The Outdoor Lighting Design Guide

The snow is melted. Your boots have moved to storage. You can actually see grass. Was that a bird chirping?

Congratulations – you’ve survived the long winter months. As spring blooms around you, you no longer will be relegated to staring at the great outdoors from your living room window. Barbeques, warm evenings spent on a porch swing, and dining on your patio will be the new normal, and as the sun sets, you can be certain your outdoor living space turns up the lights and the style.

Take a look – there are thousands of outdoor lighting options available. Front yard or back yard, porch or patio, choosing what fixture is best for your space can be overwhelming. You may be asking yourself: Which outdoor lighting design is right for me?

Selecting an Outdoor Lighting Style

What style home do you have? If it is a 1920s Tudor style with sweeping lawns, a brick patio, and a fountain, probably you want to stay away from a large, modern globe light best befitting a mid-century architectural style home. Since the lighting fixture you choose ultimately will become a functional ornament for your exterior, it must match the style and line of your home.

What Outdoor Lighting Material is Best?

Light fixtures, to your benefit or detriment, are available in an incredible array of materials and finishes. How do you choose? One factor to consider, of course, is what material will best complement your home’s style and existing trim. If, for instance, your home has copper gutters or a wrought-iron fence, carry the theme through to your lighting fixtures, too. For the consideration of aesthetics, you want your new outdoor lighting fixture to blend in with your home.

Another factor to consider is your region’s climate. If you happen to live in a region with extreme weather patterns, be sure to find a weather-resistant fixture that will last a long time. Luckily, most fixtures are designed with this in mind.

How Do You Use Your Outdoor Living Space?

Any designer worth their salt will agree: form AND function is the magic blend for a good design. So you may have found your perfect aesthetic fixture fit, but how will it function?

Is your outdoor living space a weekends-only retreat, or are you sitting outside every chance you have? If you plan to live outside this summer, it would be worthwhile to find an energy-efficient lighting fixture that won’t wreck the environment or your electric bill. Solar lighting fixtures are an ideal solution if your region is certain to capture enough rays during the day.

Do you need enough light to read by, or is a soft glow that guides you to a door enough? If you’re lighting your front porch or walk-way, likely one to two sconce lighting fixtures and a lamppost will function beautifully. If illuminating your back patio where the family frequently dines or plays after sunset, consider adding more fixtures in prominent places to light your entire space.

Feeling more confident? Shop our online catalog now for a tremendous selection of decorative outdoor lighting fixtures, sconces, hanging pendants, ceiling fixtures, lampposts, and more.

Whether it's saving two cents on a gallon of gas or building your dream home, everybody wants a bargain.

Everyone loves a deal. No one likes paying retail.

If you are considering building a new home, now or over the next year or two, you face a number of difficult questions...

• Can I do better if I wait to build my home?
• Will interest rates go lower?
• Have home values bottomed or will there be further declines?

On the surface, it may seem as though the housing market has yet to begin climbing out the hole it fell into nearly three years ago. But we see a number of key indicators that point to some compelling reasons why now may be the time to get the best value for your home building investment.

Home Prices: Like the stock market, it is impossible to pick the bottom of the current housing market. No one can say with certainty that we've hit the absolute bottom. Like any market, supply and demand impact price. The inventory of older homes continues to dwindle. According to the Census Bureau, the US will add over a million new households each year. The current supply of new homes coming on line is nowhere near that number. As the demand for new homes rise, so will prices.

Interest Rates: We've already seen mortgage and construction loan interest rates inch up in 2011. They are likely to maintain that trend as the overall economy and demand for new homes continues to improve.

If you determine that interest rates are likely to go up, acting now can save money. Every quarter-point change in interest rates is equivalent to approximately $6,000 for each $100,000 borrowed over the course of a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage.

Materials and Labor Costs: We are in the middle of a commodity boom. The global demand for raw materials from countries like China and other emerging markets continue to put upward pressure on commodity prices. As the price of raw materials goes up, so do housing costs.

In addition, those manufacturers, suppliers, and trade contractors who are still standing after the housing bust did so by streamlining their operations and honing their costs of doing business. They are running very lean. In all likelihood, these companies will raise prices if there is an increase in demand for new housing.

Streamlined Operations: In order for our company to prosper during this difficult business cycle, we've had to sharpen our operations and systems, cut the fat out of our ledgers and operate on thin margins. As a result we are poised to meet our current demand with better processes, improved technology and lower overhead. Those efficiencies translate into lower costs for homebuyers willing to invest in a new-home project today.

If you can look past the headlines and scare tactics, you may realize that in these times, the best time to build a new home may be about to slip away.

Warm regards,

Rich Edgington
Cameron Meadows Estates
Trailside Estates
Pinon Development Corporation

In addition to cushy lounge chairs, lush landscaping, and radiant lighting, when creating an inviting outdoor living space, homeowners may opt to add a heating element. Fire pits and chimineas are prolific in this regard, available at most home goods or hardware stores, but their frequent use does not translate to a perfect product. Surface burns to your deck or lawn, flying embers, falling ash, and major messes often accompany their use, and leave many homeowners searching for an alternative when the structural integrity of their fire pits break down.

Outdoor fireplaces are the neater, safer, longer-lasting alternative. Their solid construction resists the typical wear and tear from the elements; their design often imitates indoor fireplaces, making them much simpler to use than a fire pit; contained fires mean wind gusts won't extinguish your flame, or blow embers on unprotected surfaces; and since outdoor fireplaces are available in a multitude of colors and materials, they're sure to match your existing architectural design.

To complete your outdoor living space, an outdoor fireplace is the clear alternative.

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