Dinner under the stars with a little help from Outdoor Lighting Perspectives of Nashville!

Posted on October 12, 2015 by outdoorlightingnashville

Outdoor living in Nashville TN is better with outdoor lighting

Outdoor living is better with outdoor lighting!

What better way to surprise your family than with an outdoor autumn dinner under the stars? Invite family and a few close friends for dinner and a memorable autumn evening, or, host a romantic moonlit dinner with your significant other and enjoy a favorite meal (even if you order it in!) on your patio or deck abound with great conversation. Of course, doing this all in the dark or with only a few spotlights just isn’t going to cut it, but Outdoor Lighting Perspectives of Nashville can be your wingman and show you exactly how to get it done so that you can stage you backyard with the perfect dining alcove bathed in stunning light.

We will come in and illuminate the shadows in the darkness so you can see all around the perimeter of your backyard and be able to enjoy all the foliage and hardscapes. We can up light into the canopy of trees for a dreamy effect and we can cast light downward from the eves so that your home looks washed in moonlight. We can spotlight particular garden beds so the shrubbery appears to glow in the evening, and we can show off the stone on a retaining or rock wall and make it shimmer.

Task lighting over an outdoor kitchen makes food preparation effortless!

For an evening dinner, we can add deck or patio lighting so you have plenty of visibility to be able to clearly see what’s on your dinner plate and get around in the dark while still being romantic and not overly harsh. We can add specific task lighting at your barbecue grill or outdoor kitchen so you can prep and cook a meal without having to use a pesky flashlight to see what you are doing. You can safely flip your steak knowing full well that it’s done without guessing. It adds a heap of convenience if you fancy yourself an outdoor grilling chef!

Nashville cafe-inspired outdoor lighting

Indulge in the season — it’s easy with outdoor lighting!

We are lucky that Tennessee temperatures in autumn afford us the opportunity to enjoy outdoor dining well into the year, and what better way to enjoy the fall evenings than highlighted by artistically designed outdoor lighting set up by a pro. The changing leaves flicker like fire when illuminated in the twilight; and when they drop, their branching takes on a haunting appearance that will leave you breathless. If you only think that outdoor lighting is for the summer time, you are missing out on a grand visual opportunity to enjoy the majesty of the changing seasons.

Contact Outdoor Lighting Perspectives of Nashville before you plan your dinner under the stars so we can set the mood for the perfect evening with the perfect lightscape added to your outdoor living area. Maybe even take over and woo your honey with candles, flowers and a divine meal. We love this easy and tasty pork recipe for Grilled Brown Sugar Pork Chops that is delicious and very simple to whip up without too much fuss.

Grilled Brown Sugar Pork Chops

1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1/2 cup apple juice
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
salt and pepper to taste
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/2 cup water
6 boneless pork chops

Preheat an outdoor grill for high heat.
In a small saucepan, combine brown sugar, apple juice, oil, soy sauce, ginger, salt , and pepper. Bring to boil. Combine water and cornstarch in small bowl, and whisk into brown sugar mixture. Stir until thick.
Brush grate lightly with oil before placing pork chops on the grill. Cook over hot coals for 10 to 12 minutes, turning once. Brush with sauce just before removing chops from grill. Serve with remaining sauce.
Enjoy!

Grilled brown sugar pork chops.

Matt Oakes of Outdoor Lighting Perspectives of Nashville

Contact Outdoor Lighting Perspectives of Nashville so we can help you light up the night. You can call us at (615) 373 – 0638, or by emailing us at: olpnashville@outdoorlights.com.

Labor Day Party Planning is in Gear! Get your Lighting Updated Now for Evening Fun!

Posted on August 10, 2015 by outdoorlightingnashville

Labor Day is right around the corner!

Labor Day is just around the corner and it’s the last big outdoor hurrah of the summer season. With the days getting shorter and nightfall making an earlier entrance, make sure your outside living area gets special treatment so that your holiday weekend party can continue well into the evening hours.

Outdoor Lighting Perspectives of Nashville can tackle the job of maintaining your existing system, adding to it or installing a brand new lighting program from scratch. We can put you on the schedule right now for a pre-Labor Day inspection so you are ready for your outdoor family gathering.

First, we make sure your system is working properly and that any burned out bulbs are replaced. This is a great time to consider converting your old-school halogens to all LED lighting since the bulbs last way longer and they consume a lot less electricity. We come in and check all your wiring and make sure it’s all intact and we re-bury any wire that has made its way to the surface due to any landscape activity or rain. We check all your fixtures to make sure they are in good shape, aligned properly, and free of dirt or spider webs, and we can trim any plant overgrowth that blocks the beam of light. We check your transformer to make sure that it is carrying the load of wattage properly and that your timer is functioning as it should, too.

