For many years, nicer homes would have had a patio or deck behind the house to enjoy during the warmer months. Over time, we added areas for grilling out, screens to block bugs, and maybe a fire pit to extend the seasons. Today, it’s not uncommon for these areas to act as second living spaces complete with a nearly complete kitchen, outdoor TVs, furniture, and more. Some people might even go the extra mile to create a full-fledged skate park in their backyard. Regardless, it’s important to note that when living outdoors, lighting is something that will make or break that experience. So let’s talk about how we can improve our outdoor lighting designs for these spaces.

Tips for Improving Outdoor Lighting Designs

There are a few ideas we can address immediately for improving our outdoor lighting designs:

1. Rely on natural light as much as possible. Natural light is best for our bodies and minds and our planet, and it is a big part of what makes outdoor living enjoyable. When we over-light outdoor spaces, we run the risk of making our natural spaces much more artificial.
2. Let your eyes adjust naturally with sunset. Without electric light, the irises in our eyes will gradually open to make it easier to see in the darkness. Too much electric light will keep our irises from adjusting naturally, making it seem darker outside and opening us up to more glare.
3. Preserve natural darkness as much as possible. Night is pretty awesome, and our bodies need it to fully relax. 

Too often, we illuminate our outdoor spaces with grids of recessed downlights (or worse, disc/wafer lights). This approach disconnects us from nature, so a different method is needed to help us enjoy being outdoors more often and for longer duration. Here are some good guidelines to help improve that connection through outdoor lighting and create a more desirable outdoor landscape through lighting:

Don’t put downlights behind the cooking areas or between countertops; do use shielded lights directly overhead. It’s hard enough to tell when food on the grill is done without casting shadows, so think about how to get uninterrupted light where you need it. Cylinder wall sconces that hide the light source and direct light downwards are low enough that there will be much less glare than an overhead downlight might produce.

Don’t use tidy rows of recessed downlights or disc lights; do use recessed lights in precise locations. Bright overhead lights will put the most glare in your eyes. A few carefully placed lights, like over the kitchen island or dining table, will put light where needed. Add a dimmer so you can use just the right amount and no more.

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Don’t use overhead lighting on the dining table; do consider rechargeable portable table lamps. Rather than uncomfortable light from above, use lamps that give you light to see your food or games but put very little light directly into your eyes. 

Don’t put lights directly above seating areas; push them to over the shoulders instead. Direct downlights above us are in the most glare-sensitive portion of our vision, our peripheral vision. We may have “enough” light to see in this arrangement, but it will distract from our comfort. Instead, consider placing recessed adjustable (aimable) downlights just over the shoulder — beside and behind — the eyes of those seated. 

Don’t ignore features; do hide lighting that accents features. Stone fireplaces and timber framing can be quite expensive and beautiful, so why leave them in the dark? We want a little bit of light surrounding us at night for comfort, and often these details make the perfect surface for reflecting soft light into our spaces. For example, hide a linear “grazer” light that picks up the natural texture of a stone fireplace.

Don’t light only from above; do use lighting down low to illuminate pathways. This is perhaps the most important layer of light for enjoying outdoors — just enough light to comfortably navigate through a space, all of it far below your eyes to cut down on glare. Light underneath a bar top and fireplace hearth as well as a series of recessed step lights embedded in the columns may often be the only lights needed.

David Warfel is Chief Evangelist of Light at design firm Light Can Help You (lightcanhelpyou.com). 

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