3 Ways to Light a Walkway in Your Yard

For homeowners, there are many different ways to add lighting to their yards. While you might want lighting that illuminates the exterior of your home or that brightens certain gardens or trees, another project is to choose lighting that will brighten your front walkway. This is especially important if you often have people visit your home after dark, but even if evening visitors are rare, a well-lit front walkway can elevate your home's curb appeal. When you hire a local outdoor lighting professional, you'll quickly learn that there are all sorts of ways to light a walkway. Here are some options.

1. Line It With Lights

A popular option for lighting a front walkway is to line it with lights. There are all sorts of lights that you can choose for this project, including those that sit almost flush with the ground and those that stick up several inches. Generally, these lights will appear at regular intervals from one end of the walkway to the other — for example, you may find that having a light appear every three feet will look good. With this lighting method, the entire walkway will have some degree of light on it, which makes navigating it after dark easy.

2. Brighten It From Above

Another option is to install lighting high above the walkway that will shine down to brighten this area. There are lots of examples of elevated lighting that you can consider. For example, some homeowners will enjoy the look of floodlights that are mounted to any trees that are close to the walkway. This is an appealing approach if you like the idea of the walkway being bright but you don't want to necessarily see the lights. In many cases, the lights themselves won't be as visible as if you were to install them along the edge of the walkway, because they'll be partially hidden by branches and leaves.

3. Illuminate Key Areas

While the above two options will brighten virtually the entire walkway, you might prefer taking more of a minimalist approach. Some people choose to only illuminate key areas of their walkway, which can create an interesting visual effect while still making the area safe to navigate after dark. For example, if the walkway bends or turns, you might decide to have a floodlight at each turn. The walkway between the turns will be in the shadows to some degree, which can create visual interest.

Contact an outdoor lighting professional to learn more.


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