The back of the house is not curb appeal
The front of a property is a view. The patio is a place you occupy. Everything changes once you are the one sitting under it. Nobody is grading the back yard from the street. What matters is whether people stay out there past nine.All of which is a long way of saying the back yard is its own project. A roofline system handles the street view and almost nothing for where you sit. Two spaces, two separate sets of requirements to satisfy.
Glare is the enemy
A single glaring bulb undoes an otherwise good plan. Look at a bright source and everything beyond it goes black. Aim for illumination without a visible bulb.
Bistro and string lighting
Strung lights above a patio give the space an edge overhead. A patio without them is a slab under an open sky. Add a canopy of light and the space closes in. Warm and dim is the setting that works, since bright overhead light is the wrong mood entirely.The good version rarely costs more than the bad version, because aim and color temperature are free decisions.
Layers, roughly in order
Think of it as layers, not one fixture. Overhead, underfoot, and a feature or two. Separate switching is worth asking for.
Commercial outdoor dining
For a business with outdoor seating, the lighting decides whether those tables get used after sunset. Bistro and string lighting across a patio is what keeps guests seated once the sun goes. The same rules apply, only the consequences are measured in covers.
More nights outside
Without light, the back yard has a curfew. A lit one stays open well past the point the sun stops cooperating. In the Upstate there are plenty of mild nights well outside summer, and almost all of them are dark by six. The lighting is the thing standing between a nice evening and an unused patio.
Insects
Outdoor light attracts things in the summer. Insects respond more to cooler and bluer light than to warm light, which is a second argument for keeping patio light warm. It helps. It is not a solution. But it is worth factoring in.Worth adding:
https://evercrestlighting.com/about/ whatever runs along the roof edge above should match, so the space reads as one thing.
Where to begin
Patio lighting gets designed by somebody standing on the patio, preferably at night. EverCrest Lighting does patio and outdoor living lighting for homes, restaurants and businesses across Upstate South Carolina and Western North Carolina, out of Greenville. The consultation is free. Call (864) 252-1732 or email
[email protected].