Anyone can stick a light fixture in the ground, however, it takes someone with an artistic vision to Paint with Light.
It takes not only somone who has a creative vision,but someone who has knowledge of the best outdoor lighting products along with proper installation techniques and installation skills to deliver truly stunning results.
Joe, Lite Visions owner is a dedicated professional Outdoor Lighting Designer/Installer who stays up to date thru continuing education and training which in turn helps him to create amazing results along with providing the best outdoor lighting products the professional outdoor lighting industry currently has to offer.
From designing and installing outdoor lighting for a Funeral home in North Raleigh ,to designing and installing outdoor lights to illuminate a deck,subdivision entrance or the front of a home and walkway for safety and security. Lite Visions is passionate about helping clients achieve their outdoor lighting goals with Energy efficient LED outdoor lighting solutions in the Raleigh NC area.
Joe and Lite Visions are proud of their outdoor lighting and concert design work.
Lou Rawls with Joe
From working with Whitney Houston, Tim McGraw, Alan Jackson to the Christmas Sensation Trans Siberian Orchestra to illuminating your home and landscape, Joe is always the first person you speak to and the last person on site doing the final night-time outdoor lighting adjustments
A lot of us in the Raleigh NC area like to spend as much time as possible outside during the summer months. However, that fun can often be cut short when night falls and you can no longer see or enjoy your outdoor space. Instead of moving indoors or trying to stay outside while blind, consider outdoor lighting as an option. Designed to work with the layout of your outside space, outdoor landscape lighting can make your outside space a more usable and enjoyable living area. You get a larger living space and you get to stay outside as long as you want to–it’s the best of both worlds!
Safety and visibility are the most important practical points to consider when it comes to changing an exterior space like a garden or patio area for outdoor living. If people are moving around in the dark, they can hurt themselves, hurt someone else, or even trample your plants because they can’t see. Especially if you’re moving between the house and your outdoor living area with food and drinks, visibility is extremely important. Nobody wants to be the one who ruins the party by spilling dinner on the floor on the way to the table! An effective way to deal with this issue is to install a few path lights to illuminate paths, walkways, and obstacles. If people can see where a path is, or where the terrain of the garden changes, they can move around in the space with much more ease and confidence. With outdoor lighting in place, both you and your guests can move around your outdoor living area with added safety, no matter how late you stay outdoors.
Looking at the practicalities of lighting is a necessary step when you’re looking to make your yard or garden into a prime living location during the hot months, but there is also the artistic side of the situation to consider as well. Lighting a space is not all that difficult, but no one wants to have bright floodlights hurting their eyes on a summer evening or to have a garden eyesore lit up at night so it becomes the focus of attention.
When you’re in the process of making your outside space into a living space, you can use your lighting to help create a sense of background and space, and to highlight (or hide) specific features. In many ways, your outdoor lighting plan is a way of decorating your garden or yard, much as you’d decorate or furnish a room. Landscape lighting design professionals can advise you regarding where to use solar landscape lighting for a soft glow and where to use wired lights for illumination that you can control more discretely. They can help you decide on the placement of lights that will highlight special garden features and take attention away from spots on your property that still need work! With the right lighting design, you can create an artistic space that you and your friends and family will be able to enjoy all summer long.
Outdoor living spaces are a wonderful addition to any home. Outdoor Landscape Lighting can help to make these spaces both practically and artistically pleasing so that you can eat, drink, and relax outside to your heart’s content, no matter how late it gets.
Sometimes I will get a phone call from a customer asking if it is possible to come and look at their 15 year old outdoor landscape lighting system and possibly retrofit it to the new LED bulbs. I am always glad to come look at an older existing system as long as it is a professionally installed outdoor lighting system with professional lighting fixtures and not some of the big box store lighting that someone installed themselves. If the fixtures are high grade materials and there is an existing professional transformer in place and the wiring and connectors are still in good shape, it is possible to upgrade an older landscape lighting system to the new energy saving and green friendly LED bulbs. Give me a call today to look at your old landscape lighting system.
Lite Visions outdoor lighting made our lake home look like a nighttime oasis. Joe came up and took a look at our home and showed me a few ideas.After talking for a few weeks,we decided upon an install date and we could not be happier with how the lighting design turned out. He even suggested adding some down lighting bulbs in our 120 volt outdoor garage area lights to create a non glare look.We feel now we can enjoy our privacy at night as well as having added security without the harsh glare of the old floodlighting we had. I highly recommend Joe and Lite Visions to anyone looking into outdoor lighting in NC.
