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Creating a Budget for Your Lighting Project

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You’ve seen all of our posts and beautiful photo images of landscape lighting and are ready to move forward: You want to have a lighting system of your own installed.

Coming up with a budget can be intimidating. There are three things you need to do to be on your way to creating the outdoor living space you’ve been dreaming about.

  1. Figure out your budget. Think about how much you are prepared to spend on your outdoor lighting system. Like most any home improvement project, chances are you will end up needing to spend a bit more than you originally intended. So it’s important to have a realistic budget in mind.

  1. Decide what elements of the lighting design will be most important. Ask yourself – what are you wanting to accomplish? Is security the biggest priority? Is it most important to have functional lighting for your outdoor living space? Deciding on lighting priorities early will help you when you are looking at your budget. While having every element of your outdoor space illuminated with differing levels of ambient light would be spectacular, it’s important to set a realistic budget. If you’re looking at doing lighting for your own personal enjoyment, consider where you spend your time in the evening.

  1. Meet with a professional lighting designer. Landscape lighting can be intimidating when you don’t know where to start. This is where working with a professional lighting designer can make all the difference. It’s easy to design a lighting system when there aren’t any budget restraints, but this is not always the case. Don’t be afraid to let your lighting designer know that you have a budget and what that budget looks like. Our lighting designers can work within a budget to still create a lighting system that has a WOW factor. They can also help you revise and reconsider what is most important in the design and give you ideas how to stay within your budget while still being happy with the final look. 

Texas Outdoor Lighting has award winning lighting designers who can come out to your property and together work with you to create a beautiful design that will fit in your budget. Call us today!

Outdoor Lighting: Landscape Renovation Trend

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More homeowners than ever are investing in eco-friendly outdoor projects whether its updating irrigation systems, emphasizing composting or creating an outdoor garden.  John Wyer, an award-winning garden designer, gave predictions on outdoor trends for 2018 and stated that outdoor living spaces with integrated lighting will be a must have feature for residential outdoor living spaces in 2018. 

According to Renee Changnon, the assistant editor for Hardware Retailing magazine, outdoor LED lighting is trending into the realm of a more eco-friendly space as well.  In fact, Changnon states that 9 out of 10 respondents of her study reported substantial renovations or complete outdoor living overhauls and a huge 98.3% were looking to improve the lighting in their outdoor spaces. 

A separate Houzz Landscaping and Garden Trends Study revealed that a majority of homeowners are upgrading their outdoor spaces, with 64% specifically addressing their backyard living areas.  The top three uses of outdoor spaces are relaxing, gardening, and entertaining with outdoor living and beauty as the most valued aspects of outdoor design.  A properly installed and maintained, high quality outdoor LED lighting system can assist in enhancing all of these aspects of outdoor living.

Texas Outdoor Lighting uses top of the line fixtures and LED bulbs.  We also have a full time maintenance staff to take care of all of your lighting maintenance needs.  Visit our website to see more examples of how we can help to transform your outdoor living areas from dark to functional and beautiful.

 

 

 

 

 

Lake Home Outdoor Lighting

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A lake home is a popular weekend retreat here in Austin and its surrounding areas.  Spending your spring, summer and fall days exploring Texas lakes via fishing, boating and tubing then capping off the adventures with leisurely evenings gathered around the fire pit telling stories and roasting marshmallows is a favorite for Austinites.  

Texas Outdoor Lighting can help make the most of your evenings outside with a landscape lighting design that perfectly enhances your lake home.

Outdoor spaces included outdoor fireplaces, kitchens, pools, walkways to the lake and more. Homeowners today are either building or renovating their homes to include more outdoor living areas and some extra light comes in handy once the sun sets.

Keep scrolling to see some of our favorite lake home outdoor lighting projects.

The lighting on this home on Lake LBJ adds the perfect ambiance to this lake retreat while adding security for guests walking around the property after the sun sets.

The lighting on and around this boat dock on Lake Austin adds a glowing moonlight effect to make it easier for guests to walk to the boat dock at night time, while creating a warm, inviting ambiance at the same time.  The under water lights also add a fun twist, making night time fishing so much more enjoyable.

Texas Outdoor Lighting went all out on this lake cabin off of Lake LBJ.  The lighting showcases the unique architecture while adding safety for guests walking after the sun sets.  The lighting here is the perfect mixture of beauty and security.

The outdoor lighting on this pathway from this Lake Travis lake house to the water adds not only safety for those walking the pathway at nighttime, but it also highlights the beauty of the property that can easily be admired from the lake.

Spring is just around the corner so there’s plenty of time to enjoy your weekends at the lake.  A professionally designed outdoor lighting design can enhance the security, beauty, and functionality of your lake home, all year long.  Light not only transforms the ambiance of your outdoor space, it also makes it more functional and safe. 

If you want even more lake home outdoor lighting ideas, feel free to contact us to schedule a free consultation with one of our award winning lighting designers.  They’ll walk your property with you and work with you to develop an outdoor lighting design you’ll love for many years to come.

The Best Time to Start Planning for Spring Outdoor Lighting

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With only a few more weeks left of winter, spring is just around the corner.  This is the perfect time to start thinking about sprucing up your outdoor living areas.  Today, we are featuring some of our favorite outdoor retreat lighting projects as inspiration to those of you who are considering utilizing outdoor lighting to take full advantage of those areas.  Please keep scrolling to see all of these fun projects.  We hope you enjoy them as much as we do.

Some outdoor projects may involve several contractors and the collaboration between these companies help achieve a flawless installation and meet completion goals. Also, working together helps ensure the installation of materials is efficient and cost-effective.  

Oftentimes, Texas Outdoor Lighting is called in after the garden, landscaping, and hardscaping plans are finished. We are happy to accommodate our clients’ needs regardless of where they are at in the renovation process. Keep in mind, however, it is less expensive and more cost-efficient for our clients when we can get involved before renovations begin.

We understand that most people prefer to tackle one project at a time, but some pre-planning now will help avoid higher costs later on.

If you already have exterior lighting and plan to make some major changes to your landscape or outdoor space, contact us.  From relocating fixtures for a tree removal to adding more lights to maximize your outdoor living space.  We’re here to help.  We’d be happy to provide you with any advice, suggestions, and discuss your outdoor landscape lighting design.