Now is a good time to decide if you want to add additional light to enhance your system or perhaps you feel that an upgrade is necessary. We can give you a whole different look in terms of ambience and mood if you are simply ready for a change in how your home and property are illuminated. We can take a look at where family and friends primarily hang out in your backyard and make sure that those spots are lit up so they not only look beautiful, but they are also safe from being too dim to avoid slip and falls. Lighting a step up or down to a patio or deck, for example, is a great spot for light so that guests can easily navigate it. We ensure your pathways from your driveway to your yard are visible enough for visitors to be able to walk on safely, too. Keep in mind that if it’s hard to see, your guests will just naturally head indoors—so keep things visible enough so that guests feel comfortable continuing the outdoor celebration.

Since cooking and dining is a given on Labor Day, we will make sure your outdoor kitchen or barbecue area is lit so that the home cook can work his or her culinary magic easily and guests can also see clearly enough to grab a drink and see their plates. We do this without harsh, blaring spotlights that were used decades ago and skillfully provide illumination so that the area still looks completely natural and part of the rest of your landscape.

If your pool is a natural hang out for your Labor Day festivities, we will make sure your pool deck or patio is spectacularly lit up so the fun doesn’t have to stop in the twilight hours. We can light the landscape areas around your pool or pond to give this area incredible dimension and draw people to it. September is a great time to hang by your fire pit, so we can elegantly wash this area with a warm light that will pull guests like fireflies to it. One of our favorite lighting techniques to use is to mimic the effect of moonlight, and we strategically hide a few key fixtures higher up in the trees to generate this same look so that the light sparkles through the leaves in an enchanting fairytale manner. We can set any mood you want and bathe your yard in gorgeous lighting that will truly wow you, and your guests.

Matt Oakes of Outdoor Lighting Perspectives of Nashville

Give Outdoor Lighting Perspectives of Nashville a call so we can put you on the schedule now so that you will be ready for the Labor Day festivities! You can call us at (615) 373 – 0638, or by emailing us at: olpnashville@outdoorlights.com

Outdoor Lighting Perspectives of Nashville shares the secret to successful focal point outdoor lighting within the landscape

Posted on September 8, 2013 by outdoorlightingnashville

Focal lighting on fountain in Belle Meade by Outdoor Lighting Perspectives of Nashville

This elegant fountain becomes a beacon of the evening landscape with the addition of outdoor lighting.

Every homeowner has that one feature or area in their landscape or on their home that makes their property truly unique. One of the best ways to feature that unique area of your landscape is by the adding outdoor lighting. By lighting focal points within your landscape, or even characteristics or details of your home’s design, you can enjoy the features that are the reason you love your home day and night! Our lighting design uses soft washes of light to enhance your object or space. This technique ensures your eye is drawn to the object we are illuminating rather than the light source itself.

Outdoor Lighting Perspectives tree lighting

A beloved tree within your landscape makes a perfect candidate to accentuate with light.

Outdoor Lighting Perspectives of Nashville uses various lighting techniques to highlight an area or object in your landscape. The secret to successful focal point lighting is dependent on combining the right lighting technique with the right lighting candidate. Many times our clients will point out an area or item they would like illuminated. Other times it’s up to us to suggest an ideal element based on our design experience. Some of the most popular items or areas homeowners choose for featured lighting are fountains, water features, statuary, exterior walls and specific trees in their landscape. Outdoor Lighting Perspectives of Nashville has even illuminated islands within backyard pool designs as well as illuminating the underside of patio seating walls to bring attention to the area.

As part of one of our more recent outdoor lighting installations, we illuminated a home in Belle Meade which included lighting the homeowner’s elegant fountain. The fountain sits within the homes rear courtyard patio and is reminiscent of a New Orleans inspired courtyard. Outdoor Lighting Perspectives of Nashville used outdoor lighting to highlight the fountain so it can be viewed and enjoyed by the homeowners from inside the home through the windows, and from the exterior of the home. This installation serves as the perfect example of the importance of pairing the right type of lighting with the perfect lighting candidate. After careful consideration, we opted to highlight the fountain with moonlighting. Moonlighting is an outdoor lighting technique that directs the light source from above the area or object you are lighting. For this specific installation we hired a certified tree climber to mount the fixture within a tree that surrounds the courtyard. The fixture was mounted and aimed towards the fountain to create a magical illumination in the evening.

Another look at our recent installation of Nashville focal point lighting in Belle Meade.

Another look at our recent installation in Belle Meade.