Great experience. Clear pride in his work and followed up to make sure I was happy. Lights look great and are much better quality than the big box store options. Hoping my outdoor light trouble shooting is behind me.
Joe made a great transformation to our house. The outdoor lighting he installed looks absolutely wonderful. It was a pleasure working with him. I’d recommend Lite Visions to anyone needing outdoor lighting
Joe from Lite Visions outdoor lighting created a magical look for my backyard garden and pool areas. We got Joe’s info from a neighbor who recently had outdoor lighting installed and could not be happier. After looking through his information about his concert lighting background ,we did not need to talk to anyone else. We definatly recommend Joe and Lite Visions outdoor lighting
Joseph Smolenski7 reviews · 6 photos4 months agoJoe from Lite Visions is passionate about what he does with decades of experience. His patience is probably his other greatest asset. He’ll walk you through recommendations and listen to your ideas. He has a great guarantee, extras, and warm personality. It is clear the cost of his services are secondary to his primary goal of helping you.
Joe was super friendly and amazing to work with. Very professional and the work was done so fast! He came over and did a demonstration to make sure we liked everything and we are in love with our uplighting on the front of our home. We would highly recommend him to anyone!
I am so pleased with my new lighting, installed last week by Joe after laying out the demo and design. The fixtures are beautiful, high quality, and the outdoor lights look amazing at night! Joe and Lite Visions installed 34 LED lights (pathway, up-lights, and down-lights), replacing a semi working old halogen system and even installed 2 bbq lights on a switch for me. Joe is very knowledgeableabut outdoor lighting from his concert lighting background. I highly recommend Joe and Lite Visions of Raleigh for your outdoor lighting . A truly great experience.
Joe is extremely knowledgeable and a real lighting professional. He installed lights in our front yard and turned a dull looking yard into something very interesting and appealing. He will create a plan and communicate that plan, and then execute it in a dependable, professional way. We have some other areas we are planning to ask Joe to assess for us, due to such a great experience with him.
Decided to go to NC home show at State Fair Grounds and met Joe. He is very professional and extremely creative. He setup a demo system for one night and it looked stunning. Few of my neighbors were impressed as well. So we decided to get the lights installed. He made our home look great in the evening and we love it.
A neighbor had recommended Joe and Lite Visions Landscape Lighting in Raleigh to us. Joe spoke with me on the phone,came by one afternoon looked around the property,he then came back and absolutely convinced me he was the only person for the job with not only his concert lighting experience,but his nighttime demo at our property sold me on his being a lighting designer. Joe and Lite Visions did a great job on our home and will soon also be doing a job for us at our beach home. Thanks Joe for your creativity and working with us around a rainy few days.
Lite visions landscape lighting of Raleigh just finished a beautiful lighting job at my residence in Raleigh. I got Joe’s info from a neighbor whose house he had just lit and I am loving our new outdoor lighting. I was impressed with Joe’s professionalism as well as his night time demo of the entire lighting system for us and his explaining and showing us different effects. I would highly recommend Joe and Lite Visions landscape lighting.
Rick French1 review10 months agoI typically don’t write reviews but I couldn’t be more pleased with the professionalism, design and great work that Joe did for me, hence the exception here. He is a true pro who has provided lighting set-design for many major touring acts and he showed the same level of attention to detail in designing an architectural lighting plan for my home. I can’t recommend Joe and Lite Visions highly enough. His work brought the exterior of my home to life. Really happy I responded to his direct mailer and contacted him.
My wife and myself are fairly new to the area. We met Joe from Lite Visions thru a referral from another contractor we were using. Joe cane out and did a nightime outdoor lighting demo for us and we had our lighting installed recently and could not be more pleased. Joe has the best guarantee in the area and has been doing lighting for concerts so long that there was no other choice for us. Ifyou are thinking about outdoor lighting in or near Raleigh,we highly recommend you do not consider anyone but Joe and Lite Visions.
Love our new outdoor landscape lighting, Joe and Lite Visions are the best you will ever find. I have never dealt with a more precise person. Joe went out of his way to do a full night lighting demonstration for us and explain everything along the way. Including having us check to make sure there was no light in our sleeping area.His working with concerts along with his warranty and 3 year FREE maintenance contract took him over the top. Joe not only stands behind what he tells you. He takes extreme pride in his work to ensure customer satisfaction. Need outside landscape lighting, I guarantee you will be satisfied. Give Lite Visions of Raleigh a call!
Joe did an amazing job with the lanscape lighting in our backyard. He is an expert at what he does and offered lighting ideas that completely changed the look and feel of our yard.
