Acworth GA

Feb 06

7 Reasons to Install Driveway Lighting

By Southern Landscape Lighting Systems | Acworth GA, Landscape Company, Landscape Lighting, Landscape Lighting Company, Landscape Lighting Design, Outdoor LED Lighting, Outdoor Lighting | No Comments

Southern Landscape Lighting Systems of Acworth shares 7 advantages of featuring the driveway lighting design.

The driveway is a significant hardscape feature of most homes and has been for over a hundred years. Historically, most houses built before 1850 were reached by way of dirt paths, which were direct and narrow rather than meandering and broad. They were for people, not carriages or motor vehicles which would only become commonplace in the early 20th century. Prior to the invention of motor vehicles, only the wealthy and landed had long, winding driveways with sophisticated entrances. The word “driveway” came into usage around 1871 and was originally a dirt path that a horse or carriages used to access the front of a home. During the second half of the 19th century, more creative driveways began to appear with nicer homes. Semi-circular drives, curving walks, and curbing also came into usage.

By design or by default, the driveway is a prominent hardscape feature for most homes, and it deserves attention because of its inescapable prominence. It is a serious error to neglect or ignore the driveway when considering a landscape lighting design. The design significance of the driveway cannot be overstated. The driveway with its attendant borders, curbing, vegetation, gates, fencing, entrance columns, decorative stones, and other features create a lasting first impression of a property.

A well-designed lighting plan for the driveway can make a powerful statement after the sun goes down. It could be argued that the lighting design for the driveway may very well be the most important aspect of lighting design. Having a professional lighting design specialist feature the driveway and entrance in a way that is complementary to the rest of the residence or estate is highly recommended.

There are many reasons to consider installing driveway lights, including aesthetics, pragmatism, beauty, and functionality. Southern Landscape Lighting Systems of Acworth has completed many lighting installations over the years and is sharing reasons why homeowners may want to invest in driveway lighting.

1. Delineates Driveway Entrance and Borders

Driveway lights are often used to illuminate and clarify the entrance and boundaries of a driveway, helping drivers find the entryway and make their way to the parking area. It also protects landscaping adjacent to the driveway and provides overall lighting for the area.

2. Strengthens Security

A well-lit driveway, yard, and home can dissuade potential intruders. If the homeowner has a security camera, the lighting will better illuminate video footage.

3. Elevates Safety

Landscape lighting provides the necessary brightness to make driving and walking at a residence safer. It reduces the likelihood of tripping in dimly lit areas and can be a critical safety component for some driveways. For example, if the driveway has a narrow entrance, bridge, large trees, or a drop off along the borders, driveway lighting can be positioned to mark boundaries and alert drivers to potential hazards.

4. Impresses Guests

For a home that sits back from the road, the driveway may be the first landscape feature guests see as they arrive. For that reason, the driveway will be a foundational part of the impression that visitors have of the home. Even for homes with short driveways, lighting can increase curb appeal and enhance a home’s appearance.

5. Illuminates Parking Areas

This reason could be included under safety. However, outdoor lighting can also be used to clearly mark parking areas so that guests are aware of exactly where it is appropriate to park.

6. Protects Structures and Landscape Features

This can include carports, posts, walls, garage doors, or landscaping features that drivers may find difficult to see.

7. Enhances the Ambiance

In cases where the driveway is particularly long, a well-designed driveway lighting system can transcend merely illuminating for the sake of safety. The road to the home can be more interesting and impactful. For example, outdoor lighting can be used to highlight interesting trees or landscaping features along the driveway. If the driveway has a unique pattern or stamping, lighting can be positioned to highlight these artistic aspects.

When considering a landscape lighting installation, the beautiful need not eschew the practical and functional. Instead, the practical and functional can embrace the upper limits of the most sublime aesthetic.

For more information about the Acworth landscape lighting company, visit Southern Landscape Lighting Systems of Acworth on the web at https://www.southernlls.com/locations/acworth-georgia.

Jan 30

Nine Tips for Winter Maintenance of Landscape Lighting Systems in Acworth, GA

By Southern Landscape Lighting Systems | Acworth GA, Landscape Company, Landscape Lighting, Landscape Lighting Company, Landscape Lighting Design | No Comments

Southern Landscape Lighting Systems helps homeowners keep their landscape lighting systems in top shape through the winter months.

