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.
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.
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%
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!
One of the fastest and easiest ways to boost your curb appeal and show off the beauty of your Raleigh NC home is to add outdoor lighting in the areas that will provide maximum impact. By highlighting the best features of your home, not only you can be sure it looks its best, even after night falls; outdoor lighting can also be used to show off the other investments you’ve made to improve your curb appeal.
Taking the time to properly light the exterior of your home can showcase your home and call attention to the features you love most, without making expensive changes to the structure of your home or yard.
Highlighting Your Home
with Outdoor Lighting
Some of the changes you make to the exterior of your home won’t even be visible after dark unless you highlight them with your lighting choices. outdoor lighting is one of the least expensive ways to boost curb appeal and makes a big impact on your home’s exterior. With lighting, you can pick out and highlight your home’s best features – while leaving those you’d prefer not to show off or that are in need of attention in the dark.
Home During the Daylight Hours
Same home with Outdoor Lighting providing Safety & Security
Show off Your Landscape Features
with Outdoor Lighting
The landscape, garden, even that beautiful statue or water feature will shine after dark if you highlight them with the right lighting. Exterior lighting enhances all the other improvements you’ve made and improves your home’s appeal, even after dark. By highlighting your improvements with up lighting,tree lighting and other lighting effects, you can be sure you get the most from your curb appeal investment.
Outdoor Lighting Boosts
Safety and Security
An investment in outdoor lighting does more than just make your home look great; by illuminating your lawn and yard you make your home a less appealing target to potential burglars and those possibly wishing to do you harm.
Lighting up the areas around windows and doorways and walkways can and will enhance the look of your home and boost your security as well.
Outdoor lighting is about more than crime prevention; by using lights to illuminate walkways and paths, you make your yard safe and easy to navigate. Your family and guests will appreciate being able to navigate the yard and reach your home without safely in the evenings.
Whether you want to enhance your curb appeal, show off the unique features of your yard and home or improve your home’s safety, outdoor lighting can help. Call Lite Visions today at 919-518-9950 to find out how easy it is to make a lasting impression with the right outdoor lighting. We can help you decide what you need to showcase your home’s best features and to give you peace of mind about the safety and security of your home, too.
Outdoor lighting installed on bridge over water feature and walkway providing safety in the evenings.
Call us Today 919-518-9950 Lite Visions Outdoor Lighting and Landscape Lighting Professionals Raleigh NC
Security lighting should provide security by discouraging trespassers. A well-lit home is less likely to be broken into.
Outdoor landscape lighting adds beauty and dimension to a home. Lighting is also an integral part of an effective home security system. Outdoor security lighting discourages would-be intruders from targeting your home by increasing the risk of being caught. The best lighting design allows physical detection and facial recognition minimizes hiding spots and increases your sense of safety.
You don’t have to light your home like a football field to feel safe. Over-illumination with floodlights pointed all over can draw unwanted attention to valuable items in your home or business and can cause light pollution. In this guide, we offer an overview of security lighting and simple tips to help you identify potential safety and security risks, select the best security lights, and determine their placement to ensure your safety and security.
A 2007 Washington Post article found burglars search for homes that appear to be unoccupied. Lighting adds an element of surprise and establishes an occupancy pattern that deters intruders from targeting a home in the first place. Residents that use outdoor lighting as part of their security plan significantly decrease their chances of being burglarized.
The Illuminating Engineering Society (IES) further explains that good security lighting anticipates potential threats and predators, and increases the means necessary to commit a crime, discouraging would-be criminals from breaking into a home. This security approach is known as target hardening. In other words, the longer it takes to plan and execute a break in, the less likely criminals are to target that home. According to the IES, home security lighting must have the following aims:
Provide a clear view of the area; including people and objects such as fences, walls and barriers
Allow facial recognition at a minimum distance of 30 feet
Make tasks such as finding your keys, retrieving the mail, or walking the dog easier and safer
Help people avoid criminal threats and/or defend themselves when a threat is perceived
Enhance your sense of safety when spending time outdoors
Call us Today 919-518-9950 Lite Visions Outdoor Lighting and Landscape Lighting Professionals Raleigh NC
Today’s blog is going to talk about things we have seen driving in the evening from installing a lighting installation.