Joe does the best Landscape lighting in the area! From his music touring days and professional lighting experience he knows the ins and outs of the lighting systems he is installing. I had several quotes from other companies which were more expensive and not as detail oriented as Joe. Joe knows how to add just the right amount of light for the project and has the artistic eye for the best placement. He is honest and will not try to “sell” you on more fixtures. He did a Demo light set up which was invaluable!!!! (Other companies not wanting to do this because they “know where the lights need to go”) If you are spending the money on landscape lighting it is helpful to be a part of the process and see the placement of the lights. We may extend our lighting system in the future and will not use anyone else other than Joe (owner) of Lite Visions!
Lite Visions Landscape Lighting of Raleigh recently did our homes outdoor lighting and we could not be more pleased with the outcome. Joe is a true lighting designer and a lighting artist and made our home and landscaping look great in the evening.We loved the fact that Joe had been working in the concert lighting industry and we love our home and patio area in the evening hours.
Robert Hammond7 reviews10 months agoIf you want landscape lighting you can be the envy of your neighbors call Joe, he will make it happen. I don’t think there is anything he can’t do with accent and lighting, very professional.
I don’t like having dissatisfied clients. So, I work hard to make sure that my approach leaves everyone pleased with the results. I’m big on quality control and I work hard to perfect our process so we can eliminate failures in the field. If I don’t think something is right for my customer, I’ll let them know. I won’t compromise quality and their overall satisfaction just to make a sale.
When it comes to outdoor lighting fixtures,I know what will and won’t fail down the road. You may not think that you need your lighting fixtures to hold up for 10 to 20 or more years and perhaps you’d be right. But I bet that you’d like them to hold up for more than 3 to 5 years. I am always amazed when we are called out to service a lighting system we didn’t install that is failing in under 3 years or less.
Recently I received a phone call from a potential client who explained that the lighting system her landscape contractor installed 3 years earlier was having problems. Her contractor added the lighting system into the landscape they built for her. She claimed that “They are really good landscape lighting fixtures”, and yet she couldn’t “figure out why they keep breaking”. Out of curiosity, I asked why she hadn’t called the original installers about the issues she was experiencing with the system they installed. She explained that she had, but that they weren’t returning her calls. I get calls all the time from someone who had their landscaper or hardscaper or even pond guy install their lighting that has failed in a short time and they did not offer any kind of warranty and are not returning phone calls. Seems everyone thinks they can install a professional landscape lighting system.
I’m sure you are starting to get the picture: seemingly good fixtures, and actual high quality fixtures, are two very different things. Even when they seem to be “really good lighting fixtures”, the tendency for low quality fixtures to fail is high enough that I refuse to even offer low quality fixtures to my clients. To better understand what can constitute a poor fixture, and why you may want to be careful when selecting a professional landscape lighting designer, let us understand a few key guidelines.
LED LAMPS
LED’s are here to stay.
They aren’t going anywhere for quite some time. LED’s have truly changed the way we see and are doing things in our daily lives. With greatly improved energy efficiencies, longevity and quality of light there is no reason that LED shouldn’t be the lamp in your landscape lighting fixtures.
However, as great as LED lamps are, they do have a few setbacks. Because they are technically electronic devices they have a couple of rules that must be followed to ensure there long lamp life of up to 50,000 hours.
The biggest thing to understand is that Moisture and Heat are not friendly to LED lamps. Your landscape lighting system must be built and designed to protect and warrant the use of LED products in today’s landscape. NC’s outdoors can be very harsh. Wind, rain, snow, freezing, thawing, irrigation, lawn and garden equipment will be threatening your lighting system throughout the year. We make sure that the fixtures can protect your LED lamps from damage.
OUTDOOR LIGHT FIXTURES
I am amazed when I hear that there are some tradesmen who will actually hand a client a manufacturers catalog and ask them to pick out some fixtures and let them know where to place them around their landscape.
This is a completely unacceptable practice. Who better to know which products will, not only create the desired effect but also have the ability to withstand the elements that will test them over years to come, than an experienced outdoor lighting professional? We will never use an untested product, no matter how pretty or convenient it might appear to be.
Your landscape lighting fixture must be built to keep the LED lamps inside of them dry and protected at all times. A good rule is to only use fixtures that are built and designed with the ability to dissipate heat. Failing to use a fixture that can do this will assure that your LED lamp will fail or fall short of its intended lamp life.
All products that we use and install in our professionally designed lighting systems must also be serviceable. No product is perfect, should a failure occur your installation company should always be able to respond with the appropriate repair in a timely manner. Warranties must be clearly understood and honored.