Landscape lighting highlights a residence in its various parts such as a garden area, a water feature, a walkway, or a deck. A system artfully designed by a landscape lighting contractor unifies the entire property much as a painter blends thousands of strokes to create a painting. Each lighting fixture and its positioning is essential to the beauty of the whole.

Due to shorter days, the winter months are when a lighting system is used most frequently. With the vegetation absent from plants, it is much easier to spot system issues such as bulb outages, exposed wires, and misaligned fixtures. Southern Landscape Lighting Systems of Acworth, GA offers nine landscape lighting maintenance tips for this winter.

1. Be safe

Be sure to turn off the power to the lights before handling and cleaning any fixtures.

2. Stay safe and secure

When all lights are functioning and bright, walkways, stairs, paths, and outdoor living spaces are safer. A well-lit residence or business is a much less likely target for intruders. When performing winter maintenance, consider these more mundane but vital matters.

3. Remove fallen leaves and other lawn debris

Fallen leaves and other lawn and garden debris can conceal fixtures and obstruct their light, creating safety and security hazards. Halogen bulbs can become so hot that they can scorch leaves and become a fire hazard.

4. Inspect the system for exposed cables and re-bury them

It is not uncommon for cables to work their way to the surface and become exposed, especially in high traffic areas, near lighting fixtures, or at sites where the weather has been particularly unkind. Making sure everything is back underground will reduce trip hazards around a property.

5. Replace bulb burnouts or LED lights that are burning dimly

Homeowners who have not converted to LED lights should consider making the switch this winter. When a halogen bulb burns out, more current flows to the other lights, which reduces their lifespan. LED bulbs require less maintenance and can last up to 75,000 hours.

6. Perform landscape maintenance

Cutting back foliage around fixtures will keep lights unobstructed until next spring. Homeowners can trim bushes, shrubs, and other plant foliage, and prune small, accessible low-hanging limbs. To stay safe, a property owner should not prune any foliage above their head since limbs could fall and cause injury.

7. Re-position shifted lights

Lights can shift due to high winds, heavy flooding, or impact. If vegetation conceals fixtures from view, lawn maintenance crews can unwittingly dislodge lights with a mower, weed eater, or high-velocity blower.

8. Adjust the timer

With the shortened winter days, the homeowner must ensure that the lighting system activates before dark. Working with the system timer can require a measure of the facility with technology that some homeowners may not possess. Landscape lighting experts, such as the team at Southern Landscape Lighting Systems of Acworth, can set the timer up properly.

9. Schedule an annual check-up for the system and for a review of the overall design

Winter is a good time to move things around, to address landscaping issues, to plan for future building projects, or to add hardscapes. Homeowners may want additional landscape lighting installation if their property has recently had a landscape redesign. On the other hand, a lighting system may need significant repairs that are beyond the scope of the homeowner’s abilities. Whether a property owner wants a new design, a simple landscape lighting addition, a conversion to LED from halogen lights, or a new architectural lighting installation, winter is a great time to discuss lighting system updates with one of the professionals from Southern Landscape Lighting Systems of Acworth.

Southern Landscape Lighting Systems of Acworth is well-known for its design and installation of quality outdoor lighting that is uniquely customized to the needs of clients. The landscape lighting company’s bespoke lighting installations are designed to accentuate the unique features of each client’s outdoor area while keeping a focus on the area’s security needs.

Southern Landscape Lighting Systems has a strong track record of offering professional design and installation solutions using only the highest quality products. The team’s commitment to customer service is exemplary, and they have distinguished themselves as a leading outdoor lighting company.

For more information, contact Southern Landscape Lighting Systems by phone at (678) 324-6842. Visit their website at https://southernlls.com/locations/acworth-georgia.

Dec 10

Five Simple Landscape Lighting Techniques for Your Home this Winter

By Southern Landscape Lighting Systems | Acworth GA, Landscape Lighting, Landscape Lighting Company, Landscape Lighting Design, Outdoor LED Lighting, Outdoor Lighting, Outdoor Lighting Company | No Comments

With winter upon us, trees have lost their leaves, and your garden might be looking a bit bare. But, after dark, this provides the perfect opportunity to transform your property into a winter wonderland. With a professional outdoor landscape lighting installation you can add a sense of drama and beauty to your home’s exterior.

