(Photo courtesy of Regal Ideas)

Outdoor LED Lighting: Nice Bonus or Nonnegotiable Addition?

Over the years, outdoor lighting has become an increasingly popular and integral part of screen porches, outdoor kitchens, and other custom outdoor living spaces. As these projects have evolved, lighting has played an important part in them becoming more comfortable, elaborate, and functional. If you’re wavering on whether to add this feature to your outdoor home improvement project, here are five reasons to make the jump!

5 Benefits of LED Lighting in Your Outdoor Living Space

Gentle ambiance. Practical safety issues. Resale value. There’s no shortage of reasons to invest in outdoor LED lighting.

1. Aesthetics

One of the most straightforward reasons people add LED lighting into their decks, screened-in porches, patios, and outdoor kitchens is because it looks great.

Whether you’re going with strategic uplighting or lights integrated into stair risers, the presence of LEDs instantly elevates the look and feel of any exterior space.

2. Safety

In addition to making your home look great, LED lighting also serves a practical purpose. It increases the overall safety and usability of the space.

Lighting ensures you can safely and easily navigate and use your outdoor living space at any time of the day or night.

When placed thoughtfully throughout the exterior area, LED lights, such as those from Regal Ideas, can:

• Reduce the risk of tripping on stairs
• Clearly indicate the edges of decking and railing systems
• Extend the time you can use that outdoor space (both throughout the year and in any given day) 

Especially if you have small children or pets, this extra safety measure offers important peace of mind.

3. Unique look and feel

LED lights are more often part of packages offered by custom design and build firms. They’re not standard additions to every cookie-cutter deck or outdoor living space.

This means the exterior area you build will be truly unique. Working with your build team, you can envision and create a one-of-a-kind space that can’t be seen in every house on every corner of every street. 

4. Customization to your preferences 

The strategic addition of lighting is also a great way to customize your space, creating exactly how you want it to:

• Look
• Feel
• Be used

Want a space that’s ideal for entertaining? One that caters to quiet nights in reading? One that accounts for little ones? Whatever your specific situation, that will affect the lighting choices you make in your outdoor living space.

Just as material choices, layout, and color help you create an area that’s uniquely yours and fits perfectly into the existing home, lighting is another way to meaningfully customize this space.

Don’t forget to play with your LED options, including colored lights, dimmers, and timers.

(Photo courtesy of Regal Ideas) 

5. Return on investment

Whether you’re going all in on a lighting system or you’re just adding a few thoughtful, practical, elegant lighting accents, there is a dollars-and-cents return on that investment. High-quality, low-maintenance exterior lighting increases the resale value of your home. So, whenever you’re ready to sell down the line, those improvements will be offset to some degree in your asking price.

Having adequate, beautiful lighting in your space also makes that area more usable. Even in the winter when it gets dark very early—assuming you’ve accounted for the cold with Infratech heaters or Sunspace windows—you can still comfortably and safely use that space. Being able to spend more quality time in the area you designed increases the overall value of that home improvement project.

Talk to a Design and Build Firm That Knows Northern Virginia and Maryland

Not sure about every detail you want in your new outdoor living space? That’s one of the biggest advantages of working with an experienced design and build team that knows the area where you live.

Putting that specialized local knowledge to use, these teams can call on their expertise, insight, and knowledge to create something that is true to your vision, is completely compliant with building codes, and incorporates the team’s creative and practical suggestions.

Have a project in mind? Reach out to us today. We’re Design Builders, and we’ve been helping Northern Virginia and Maryland homeowners create their dream outdoor living spaces for decades. We’re always happy to chat, answer your questions, and get the ball rolling on your project!