As the gloomy winter months are behind us, the promise of warmer temperatures and the opportunity to spend more time outside are on the horizon.
Perhaps it’s from being cooped up inside, but nothing feels more appealing than discovering new ways to enjoy our home. A timeless and functional landscape lighting design adds value, makes your outdoor areas more enjoyable and usable while offering all the practical benefits of increased security and safety after dusk.
With this in mind, we curated our top projects from the prior season (and a sneak peek at some coming up) to bring you seven truly stunning landscape lighting designs. Each project represents something different to provide plenty of unique ideas for lighting your home, backyard, or property.
Below you'll find 7 low-voltage landscape lighting designs to inspire your home or property:
Architectural Landscape Lighting
sneek peak: Omaha Mediterranean-style home
This Omaha home has distinct architectural features. The lighting design enhances the stucco exterior, ornate archways, and other unique features to add curb appeal while also increasing security and safety.
The uplighting enhances the exterior of the home and draws attention to the architecture. The front walkway has a couple of well lights accenting the two front columns with path lights leading to the front door. It helps guide the homeowners and guests safely to the front entrance.
See More Front Entrance Path Lighting Ideas»
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Exterior Dormer Lighting
Classic Colonial Revival
We also highlighted the unique architectural features of this West Omaha home. The dormers, which can often get overlooked in a landscape lighting design, are a distinguishing characteristic of the architecture. Lighting the dormers adds an element of height and accents the aesthetics of the home.
Learn More About Dormer Lighting»
Custom Deck Railing Lighting Fixtures
In the backyard, these custom fixtures are a unique aspect of the deck lighting. It's always our goal to blend fixtures in a way that they are barely noticeable. Our team installed the wires during construction, and the fixtures were painted to match the white railing. The soft light allows the couple to use their deck later into the evening and increases safety, especially on the stairs.
Learn More About Our Custom Deck Lighting Fixtures»
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Pool Bistro Lighting
bistro string pool lighting
Outdoor bistro string lights provide a unique ambiance, perfect for late summer nights poolside, and increase safety. We installed bistro strands that run from the pool house to specialty engineered steel posts in the landscaping to illuminate the pool deck of this Omaha backyard.
The pool area has industrial décor. We customized several design elements, including the post and bulb style, to complement the space. The custom design elements and personalization make it truly a unique project. Not only does it look remarkable, but it's also practical.
Pool Lighting Ideas: Increase Safety and Create Resort-Style Oasis»
Learn All About Outdoor Bistro String Lights»
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Wall Lighting for the Beach Lounge Area
farmhouse on the lake
The backyard of this gorgeous lake home has a lounge area on the beach. In the warmer months, the homeowners often spend the evenings here with their kids.
To improve the functionality and safety at night, we installed cascade lights onto the natural stone wall. The soft light creates unique shadowing effects while also providing a relaxing environment for the parents to enjoy while the kids play.
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Lighting Distinctive Features
sneek peak: post & Beam house
From the old school bell to the types of materials used, this remarkable post and beam house has a wide variety of distinctive characteristics that make it unique. The property itself has an interesting history too!
The secluded property was very dark at night. The homeowners wanted the lighting design to improve visibility while also softly enhancing the architecture. We had the chance to install some unique lighting techniques - more on that soon!
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Koi Pond Waterfall Lighting
elkhorn sanctuary
The koi pond waterfall feature is a magnificent focal point of this backyard sanctuary in Elkhorn. We have underwater lights shining on each waterfall and illuminating the koi fish. Then we also have a few spotlights shining directly at the water feature.
"The multiple light sources make the space more intriguing and create interesting effects on the water. It's a nice focal point of the backyard, and the homeowners can enjoy it from their patio," McKay says.
Lighting a water feature is a complicated process, see our tips and browse more designs with water features.
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Entrance Bollard Lighting
sneek peak: dundee presbyterian church
An important aspect of any commercial lighting design includes improving guest safety and security after dusk. At the Dundee Presbyterian Church, bollards frame-up both the main entrance to the parish center and handicap entrance.
The exterior lighting provides a warm and inviting atmosphere, accentuates the architecture and landscape features, and increases visibility on the property. Anytime we work on a historic property, we are careful not to disturb its integrity.
Our Favorite (and Most Popular) Bollard Styles»
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Ready to transform your home or backyard with a custom landscape lighting design?
The dedicated team at McKay Lighting works with you to create a custom landscape lighting design that's unique to your home and property. Once your design is complete, you can count on our team of experts to install it and keep it looking good for years to come with any of our maintenance programs.
If you happen to need more landscape lighting design ideas, be sure to browse our gallery or more design topics on our blog.
Landscape lighting is what we do. Every day.
We’ve been in the landscape industry since 1987, becoming a dedicated exterior lighting company in 1992. Our team has years of experience creating and installing unique and elegant outdoor lighting