Southern Landscape Lighting Systems shares their top five landscape lighting techniques for the winter season:

Add Contrast with Uplighting Your Garden’s Landscape Design

Uplighting, rather than using floodlights, offers great contrast where up lights are placed closer to the building resulting in a bolder, more dramatic effect. Different from the typical wall-washing light from floodlights, it’s much easier to draw attention to the focal points of a landscape. This might range from architectural features of the home itself to areas of interest in the garden such as trees, fountains, structures or statues. For uplighting, spotlights and well lights are the most popular fixtures.

Create an Illuminated Backdrop with Silhouetting Landscape Lighting Effect

Silhouetting is where a fixture is placed behind the featured design and aimed against a wall to create a backlit feature. This is an excellent option for winter when trees lose their leaves, offering the opportunity to create interesting outlines using the bare trees. This technique is known for its ability to create intrigue through the interesting outlines and profiles of features that it creates. For silhouetting, spotlights and well lights work best to create the shadowed shapes that contrast with the light behind.

Choose a Softer Juxtaposition of Light and Dark with the Shadowing Lighting Technique

This technique is similar to silhouetting, where the lighting fixture is placed at the base of the fixture and aimed at an adjacent wall. But the style of the lighting is much gentler with the goal being to create a softer shadow. The technique works well all year round and is often used to highlight a tree with delicate, open foliage. It’s effective in winter where the shadows created by trees that don’t have leaves tend to be harsh and scary-looking rather than welcoming.

Whether in winter or summer, shadowing works to create drama and depth to a home’s facade, although the overall effect is more subtle. Shadowing can be added to your garden by a landscape lighting company using a combination of floodlights, well lights, and spotlights.

Recreate the Feeling of a Moonlit Night with Moonlighting

The moonlighting technique is created by placing a downlight fixture as high up inside a tree as possible. It should have a full glare guard and be angled down. By doing this the light mimics the look of moonlight shining down through the branches. The light causes shadow patterns to appear on the ground that looks both beautiful and very natural. It is a good option in winter as the lighting is more subtle, with less glare, which is necessary when the trees are bare, and many of the vibrant features of a garden in summer are not present. Moonlighting is done with downlights and works best with trees that have open branches.

Add Light to Your Garden with Downlighting

The downlighting technique works in a similar way to moonlighting, but the effect that it creates is far brighter. To create the downlighting effect, fixtures are placed high up in features such as trees, eaves, trellises, or walls to pointed downwards, casting a pool of light over a large area. The amount of light that you want each fixture to provide can be adjusted by placing the light higher (for more illumination) or lower (to light a path or a smaller area of the yard).

Southern Landscape Lighting Systems provides outdoor lighting solutions to residents throughout Atlanta. Their friendly, professional services set them apart, ensuring that their clients have a seamless, excellent experience every time.

Oct 12

The Benefits and Advantages of Professionally Installed Landscape Lighting For Your Home

By Southern Landscape Lighting Systems | Acworth GA, Landscape Company, Landscape Lighting, Landscape Lighting Company, Landscape Lighting Design | No Comments

It’s sometimes tricky deciding how to allocate your home improvement budget as it’s not always easy to know what changes or modification will have the biggest impact and offer the most benefits. One of the perennial top choices for home improvement that offers quantifiable benefits is landscape lighting.

While most will agree that proper lighting for home interiors is a non-negotiable, increasingly outdoor landscape lighting is being seen in a similar way. Especially when one considers the safety and security implications of floodlights and security lighting for homeowners with families.

With this in mind, let’s look at some of the top benefits of installing a professional landscape lighting system:

Improve Safety

Navigating outdoor areas after dark, particularly for children and the elderly, can be problematic. Well-lit outdoor spaces effectively eliminate many of the trip and fall hazards such as steps, uneven pathways, or overgrown roots. It also increases the functionality of spaces that can now be used because they are well-lit.

Increase Security

Many studies point to the efficacy of a professional landscape lighting installation for deterring potential criminals. Outdoor lighting increases security by illuminating entry-points and eliminating areas of shadow in the garden. It’s important to note that the lights should remain on throughout the night, rather than being activated by a motion sensor, so that burglars don’t even enter the property.

