What the word actually means
The difference between accent lighting and general lighting is intent. It is not coverage. One feature, chosen on purpose, while everything around it stays dark. The dark part is not an oversight. It is the other half of the effect.The concept takes one sentence and a lot of discipline. Pick the handful worth seeing and stop there. The pull is always to light one more thing, and holding it is the entire skill.
What is worth accenting
Some things take light well and some do not. Anything with surface relief responds well, because light raking across a rough surface creates shadow and shadow creates interest. Smooth surfaces reflect light without doing anything with it. Form is the second test.
The most common mistake
The failure mode is easy to describe: too many accents. The homeowner likes the first uplit tree
https://cruziccf265.publishlane.com/posts/custom-outdoor-lighting-design-how-to-tell-a-plan-from-a-package-is-your-lighting-quote-actually-a-design-four-questions-that-settle-it-why-custom-design-matters-in-outdoor-lighting and asks for a second, then a third, then the corners of the house, then the shrubs. At some point the property is evenly lit, and the accents stop being accents. A disciplined plan leaves most of the property dark on purpose.A good accent plan looks thin written down and right in person, which is an awkward thing to sell and an easy thing to live with.
Accent lighting and everything else on the property
Accent lighting is usually one layer of several. The other layers are path and bed lighting, security coverage, and the house itself. It is the difference between a lit property and a designed one.
One more thing about brightness
Output almost always ends up too high. Your eyes adjust to darkness, so a small amount of light reads as a lot. You are highlighting something, not trying to read a book by it.
Two directions, two moods
Accent light arrives from one of two directions, and the two look nothing alike. Light from below is inherently dramatic, which is why it suits a column, a trunk or a stone face and flatters very little else. Light from above feels natural, which is exactly why it works so well over seating and paths.
Plants grow. Accents need adjusting
Anything aimed at a tree or a shrub will be aimed slightly wrong eventually. Growth blocks the throw, and ground level fixtures get knocked out of position. It is not a fault, it is just how it works. Re aiming is worth doing periodically.Aim gets checked the way everything else here is judged: by walking out at night and seeing what the light is doing.
Getting it designed
Accent lighting is decided at the property, after dark, by somebody looking at it. EverCrest Lighting installs accent lighting as part of a full outdoor lighting plan for residential and commercial properties throughout Upstate South Carolina and Western North Carolina, based in Greenville. The consultation is free. Call (864) 252-1732 or email
[email protected].