Why Landscape Lighting

At night you are driving through the neighborhood and notice a house that seems to illuminate with a soft glow, without being over powered by high-voltage lighting. You take a second look and may think to yourself, "How can I get the lighting around my house to look like that?"

With the ever-growing emphasis on our environment and energy efficiency, the art of Feng Shui may be worth looking into.

Home owners have used some form of this environmental science for years to create warm harmony and good energy flow throughout the inside and outside of their homes.

Feng Shui is an ancient Chinese art of harnessing earth and heaven to bring well being and good fortune into one's home and life. By understanding a few basic concepts, you can create some of this balanced environment with outdoor landscape lighting.

Read More: How to Create a Front Yard Feng Shui Garden

Outdoor lighting is a rather new element as electricity was not a factor in the earlier ages of Feng Shui, but it has been incorporated to match the times we live in today.

The topic of Feng Shui is massive and can hardly be mastered in this article, but what we can share with you are some simple tools in outdoor landscape lighting that can help with the overall energy flow of your home at night.

Chi Energy

One of the first principles to incorporate is to attract good Chi energy. Chi is the "life force of all animate things, the power of the sun, the moon and weather systems, and the driving force in human beings," according to Gill Hale's, The Practical Encyclopedia of Feng Shui.

To attract good Chi onto your property, you can start by placing outdoor, weather resistant lighting along your driveway, as well as the pathway to the front door. For energy efficiency and to use the Chi power from the sun, use solar lighting lamps for both the driveway and pathway.

If your house sits back from the road and it feels very dark at night, or if it sets below street level, try placing lights around the outside perimeter of the home. Direct the beams of light towards the roof and this will energize you and the others living in the home. A low-lying house will sometimes give the feeling of holding down the occupants from success, as if they are living in a hole, so this kind of lighting helps to lift that energy.

If there are other low-lying areas around the house, place a lamp in an uplifting position and this will light up a very dark area for good Chi.

Lanterns

Some new elements recently being adopted into Feng Shui lighting are outdoor lanterns. Lanterns are not a new concept by any means, but these types of lanterns werefer to are new in design. They have a gentle "rice paper" feel and look about them, but are actually constructed of weather resistant nylon, are cordless and solar powered - again, using the power of the sun for good energy.

Solar lanterns come in all shapes, sizes, and styles and can be arranged on trees, bushes, roofs, eves - just about anywhere you want to hang them. Because they have no electric power restriction and are flame free, solar lanterns make for a safe outdoor lighting choice.

Feng Shui for lighting the outside of your home includes endless concepts and designs, and by incorporating a few simple ideas, you can make your home not only safer, but also more energy efficient and flowing with good Chi.