CONNECTIONS
What goes on with connections is just as important. As previously mentioned, the outdoor environment can be brutal. Improper wire connections, such as big box store piercing connectors should NEVER be used. This is the number one fail point of any outdoor lighting system. Properly tightened connectors are the only acceptable wire connection.
WARRANTIES
Get them in writing! Your landscape lighting warranty should be Ironclad and in writing. It should be clear and concise as to what is and what isn’t covered. Lighting fixtures and transformers should have a great manufacturer warranty.
In Conclusion, it’s important to look for a Professional landscape lighting designer and installer who knows which fixtures, connections and lamps will work best for your lighting system. This doesn’t mean that they simply give you assurances that everything will work fine; get it in writing. A written warranty explaining clearly what will be covered is what you should expect. Hiring a contractor who offers anything less than this and you might have to deal with them not returning your calls in 6 months years when the poorly installed system starts to fail. Remember, trusting in an experienced professional is always the best option.
When I started Lite Visions landscape lighting, I decided to take myself over the top by giving a 1year warranty along with the Manufactures warranty.
I also give a 1 year FREE Annual maintenance agreement as well. I do this simply to show my gratitude for my customers and I want to help keep their lighting system looking 100% always. Coming from my music and touring background. I feel confident in my skills as a lighting technician and lighting designer, as well as lighting fixtures and installation methods.
I back our systems with the best warranty and FREE Annual service contract in the Raleigh area! It’s not about the sale, it’s about providing a stunning lighting design for our clients for years to come. I want you to tell your friends & neighbors about us! Most of my landscape lighting business is word of mouth referrals from friends and neighbors who saw your night time demo or lighting system. From cleaning your fixtures, adjusting them due to growth or simply cutting a few small branches that are in front of a light fixture, I always want your lighting to look 100%
Unlike a lot of companies who simply have added outdoor lighting as a secondary sideline to their other business, or have bought into a cookie cutter outdoor lighting franchise.
Outdoor Lighting is Lite Visions only business and recieves 100% of my attention.
Pathway and Bridge lit up at night
I spent many years travelling in the music industry doing lighting for bands.When I decided to stop travelling 10 months out of the year and was talking to a friend who was in the outdoor lighting industry he convinced me that outdoor lighting design would be a natural transition for me,as I was already lighting up structures only on stages.
Me with some record awards
I started out many years ago working for a neighbor whose kids I grew up with in a beach band called the Embers,that set the stage for working with a local group that had a record out called Nantucket and another Raleigh band who had several records out Glassmoon. I was in Atlanta doing a show and called a friend with a production company to eat lunch and it was a turning point in my career,he offered me a tour with a group called Kool and the Gang,not only would I be a technician setting up themassive concert lighting,but I would get to operate lighting for several opening bands including KC and the Sunshine band. Over the years I was fortunate to work in all generes of music from rock to country to pop and even got to tour with WWF wrestling and the holiday sensation Trans Siberian Orchestra.
Me with Lou Rawls
I consider myself very fortunate to have had a long career in the music industry,but am glad to be close to home and designing beautiful outdoor lighting that homeowners can enjoy.
Note from Timothy B Schmidt from the Eagles who played on a Dan Fogleburg tour as well as Beth our opening act
I design and install all outdoor lighting systems and am available to personally address your needs if anything should ever come up.
I only use and install the best products available that we believe in and will not install inferior cheap fixtures just to make a profit.
About Joe Yanulevich
Born in Raleigh NC
NC Insured low voltage lighting contractor
Lighting designer and touring electrician for over 35 years.
Graduate of Nightscaping outdoor lighting university
Graduate of Garden Light Design university
Member of the Association of Outdoor Lighting Professionals
3 Doors down 2001 tour itenerary and live lighting photo
As an Outdoor Lighting Designer, I like to paint with light to create an inviting atmosphere for you and your guests to enjoy in the evening. Outdoor lighting should never be harsh or overpowering, Lite Visions specializes in outdoor lighting systems that are distinctive to your home, garden, and property. We design a lighting system that provides soft but inviting lighting. Lite Visions from our concert and theatrical lighting background use many theatrical techniques including soft filters and different lighting fixtures, shields and lamps and sometimes even color. We then combine all this with our experience to bring the exterior of your home to life in the evening. Remember, even if one of the outdoor lighting franchises was trying to sell you on the beauty of their copper or brass light. The true purpose of a lighting designer if to conceal the fixtures as much as possible so that you only see the effect, not the lights.
a beautiful evening oasis ,created by the right outdoor lighting
EXHIBITOR SPOTLIGHT: LITE VISIONS LANDSCAPE LIGHTING INC.
