CAN YOU DESCRIBE THE CLIENTS YOU WORK WITH AND WHAT THEY’RE LOOKING FOR?
They’re usually working professionals who want to beautify and enjoy their home, but don’t have time to handhold the project or perform the work themselves. Or, they’ve got a more intricate home and landscape design in mind and want to add a bit of the designer touch to their outdoor lighting.
WHAT ARE SOME OF THE ADVANTAGES OF OUTDOOR LIGHTING?
We often work with homeowners who are looking to beautify their space or get extra use out of it. Maybe they have elementary or middle school aged children and they’re enjoying their patio or pool area. But come fall or early spring, the sun’s going down earlier and they aren’t getting full use of the space. Or, they might have a nice backyard patio where they dreamed of having candlelight dinners. But the area isn’t bright enough to eat dinner. We help clients make their space more usable so they can extend their day.
ARE THERE OTHER REASONS WHY A FAMILY MIGHT WANT TO ADD OUTDOOR LIGHTING TO THEIR HOMES?
Yes. A concern we hear often relates to how dark the street they live on can get, and how their houses practically disappear. These homeowners take pride in their homes. From small starter homes to extravagant estates, they’re all so unique and beautifully manicured. These clients have invested so much in the curb appeal of their home — but it’s disappearing as soon as the sun sets!
LET’S TALK ABOUT HOW THE DIFFERENT ASPECTS OF YOUR BUSINESS, STARTING WITH BEAUTY AND SECURITY.
All our projects have a little bit of both in them, but beauty is the anchor of everything we do. We’re always trying to think about how to do it beautifully. But even when we’re doing something for beauty, it tends to provide some security as well because we’re adding lighting that removes the dark areas from around the house. Putting floodlights on all the corners of your house to fill the yard with light not only doesn’t look very nice, it’s also not the only way to illuminate your home and provide security.
Security can also be thought of as illuminating steps or pathways for your guests to keep them from rolling an ankle while walking along the front path to your door, or missing a step when they walk out of your home. So, when we talk about beauty, we do have some projects that focus just on that. But there’s a whole lot more to what we do.
WHERE DOES UTILITY COME IN?
While utility is about providing safety and security, we look at it as a way to increase the use of a space with lighting. For example, we do a lot of dock projects where we provide lighting along the handrails, marker lights out on the edges of the dock, and sometimes lighting within a boathouse area. This provides clients with a space they might not have used in the evenings because it was too dark. They can enjoy the sunset with a glass of wine. We do the same around swimming pools, patios and backyard spaces, helping clients get extra use out of their living space.
HOW LONG DOES THE AVERAGE PROJECT TAKE?
One thing that’s interesting about us is that an entire project — from the first phone call to final walkthrough and nighttime adjustment — takes about two weeks. But on most projects the actual installation is done in a day. We’ve had some clients call and say hey, your guys never showed up. We laugh and say it may not look like it, but wait until tonight!
“We view our work as a collaborative process that brings years of design experience and unique techniques to the table.”