After a hot day, what better way to end it than a relaxing—and refreshing— late-night dip in the pool? Most pools have underwater lights to make a late-night swim session possible. But, the other areas surrounding the pool can often be difficult to utilize in the dark. Professionally designed landscape lighting around your pool can transform your evening swimming experience, creating a safer environment while providing a resort-like feel to your space.
Here are pool lighting ideas to increase safety and create a resort-style ambiance:
Pool Lighting Ideas to Increase Nighttime Safety
To increase nighttime safety around the pool, you want to illuminate the deck, steps, walkways, and other hazardous places. Lots of activity happens around a pool. You'll want to look for dark areas that are potentially dangerous at night or could cause slips, trips, or falls.
McKay Lighting owner and designer, Jerry McKay, shared during an interview with Total Landscape Care Magazine, “It’s very important to be able to exit the home and get to the pool safely at night. Often there may be an elevation change, steps to navigate, and different hardscapes to walk on, so lighting around the pool becomes critical from a safety standpoint."
Below are some ways to add lighting around the pool to make it safer:
Illuminate Walkways and Steps
Path lights are a popular way to illuminate walkways and steps and mark elevation changes. We recommend using these fixtures sparingly to avoid a runway effect. Any paths leading from the house to the pool with elevation changes are important places for light. Properly illuminating walkways will help safely guide your guests while preventing trips and falls.
Pool Deck Lighting
Downlighting the pool deck from a nearby tree or structure provides a unique effect of a full moon-lit sky. Bistro string lights are another unique and festive option to illuminate the pool deck.
At McKay Lighting, we sometimes use a combination of techniques to ensure an evenly illuminated pool area for improved visibility and safety around the pool.
"Bistro lights tend to work well for pools that have large, expansive hardscaping. Sometimes with these layouts, the question is where can we add another light when there's such a large surface area," McKay tells Total Landscape Care magazine. "Bistro lights can definitely add some additional lighting but they also dress up the space in a fun way."
Create a Luxury Resort-Like Setting Around Your Pool
Illuminating the landscape surrounding your pool can create the perfect backdrop for a luxurious setting. If your backyard is lined with trees, a fence, or both, strategically adding light will help increase the security of your pool at night. Eliminating dark corners and other dark areas will help deter unwanted visitors from entering your property at night. It will also increase your visibility, so you can see any activity occurring in your yard.
Commercial-grade tiki-torches are another great option to create vacation-like vibes. They add another light layer, giving more dimension to an outdoor living area. Multiple techniques or more than one layer of light creates interest and provides a more luxurious setting. McKay mentions, "tiki torches will light up the boxwoods and larger plants. It's another great way to be able to appreciate the landscaping in the evening hours."
Learn more about tiki torch lighting»
Need more ideas? Here are 8 luxurious pool lighting designs»
Highlight Other Unique Features
Many outdoor living spaces also include beautiful kitchens, fireplaces, pergolas, and other unique features or structures. Don't leave these areas in the dark! Explore our gallery or ideabooks on Houzz for inspiration on how you can enhance these areas with light.
A pool is a luxurious amenity. Half the fun is lounging poolside with your friends and family. It's easy to spend hours of the day enjoying a pool. Imagine all the late-night enjoyment an expertly installed landscape lighting design could bring.
Looking to Enhance Your Property?
Our dedicated team at McKay Landscape Lighting works with you to create a custom landscape lighting design that's unique to your property. From design to installation to service, you can count on our team of experts to make sure you are happy with your lighting system for years to come.