Feb 12, 2019
We’re excited to have Lite Visions Landscape Lighting join us at the Fairgrounds Southern Ideal Home Show. Lite Visions Lighting Designer Joe, went from lighting up the stars to lighting under the stars with his outdoor lighting, architectural lighting and landscape lighting design firm Lite Visions. Lite Visions landscape lighting is located in Raleigh NC and currently services the following areas: Apex, Cary, Chapel Hill, Clayton, Durham, Fuquay Varina, Garner, Goldsboro, Holly Springs, Knightdale, Morrisville, Raleigh, Smithfield, Wake Forest and Zebulon. Lite Visions is not a lighting franchise, which anyone can purchase. Lite Visions is locally owned lighting design and installation company. They pride themselves in delivering the best LED Outdoor Fixture, workmanship and customer service to our clients in Raleigh and the surrounding areas. We do custom outdoor lighting to both residential and commercial properties.
Before seeing the team at booth #2347, get to know more about them in our brief interview below.
Describe your products and services.From Lighting the Stars to Lighting Under The Stars: Lite Visions Owner and Raleigh Native, Joe went from working with Concert acts Whitney Houston, Tim Mcgraw and Alan Jackson to the Christmas Sensation The Trans Siberian Orchestra as a Lighting Technician and Lighting Designer. Joe is now designing and installing unique outdoor and architectural lighting in the NC area. We also update older outdoor lighting systems. Please see our 5 star reviews on google.
What is your best home or garden tip for the season? If you are considering outdoor lighting, please make sure the person you use knows what they are doing. I see jobs where the job looks cheap due to the fact someone put lights under the windows of the home instead of lighting up the architecture of the home. Or they installed a transformer in plain sight of the front of the home. A number of people install lights, that does not mean they are lighting designers. I paint pictures with light.
What are your featured deals this season? I offer a show discount of 5% off any lighting design and installation within 30 days of the home show. I work with companies who offer the best products and warranty available in the professional outdoor lighting industry. I stand behind my installations and get many referrals because of that.
What are your home and garden pet peeves? Seeing a BAD lighting job when I drive out of a neighborhood in the evening knowing some homeowner paid good money for that job and does not know the difference. We are not a lighting franchise that can be sold to anyone wanting to open a franchise business. We do not sell or install inferior products just to make a profit. All of our products have the best professional warranty available to the lighting professional. As a lighting designer. I want to walk into a home and see what the owner’s view is outside to paint a beautiful picture with lighting that they can view. Some installers just put up a few lights that people riding by the home can see, that is not a lighting design. But what their franchise told them to sell as a package. Some companies stick lights in the ground and never come back to see how they look at night.
What is the strangest client request you’ve ever received? To light a big tree in a front yard that I would not have chosen to light, the couples son had recently passed away and he had planted that tree for his mom. When I heard that story I lit that tree for no charge.
What is your favorite part of the home show? Meeting and making friends from all walks of life and hearing the ohhs and ahhs from them the first time we turn their new lighting on. I recently did a lighting design and spent alot of time with the client over several evenings. He was so in awe of what the initial lighting looked like that we installed more lighting and he was like a kid with a new toy. I am passionate about my lighting designs.
Any additional information you’d like people to know? Professional outdoor landscape lighting is not cheap, I work with an interior designer who says “Do it right and you only cry once”. My designs include seeing the effects not the light source.I work with many different types of fixtures, lamps,color temperatures,filters and shields. Maintenance is a must,I can’t tell you how many old installs I get called to look at where a fixture or cable has grown into a tree.
The Fairgrounds Southern Ideal Home Show is taking over the North Carolina State Fairgrounds April 5-7, 2019. Don’t have your tickets yet? Buy online and save $2!
I come from working in a creative field my whole life, I sometimes visualize things other people simply can’t. I feel I have been blessed with this gift.
Years ago when I talked to my mom about a privacy fence in the backyard she just said no way. After it was installed, the first thing her and my sister said was WOW, we never really noticed the plant material in the yard. Yes, I said, do you know why?
We simply took some material and created a backdrop for the plants that were already in place.
We sometimes do the very same thing with outdoor landscape lighting. Why would you have beautiful landscaping or hardscaping that you paid good money for only to have it all disappear in the evening hours? By using several different lighting techniques we create depth and dimension and pull your eye away from looking into your neighbor’s yard. Have you ever noticed a home with all the lights on inside? If your home has outdoor lighting, peoples eyes are pulled away from the inside lights when they see your home with outdoor landscape lighting. Let us create some outdoor evening ambience for you to enjoy tonight.