Moonlighting is just one of the many lighting techniques we use here at Outdoor Lighting Perspectives of Nashville. Our outdoor lighting highlights the architectural elements of your home, and accentuates the features of your landscape. We can design a dramatic lighting display lighting your featured area; a fountain, a statue, the branches of your weeping cherry or Japanese maple, or focus a light onto the gentle splashes of your waterfall and get more enjoyment out of the unique features of your landscape by being able to linger in their beauty even after dusk.

Garden and landscape lighting includes statuary lighting

Focal point lighting works beautifully when lighting statuary or other areas of your landscape that are a focal point.

If you are ready to learn more about what making the most out of your outdoor lighting design is all about, contact Outdoor Lighting Perspectives of Nashville today. We can turn your home and landscape into a true work of art after the sun goes down!
(615) 373 – 0638
email: olpnashville@outdoorlights.com

John Groce Outdoor Lighting Perspectives Nashville

You can visit our architectural outdoor lighting photo gallery, our pool and spa lighting photo gallery and our garden and landscape lighting photo gallery located on our website to see more examples of beautiful focal point outdoor lighting.

Choosing the right tree and the right lighting element are key to beautiful tree lighting.

Posted on March 21, 2012 by outdoorlightingnashville

We lit the driveway with moonlights in the trees along the right side of this driveway for drama in the evening.

Trees are one of the most important parts of a beautiful landscape. They offer shade, screening, create a focal point of interest and serve as a backdrop of inspiration to other landscaping and outdoor structures. One way to create a landscape that sizzles with beauty and visual interest is to entail the use of tree lighting into your outdoor lighting design. In the Nashville area trees are among many of our scenic treasures and we have become experts at helping homeowners decide the perfect specimen tree in their landscape as a candidate for lighting.

Our tree lighting formula can accentuate the height, width and canopy of the tree. What elements we include into lighting your individual conifer all depend on the tree itself. The shape, size and spread of the trees branches can come to life at night easily with the use of one or more of our tree lighting elements. In our experience the trees that benefit the most from tree lighting and make the most impact, or “bang for your buck”, if you will, are trees with spreading canopies. Trees that offer full spread or “vase” canopies, which means the branches spread upright, also some weeping species make the best trees to light in your landscape. With spreading canopies, there is more room to play the light up and down through the limbs of the canopy itself. Bushier, thick limbed, columnar trees offer little room for enhancement through tree lighting.

We lit the entry to this driveway from the ginkgo tree, which is a focal point of this landscape.

Moonlighting is also a viable option in tree lighting that uses the upper branches of the tree to cast light into the lower branches to light a path, or other point of interest in correlation with the tree itself. The term “moonlighting” itself lends to thoughts of mystery and romance, and that is exactly the type of light moonlighting emits. A type of unforgettable light that uses depth to cast a glow full of ambiance and haunting beauty.

If you are wondering which trees you may have in your yard that would make perfect candidates for tree lighting, we have compiled a summary of some of the trees that we often see here in the Nashville area that look beautiful with the addition of outdoor tree lighting. Many varieties of Maples, Oaks , Ginkgo trees and ornamental cherry trees definitely fit the bill. Other good species include the Hackberry, Elms and Birch trees. If you are fortunate enough to have one of the weeping varieties of trees like weeping Birches, weeping Maples and weeping Cherry trees their unique form and branching can become a focus of drama in your landscape with tree lighting.

Tree lighting Outdoor Lighting Perspectives of Nashville

Specimens with spreading, or complimentary, canopies make the best candidate for tree lighting in your landscape.

Outdoor Lighting Perspectives of Nashville can design an outdoor lighting plan that takes your home and landscape to another level, including the use of tree lighting within your landscape. To learn more, or to set up a night-time demonstration contact us at (615) 373 – 0638 or email us at olpnashville@outdoorlights.com

John Groce Outdoor Lighting Perspectives Nashville

Visit our landscape and garden lighting galleries located on our website for more example of tree lighting at it’s best.

Historic home in Murfreesboro, TN makes new history with a lighting installation by Outdoor Lighting Perspectives of Nashville

Posted on July 22, 2011 by John Groce

Historic residence in Murfreesboro, TN

With a historic home like this one in Murfreesboro, TN the past speaks to us through its colonial revival architecture and character of yesteryear. The owners of this 1926 home, which is registered on the national register of historic places recently contracted Outdoor Lighting Perspectives of Nashville to add lighting to the already profoundly stunning home.

