Rustic Outdoor Lighting
Highlight your Home with Rustic Outdoor Lighting
Outdoor lighting is used around the home for many reasons. The most obvious reason is for safety: along walkways, stairs, and driveways. But you can also create beauty and ambience by using outdoor lighting as décor. A very popular trend is rustic outdoor lighting.
“Rustic” can mean many different things. Country, Victorian, Western or Antique are some rustic design elements. The most realistic overall definition is “made to look older than it is”. Rustic outdoor lighting has the beauty and qualities of antique lighting with the safety and features of modern lighting. Forget about that stark, plain ultramodern look – “rustic” style offers the warmth and character that makes a house a home.
There are several locations you can add rustic outdoor lighting to your home. Wait until dusk, then stand outside your home and face the front of the house. What do you have for lighting there now? How can new lighting highlight and accent your home? What existing fixtures can be easily upgraded, and what new fixtures might you add?
The most typical fixture outside the home is the wall sconces on either side of your front door. Rustic outdoor lighting can add a softer, earthy tone to the light that is emitted. This is due to the often yellowed, or tanned color of the glass panes that come with rustic-style lighting. One thing about the rustic style is, it’s not bright lights – but more of a glow. Installing the new wall sconces isn’t too difficult if you’ve already got other ones installed. Nonetheless, consult an electrician before attempting to install them yourself.
Another, easier addition to your lighting is walkway lighting. These fixtures are available as solar-charged systems that require no electrical wiring. The better quality versions will include LED lamps which require little electrical power, and rechargeable Nickel Cadmium-Hydride batteries. These batteries provide the energy and the sun provides the recharging, every single day! There are so many different kinds of these solar walkway fixtures, you are sure to find quite a collection of rustic outdoor lighting styles very quickly.
Adding a lamp post to your front yard, is in fact ‘rustic’ by definition. It’s a Victorian-era convention, and calls back the days of horse-drawn carriages arriving at your door at nightfall. However, you can find rustic styles that match the ones you have put on the side of your front door, or along your walkway, completing the look. Lamp posts can keep your driveway or the whole front area of your house dimly lit as a sign that there are people home - keeping unwanted thieves away - and providing a safe welcome sign for family members who return home from work late into the evening.
Rustic outdoor lighting is just one of the many styles of outdoor lighting available. It can keep your high travel areas well marked and visible at night. It also provides comfort in those that are welcome (“Someone is home waiting for me”), and uncomfort for those unwanted types (“Let’s not break into this house, it’s so well lit”). It’s available in several subcategories and not just limited to ‘antique’ style. And it can be an easy addition with the use of solar-powered ground lighting.