In a recent survey of home decorators, they listed a home’s exterior as the number one most overlooked part of the house. These days people want to utilize the backyard as an extra room of the house and as you know, every room needs adequate lighting. That is why you should take the time to assess your exterior lighting and perhaps replace those outdoor sconces.
While you may have an outdoor sconce in the back of the house, let’s begin in the front. This is your face to the world. How does it look? Is there enough light for your guests and visitors to safely navigate your front walkway? Does your porch or entry way have good lighting to ensure that you can see who is ringing your doorbell? The optimal placement of front outdoor lighting fixtures is one on either side of the door. It is important to get the spacing right: you want the outdoor sconces to be about twelve to eighteen inches past the door frame and about six feet off the ground. This will ensure that visitors step into a zone of lighting as they approach your door. If you have the outdoor wall lights too low or too high, your visitors will be in shadow. Too often the front lighting fixtures are badly placed. You may need to hire an electrician to move the wires.
Moving to the back of the house, to the entertaining area, you can install an outdoor sconce every ten feet to provide limited lighting. You do not want the same cone of lighting in back that you have in front. You need light for ambiance and for safe maneuvering, but the wattage can be lower; the placement wider. Backyard lighting can be more about creating a mood than about getting coverage. Some decorators recommend using outdoor lanterns for illumination. You can get battery-operated lanterns, wired lanterns and of course, old fashioned candle lanterns. Whichever style you choose — lanterns or traditional outdoor wall sconce pattern — what matters is that you are adding value to your home while providing a wonderful gathering place for friends and family.
Adding a set of outdoor sconce lighting fixtures to front, back or both is a fun and easy home improvement project. It will take an afternoon to swap out old porch lights for new sconces. If you have never worked with lighting fixtures, take some time to get familiar with the steps. Once you have turned off the power, it is generally a simple matter of connecting wires. If you want a new sconce, and you are not simply replacing old with new, you will want to call in an electrician. New wiring is nothing to fool around with. If you don’t do it right, you could be in danger of a fire. Better to spend the extra money and get professional installation of a new light fixture. However it goes – do-it-yourself or professional installation – when the dust settles, you will have a fresh look for your house!
AUTOPOST by BEDEWY VISIT GAHZLY
