With the weather warming up, now is the time of year we love to spend outdoors with our family and friends. If you've put a lot of work into making your yard look great, don't let it become invisible at nightfall. Landscape lighting can both highlight your home's best features and increase its safety. Take the steps to enhance your home with our guide to landscape lighting below.

Create a plan

Before purchasing any lighting equipment, it's important to figure out how you plan to use your space. Some of the most common goals for landscape lighting are to increase safety, improve curb appeal and create an outdoor atmosphere. Once you determine your goals, map out your lighting system. A licensed electrician is particularly important in this stage, as they can tell you what is feasible for your system and provide expert insight on what will look best.

Know your lighting strategies

There are three main ways to position lights to get different results. Downlighting is usually positioned from a tree and shines down to create a gentle light, which is perfect for patios and gazebos. Uplighting does the opposite, creating bold shadows that are good for highlighting favorite features. The third type is crosslighting, which eliminates shadows by lighting a focal point from both sides. Crosslighting is often used for trees and gardens.

Place your lights carefully

You can put lights virtually anywhere in your yard, but some of the most important locations to include lighting are on paths, driveways, steps or patios. Lighting these areas increases your safety and security, but don't be afraid to think beyond functional. Trees, water features and architectural elements can all be illuminated to make your outdoor living space truly shine.

While you can do smaller DIY tasks, an electrician is an important option to consider for most landscape lighting projects. Get started on lighting your outdoor space by calling David Gray Electrical Services at (904) 467-0784.