Department of Energy, 22% of all electricity is used for lighting, with 10% of that being used for outdoor lighting. Lighting accounts for 11% energy use in residential buildings and 18% in commercial ones.
When landscaping your home, be sure to consider the impact of lighting on your energy consumption and take stock of all your options. For instance, LEDs produce almost 85% more light than a standard halogen light, yet only uses 15% of the energy a halogen light light uses. Be sure to discuss the advantages of LED lighting when consulting with an interior designer.
Other Benefits
Quality, high end landscape lighting design isn’t just visually appealing. It can be good for you, too.
According to a study conducted by the American Society of Interior Design, the majority (68%) of employees complain about the lighting in their office. As it turned out, employees with windows in their offices got on average 46 minutes more sleep than their coworkers who did.
Now, your home may not be your office, but you can still benefit from quality lighting all the same. Due to a myriad of factors such as location, it’s not always possible to get the best lighting from windows alone. Good lighting design takes full of advantage of natural lighting and compensates where it is needed.
Landscaping not only improves the value of your home, it allows you to do things you enjoy in a beautiful environment. High quality lighting is a key component of landscaping. high end landscape lighting design can ensure that your lighting is both beautiful and beneficial to you.