{"id":1333,"date":"2019-01-27T19:53:00","date_gmt":"2019-01-27T19:53:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/houstonlightscapes.com\/?p=1333"},"modified":"2019-01-27T19:53:00","modified_gmt":"2019-01-27T19:53:00","slug":"color-landscape-lighting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/houstonlightscapes.com\/resources\/color-landscape-lighting\/","title":{"rendered":"COLOR IN LANDSCAPE LIGHTING?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\tThe First Law of Residential Landscape Lighting is \u201cless is more\u201d. A design achieves the greatest drama and beauty with as little lighting as possible. How little is \u201cas little as possible\u201d? Generally, just enough to meet safety, security, and functionality needs. An artistically illuminated outdoor kitchen, for example, can\u2019t be too dark to cook in. Path lighting has to show where the path is. Too much lighting, though, and a property looks industrial, or institutional. When it comes to adding color in landscape, lighting, \u201cless is more\u201d is especially apropos<\/em>.<\/p>\n

WHITE LIGHT<\/h3>\n

Almost any property can be beautifully lit using white light only. Houston-area foliage and architecture generally provide enough color to create pleasing effects. Another subtle layer can be added with filters that change the temperatures<\/a> of selected fixtures. Nudging a white beam toward the blue produces a \u201ccool\u201d effect. In contrast, warmer whites are biased toward the yellow. White light corrected this way, though, is still white light.<\/p>\n

COLOR IN LANDSCAPE LIGHTING<\/h3>\n

The best way to approach using color in landscape lighting? First, complete an all-white layout that satisfies in all respects. Then, consider whether there are opportunities to add some drama or warmth with color. \u00a0Bear in mind that color filters reduce a fixture\u2019s brightness<\/a>. Areas lit for safety or functionality are probably not great candidates for color. Neither are blooming flowers, by and large. Nature has that covered as far as color goes.<\/p>\n

Green or even blue-green light adds depth to lawns and green shrubbery. Too much blue, though, tends to make foliage look, well, weird. Yellow is another color to be wary of in landscape lighting. Its interaction with the natural greens of foliage has a deadening effect. If there\u2019s a place for yellow in outdoor lighting, it\u2019s with hardscapes l<\/a>ike sculpture, and walls. Red? Handle with care. When perfectly placed and sized, red certainly attracts the eye. It can become a welcoming beacon. Inexpertly used, it suggests something more like an emergency EXIT sign.<\/p>\n

A LITTLE GOES A LONG WAY<\/h3>\n

There are, of course, seasons and occasions<\/a> when a temporary addition of color in landscape lighting is absolutely appropriate. When subtlety is set aside, and festivity rules. \u2018Tis the season for colored lens kits that snap onto most outdoor lighting fixtures.<\/p>\n

The temptation to \u201cgoose up\u201d a design with color in landscape lighting is strong in many clients of this Houston-area designer<\/a>. It\u2019s not a terrible idea, per se. Long experience teaches, as noted above, that the important thing is to get the all-white system right. From there it\u2019s easy to try adding a\u00a0 little color where it might improve the look. With snap-on filters, there\u2019s no commitment. They\u2019re inexpensive, too. Even if it turns out that basic white works best, clients can set some color filters aside for Christmas or Independence Day.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 \t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The First Law of Residential Landscape Lighting is \u201cless is more\u201d. A design achieves the greatest drama and beauty with as little lighting as possible. How little is \u201cas little as possible\u201d? Generally, just enough to meet safety, security, and functionality needs. An artistically illuminated outdoor kitchen, for example, can\u2019t be too dark to cook…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1339,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,35,20,10],"tags":[62,4,63],"class_list":["post-1333","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-landscapes-lighting","category-led","category-outdoor-lighting","category-residential-lighting","tag-color-lighting","tag-landscape-lighting","tag-outdoor-lighting-colors"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/houstonlightscapes.com\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1333","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/houstonlightscapes.com\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/houstonlightscapes.com\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/houstonlightscapes.com\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/houstonlightscapes.com\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1333"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/houstonlightscapes.com\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1333\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/houstonlightscapes.com\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1339"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/houstonlightscapes.com\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1333"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/houstonlightscapes.com\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1333"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/houstonlightscapes.com\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1333"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}