A pergola can serve many purposes in your Laconia, NH, landscape. It’s an excellent way to define an outdoor room, add shade to a sitting area, or create a focal point in your yard. A landscaper can help transform your pergola into a safe and welcoming nighttime destination by adding beautiful outdoor lighting.
Illuminate the Path to Your Pergola
Landscape lighting should always take safety as well as aesthetics into consideration. Before you can enjoy your pergola at night, you need to find the way there safely. Pathway lighting can help guide visitors from the house or front yard to various destinations in the backyard.
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Walkway lighting can create beautifully illuminated pathways throughout your landscape. Talk to your landscaper about which styles appeal to you so that your outdoor lighting can be coordinated with your landscape design. To ensure all traffic routes are well lit, pathway lighting can be supplemented with step and post lighting.
Wall Sconces
For unobtrusive all-over light, wall sconces on vertical pergola supports will create the feeling of a cozy outdoor room. Your landscaper will have to hardwire the lights, so be sure to discuss placement before installation to avoid surprises. Wall sconces not only light up the area around your pergola, they also highlight the structure creating a nighttime focal point.
Wall sconces are available in a wide selection of styles, colors, and materials. From rustic to contemporary, they’re a great choice for exterior lighting that also enhances your landscape style. If you have a modern home, make an impression with ultra-modern geometric fixtures. Or look for timeless wrought iron coach lights to complement a more traditional landscape.
Pendant Lights
Often the goal of outdoor landscaping is to create an extended living space. Pendant lights are a stylish way to illuminate your pergola while enhancing the feel of an outdoor room. Depending on the size of the pergola, your landscaper can include a single pendant light or multiple pendants for a larger space.
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For an elegant outdoor dining area, use a stunning chandelier to add character and make a statement. The right chandelier can add atmosphere and help make your outdoor dining area feel more like an indoor room. Good lighting will also mean your guests can linger at the table long after the sun goes down.
Rope Lights
Rope lights offer both flexibility and style. It requires a good lighting plan to use these lights as effectively as possible. Rope lighting is ideally installed in unobtrusive locations. Your landscaper will be able to select the optimal location for rope lights to ensure your pergola receives proper lighting.
An attractive method for incorporating rope lights in a pergola is to run the lights around the inside of the top perimeter. This creates a soft frame of light because the lights are not visible from the outside. For a more dramatic effect, consider rope lights along each of the rafters or on the vertical support posts.
Direct Light Toward the Pergola
If you don’t want to feel like your pergola is in the spotlight, you can choose to light the areas around the structure instead of using direct lighting. Uplighting nearby trees and shrubs will highlight your landscaping while providing ambient light for your sitting area. A landscaper will be able to select the ideal locations for nearby lighting and properly direct uplighting for the best effect.