Colonial revival style homes are characterized by crown pediments, elaborate front entries most often seen with the use of columns, and symmetrical front facades. It is an honor to be asked to accentuate this homes already beautiful presence.

nashville column lighting garden lighting

You can barely see the well lighting that illuminates this beautiful corner column wrapped by nature with beautiful green ivy

The homeowners wanted a well-rounded design that complimented their landscaping and a design that required as little maintenance as possible. We used a combination of low maintenance and energy-efficient LED lighting, regular architectural lighting, landscape lighting and moonlighting strategically placed throughout the landscape to cast an ethereal glow. Our LED’s carry a lifetime warranty. The system will still require an annual visit to make sure everything is running smoothly.

LED outdoor lighting Nashville with smoke colored acrylic lens

The homeowners wanted to showcase the homes colonial revival architecture in a relaxed, more subdued manner. We were able to achieve this by using well lights with low-wattage bulbs and using a “smoke” acrylic lens color on the well lights. The result is elegant and understated, the perfect coupling for the homes details to shine through.

The landscaping around this residence is as breathtaking as the home itself. We wanted to make sure that the landscaping got the attention it deserved, but in a soft manner, letting the planting speak for themselves. We applied moonlights to compliment all the beautiful Hosta lilies within the shade garden. We also applied focal moonlighting to a large tree in the back as well.

This home is a masterpiece in itself, the lighting application had to be on the same level to bring out the homes architecture and gorgeous grounds in a tasteful, understated elegance. It looks like 1926 was a great year for architecture and 2011 is a good year for elegant outdoor lighting.

John Groce - Outdoor Lighting Perspectives of Nashville

Contact Outdoor Lighting Perspectives of Nashville to find out what a difference outdoor lighting can make at your residence. (615) 373 – 0638
email: olpnashville@outdoorlights.com

Moonlighting in Nashville’s Belle Meade Anyone?

Posted on May 30, 2011 by John Groce

Driveway_lighting_created_by_downlighting_or_moon_lighting_trees_gracing_driveway(2)

The stately trees that grace this driveway for our customer in Belle Meade are perfect for moonlighting

The art of moonlighting is a creative medium in itself. The type of illumination that comes from moonlighting gives off an ethereal effect that cannot be duplicated by any other lighting technique. Outdoor Lighting Perspectives of Nashville was recently selected to install moonlighting for an owner in Belle Meade.

The homeowner wanted to illuminate the driveway. Here at Outdoor Lighting Perspectives of Nashville we try to avoid having a fixture out in the open because not only does it become a tripping hazard it is susceptible to damage from mowers, aerators, edgers and other machinery. We suggested moonlighting the large trees that grace the driveway, this would effectively light the long driveway and give a soothing, romantic light as well.

The homeowner allowed John Groce of Outdoor Lighting Perspectives of Nashville to serve as contractor on the job, thus we were able to line up the electrician and the irrigation company to under the sidewalk. The electrician had already been there previously and ran power to the trees. Sandra Nichols Landscaping was the landscaper on the job and we worked hand in hand during the progression.

Landscape lighting by Outdoor Lighting Perspectives of Nashville

Since the electrician had run power from the house to the trees there is a receptacle at the trees. These are done on all 120 volt, line voltage and is a different fixture which uses a ballast to power the bulbs. The bulbs are all ceramic metal halide. Ceramic metal halide are the same type of bulbs used in jewelry and grocery stores and are coveted for their high score on the CRI (color rendering index). The light itself is still low-wattage, at only 39 watts, they still put out an enormous amount of light. As an example of the amount and quality these lights emit, you could hold 30 pieces of blue string in all variations in your hand, and in the noon day sun you could clearly see each variation from string to string. The same clarity is apparent under the moonlighting as well.

We are planning on using the current timer the customer has inside the home to hook in the moonlights for control. We had previously completed the lighting in this customers backyard as well.

Outdoor_lighting_Nashville_and_Sandra_Nicols_Landscaping_often_partner

Outdoor Lighting Perspectives of Nashville worked hand-in-hand with Sandra Nichols Landscaping

Just as we had previously worked with this homeowner before, we enjoyed working with her once again on this moonlighting application. We want to commend Sandra Nichols Landscaping as well. This very stately driveway on this very stately property is now complete with the ambiance of the moonlighting, another job well done!

John Groce - Outdoor Lighting Perspectives of Nashville

If you are interested in exploring the possibility of adding moonlighting to your property, or other outdoor lighting applications, contact Outdoor Lighting Perspectives of Nashville today at 615-373-0638 or email us @http://nashville.outdoorlights.com/

Nashville Outdoor Lighting Perspectives

Landscape, residential & commercial lighting for over 20 years

Category Archives: Moonlighting