Outdoor lighting for your Madison, NJ, paver patio can showcase all your favorite things about this area of your landscape. These backyard illumination ideas can transform your landscape after dark and let you enjoy your outdoor spaces even longer.
Related: Accentuate Your Pool With These Outdoor Lighting Options in Madison and Chatham Township, NJ
Start at Ground Level
When you have a landscape professional add lighting to the lovely paver patio, you can highlight the unique design and texture of the pavers. While you won’t see the light fixtures since they can be hidden in the nearby landscape beds, they can cast a soft glow that increases visibility for safer movement and make the patio have an ethereal look.
Many homeowners love the idea of illuminating the perimeter of the paver patio since it delineates the edges in the darkened space and can make the patio seem as if it is floating above the ground. This can create quite a dramatic effect.
Add a Covering
Covering the paver patio can serve two important purposes. First, it can add shade to your patio on a hot summer day when you want to relax outdoors but don’t want to sit in direct sun. Second, a covering can give you space to add overhead light fixtures that operate on a dimmer so you can choose brighter task lighting or ambient low lighting, depending on what you want to do at any given moment.
There are two main options for covering your patio. You can choose a pergola of sturdy wood posts and custom beams to top for a rustic appearance. The pergola can become a focal point in your patio space when you have a landscape professional design it with climbing vines and blooming flowers in mind. Each post can have a sconce so that you can increase and dim those lights.
You can also choose a full, gable roof to cover the patio where you can have overhead light fixtures, whimsical lanterns, or any fixture that adds to the pretty appearance and wow factor of your patio. This can also be an ideal place for ceiling fans to keep the breezes blowing on a warm day.
Bring on the Fire
An outdoor fireplace or fire pit can introduce the beautiful flickering light of fire to the patio. There might be nothing that rivals the look and feel of fire in a landscape design and adding it to your patio can elevate the whole space.
An outdoor fireplace can be perfect on its own or you can have a landscape professional add sconces to each side for more light in the darkness. If you thought you loved your paver patio, imagine how enticing it can be with a fireplace or fire pit built of the same pavers for a seamless outdoor space.
Steps and Retaining Walls
As you look at the ways to highlight your backyard with landscape lighting, consider having landscape professionals add lights beneath the step treads of the patio so that you can easily see to go up and down at any time of day or night.
When you add a fire feature and patio cover, this can be the right time to have your landscapers design and build retaining walls for increased privacy. Along with the walls, outdoor lights could be installed at the same time beneath the flat top stone.
Related: 4 Reasons Why Outdoor Lighting Should Be a Part of Your Madison, NJ, Landscape Design Plan