This weekend marks the start of daylight saving time. As we welcome longer days and warmer weather, now is the perfect time to start thinking about updating your outdoor space.

Outdoor lighting serves a variety of purposes, from safety and security, to adding style and interest to your home or garden. While daylight saving time means more hours of sunlight in the evenings, it is still important to consider your outdoor lighting design, especially if you plan to entertain guests over the spring and summer months.

Highlight Your Home

Adding landscape lighting to your home is a great way to increase curb appeal and functionality of your outdoor space. When applied properly, landscape lighting can truly change the way your home appears. Techniques such as grazing, shadowing or silhouetting serve to add visual interest by highlighting the natural beauty of your home and yard.

Light the Way

It is critical to consider your walkways and entryways when developing an outdoor lighting plan. Illuminate walkways and paths with light that is cast downward and with fixtures that are hooded. When lighting your entry, make sure to consider the size and placement of your fixtures. Scones or lanterns placed at either side of the doorway, as shown in this post's photo by Kichler Lighting, are more inviting and provide an even distribution of light.

Utilize Layers

Just like with indoor lighting, outdoor lighting is most effective if it utilizes ambient, task and accent light sources. Even outside, where there are not typically boundaries or borders, layers of light will enhance enjoyment and help define smaller sitting and entertaining spaces as though they are outdoor rooms.

Designing an outdoor lighting plan can seem like a daunting task, but a trained professional at an ALA-member showroom will help you ensure you're getting the most out of your outside space, even after the sun goes down.