Here is the first example below of good and bad lighting placements, the fixture in the grass will be beaten up by lawn maintenance and equipment and will not last very long in that area. Path lights should be installed in a mulched bed or walkway to not only use them properly for their effect but also to protect them from landscapers and equipment. Also notice you do not see the lamp source only a soft pool of lighting with good lighting. You should never see the bulb or glare in a lighting fixture if the lighting is properly designed with the correct fixtures.
Bad Design Fixture In Grass
Good Design Fixture Protected
Good Design and Path Lights provide safety light
DO NOT place lights under windows ever,this not only looks bad but will also cause lighting to spill into windows and cause a glare so you can’t see out of your windows. A lighting designer would never install lights under a window. As a lighting designer we use several filters and know the difference in lamp color temperatures.
Waste of money lighting under windows
Notice architecture softly lit with no glare from windows. pathway also lit softly
Transformer placement, shiny aluminum transformers should be hidden behind plant materials or placed alongside other mechanical equipment,Transformers should never be seen in plain sight in front of a home or building.
Ugly transformer job and even lit up at night
Transformer well hidden out of sight behind plant materials
Do you see the transformer ?
Call or contact us today if you want your outdoor lighting design done right the first time.
As an outdoor landscape lighting designer in Raleigh NC, we work with Triangle area homeowners to determine how you enjoy your outdoor space, particular features or a structure that you would like to highlight. What you like most about your homes architecture, specific trees or plant you like. A walkway or path you would enjoy or use more if it was illuminated. A favorite pond or water feature. Features you love most in your outdoor kitchen or along your hardscaping.
Accent outdoor lighting gently grazing the surface of the stone, stucco, and brick will add depth and dimension your home’s architecture as well as showing the features
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Adding outdoor lighting to such things as an arbor, fence a statue or structure and trees will give you a dramatic and attention-getting visual lighting effect, creating a lighting scene with a backdrop as well as mimicking moonlights natural effects.
Water feature outdoor lighting.
Illuminating a water feature, pond or pool combines 2 effects, you might have some trees or plantings near the water that will look interesting with up lighting. You also get stunning mirrored images on the water’s surface, creating dreamlike effects rippling across the water’s surface.
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Add outdoor lighting and illuminate a bridge over a water feature to highlight it’s features and create safety
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Adding path or walkway outdoor lighting will create a sense of security along stone pathways and lawn walkways as well as adding a hint of intrigue to plant beds and boulders along the way.
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Adding down lighting with lights placed up in trees shining thru the trees creates stunning shadows on the ground below mimicking moonlighting effects.
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Patio and deck outdoor lighting will feature and accentuate all of the architecture, beauty and detail of your deck, patio, outdoor kitchen, hand railings, steps and more while creating safety.
Hardscape outdoor lighting brings out your stone features along with your outdoor kitchen, retaining walls, steps and more.
Call us Today 919-518-9950 Lite Visions Outdoor Lighting and Landscape Lighting Professionals Raleigh NC
Sometimes I will get a phone call from a customer in the Raleigh asking if it is possible to come and look at their 15 year old landscape lighting system in and around the Raleigh area 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 system with professional landscape lighting fixtures and not some of the big box store lighting that someone installed themselves. If the light 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. There are many options available ,from just retrofitting the existing fixtures with drop in LED lamps,to redoing the system’s connections,updating wiring and installing the new long lasting LED chip on board landscape lighting fixtures. Some of these nice fixtures even have a variable wattage and focus on the fixture.
Give me a call today to look at your old outdoor lighting system in the Raleigh NC area.
Light Visions Outdoor Lighting and Landscape Lighting
