When a landscape lighting project goes pear shaped,  it becomes increasingly clear that the person trying to do your lighting installation is a fraud or a huckster.

Choosing the proper architectural landscape lighting company is vital to achieve the design you’re seeking. Unlike “Joe the Plumber” – who is now selling lights because the plumbing business is slow, a true lighting company with accredited designers have visions for your home that you may have only dreamt of or never thought possible.

A skilled designer will make it happen.

From that simple tree being up-lit, to that fantastic and hard to light area only achieved thru moonlighting…no task is to big or small to achieve that ultimate lighting design.

Unlike the impersonators out there, a true artisan is invaluable to any project. A lighting designer creates with a vision and will surpass all your expectations. You’re paying for that “WOW” factor and using a company such as Landscape Illumination, you should expect no less. All the lighting designers on our staff are fully schooled and trained to see your vision come to life and they can assist you from start to the finish of your project.

Landscape Illumination has the finest credentials and lighting designers in the country – perfect for helping you shape and implement your lighting vision.

The homeowners are usually upset by this point in the landscape lighting quest to learn they were duped by a crappy contractor with poor materials and installation practices. Once they hit this point – it’s  generally time to hire another Landscape Lighting contractor to get it right and that’s where Landscape Illumination in Valpo comes in.

What follows are some tips and advice on lighting design that should be addressed by a lighting consultant when they come on site to give you a free consultation.

First, here are a few questions you should ask yourself about any landscape lighting contractor:

1. Was the representative well prepared in his presentation with all current catalogs and pricing?
2. Did the representative listen to your needs addressing your questions in a polite and professional manner?
3. Did you feel trust in the representative?
4. Is the landscape lighting company insured, bonded, accredited, and the designer properly schooled in the art of architectural landscape lighting?
5. Do you feel the design he put forward meshed your visions within the paramenters for beauty safety and securing of your home?

If you answered yes to these questions then you should feel pretty confident that you have found a good landscape lighting contractor to work with.

Now here are some of our favorite lighting design tips:

1. A good designer will save you money. You will require less lighting and achieve a more beautiful design if the designer uses proper placement of all the fixtures and controllers.
2. A good designer will only highlight what should be highlighted and not burden you with un-important or non-attractive features that are better suited for natural daytime lighting.
3. Don’t be shy about your input. Everyone’s visions are different. Nor are designers mind readers. Therefore, open dialog is very important. If you wish to have that special tree lit, tell him. If your pond or pool is used during the evening hours, or you wish to see it from your favorite chair, tell him, and so on.
4. A good design starts with a good foundation. Ask what products the company offers. Look at their catalogs and inspect their warranties. Kichler landscape lighting and Vista landscape lighting are at the top of the threshold of quality products. I would insist their products to be used. Not only will you receive an excellent product, their lifetime warranties are the best in the industry.
5. Ask about lighting designs that are “abstract” to conventional thinking. A good designer works “outside the box” more than you may think. Chances are he has done a similar vision as yours in the past and possibly has photo’s of it to help you see it first hand.
6. Request a limited nightime demonstration. I cannot tell you how many mistakes by the homeowner are averted thru this process. What they think is a must have turns completely different once the light hits them. A good designer will recognize this pitfall immediately and show you the difference between what you thought was the perfect idea and the truest lighting design.
7. A good lighting design is similar to a well designed home. You wont be bothered with details such as light switches in the right place or a kitchen cabinet drawer that is so convenient to put away the cleaned silverware. Landscape lighting is just the same. Put the lighting where it is most advantagious and the design becomes alive. A properly done landscape lighting system will enhance everything about your home when the evening comes and will mitigate the design features you would rather only see in the daytime. IE garden hoses, mechanical items like power lines, AC condensers, gas meters etc.
8. Finally, a great design, by a great company, will offer you peace of mind. Your property will become beautiful beyond belief, safe to yourself and your guests, and secure against unwanted threats.

A good landscape lighting design will make your home beautiful, save you money, and make yourself proud of the most important investment in your life……your home.

If you’d like to see what Landscape Illumination can do for you landscape lighting needs, then contact us for a free consultation!

I at first was a sceptic, thinking there is no way LED lighting is going to be able to do what we can do with halogen, but I was wrong.

LED lighting now compomises 85% of the lighting we installed this year. This is mainly due to the benefits I am about to go over.

1. It is extremely energy efficeint. (Yes it is considered green) With most fixtures in the landscape consuming between 5 and 9 watts per fixture, that’s it! Some even less!
2. They have an extremely long life on the light source. Most are rated at 40,000 hours, which translates to about 20 years if the system is operated 6 hours per night. It translates to about 10 years if you operate the system from dusk until dawn.
3. The LED light source is the right color of light, meaning that it is not blueish in color. Believe me when I tell you it looks exactly like halogen. For the technicians out there, this is around 2800 K.
4. The LED’s are maintenance free, for the most part. Since the manufacturer warranties the LED light source for 15 years, you can pretty much operate the system from dusk to dawn for that time period and not worry about burning the light source out. Really the only maintenance that needs to be done is the occasional cleaning of the lense cover one or two times a year.
5. No bulbs to change, ever!!!!! If the fixture goes out, it is covered under the manufacturers’ warranty. We simply replace the whole fixture, and your done.