Enhance Beauty

A professional landscape lighting installation will highlight the beauty of a garden after dark. Using a variety of lighting techniques (such as silhouetting, shadowing, and highlighting) an installation company can transform a yard to make the most of its natural and architectural features. And ultimately, outdoor lighting adds to the curb appeal of a home.

Create Ambiance

Outdoor lighting can be used to create a feeling of space and can set the mood of an area. The impact of this is that it makes your outdoor spaces more welcoming so that they become a place that you want to spend time in after dark with your friends and family.

If you still have questions about installing landscape lighting, Southern Landscape Lighting Systems, a leading outdoor lighting company servicing the area of Atlanta, shares their insights:

I don’t want to do it myself, what are the options?

Working with a professional landscape lighting company offers a number of benefits. You will get access to the latest, best quality fixtures at an affordable rate as well as full peace of mind that the system has been expertly and safely installed by professionals that know exactly what they’re doing.

What is the impact on my energy costs?

Low-voltage systems that use energy-efficient LED lightings will have a very small impact on your monthly utility bill (and compared to traditional halogen bulbs offer a massive saving). LED lights convert as much as 90% of the energy that they receive into light, whereas incandescent bulbs are only at around 10 – 20%.

Should I be concerned about light pollution?

Dark sky advocation is becoming an increasingly important topic as brightening the night sky through artificial sources, including landscape lighting, has a disruptive effect on the natural cycles of wildlife. A professional landscape lighting company will ensure that lighting is properly installed and that the fixtures are directed correctly to address these concerns.

Local outdoor lighting company, Southern Landscape Lighting Systems, serves the residents of Atlanta, GA offering the best in high-quality LED landscape lighting. With thousands of satisfied clients, many years of experience, and the best customer service, it’s not hard to see why they are the preferred custom outdoor lighting company.

Sep 19

Fall Landscape Lighting Tips for Residents in Atlanta, GA

By Southern Landscape Lighting Systems | Acworth GA, Landscape Company, Landscape Lighting, Landscape Lighting Company, Landscape Lighting Design, Outdoor LED Lighting, Outdoor Lighting Company, Outdoor Lighting Ideas, Outdoor Lighting System | No Comments

As the days become shorter, there’s no need to pack up the barbeque and put away the outdoor furniture just yet. For Atlanta residents, there’s still reason to spend time outside in the evenings – but there may be some changes that need to be made to your outdoor lighting to match the change in season.

Southern Landscape Lighting Systems services Atlanta, GA residents, installing high quality, long-lasting landscape lighting. Here they share their top tips for preparing your outdoor lighting for fall:

1. Check the Entertainment Areas

When it starts getting darker earlier it’s a good time to adjust outdoor lights to make sure that entertainment areas are well-lit. It probably won’t require the installation of additional lights, but just a general check that there is adequate soft lighting to ensure that guests are able to navigate the area safely.

2. Create a Sense of Warmth

Adding warm lighting to outdoor areas can increase the feeling of warmth. A welcoming environment that makes use of warm, rather than cool, LED lights makes it more likely that you and your guests will want to spend time outdoors.

3. Remove Fallen Leaves and Branches

As trees lose their leaves, and in some cases, small branches, this can impact an outdoor lighting installation by obscuring light fixtures and blocking lenses. To avoid this issue, regularly remove debris from around the outdoor light fixtures.

4. Adjust Lighting If Necessary

The placement of up-lights in summer may perfectly highlight a beautiful tree or bush, but as the tree loses its leaves in fall, the lighting may contribute to a sense of starkness or loneliness. By lowering the angle of the light to accentuate the trunk rather than the bare branches, you can easily solve this issue.

5. Prepare for Halloween

If you don’t want to keep making changes to your outdoor lighting, now’s also a good time to ensure that pathway lights are adequate for guests such as trick or treaters to easily and safely navigate the pathway from the sidewalk to your front door. It’s a smart move if you want to enjoy the fun of Halloween but ensure that your lawns and flowerbeds are safe from unwanted foot traffic.

6. Switch to an LED Landscape Lighting System

If you haven’t already done so, now is the time to switch to LED lighting for your outdoor lights. Halogen lights use significantly more electricity and don’t offer all the benefits of an LED installation – such as longer bulb life and lower utility bills.

7. Do Routine maintenance of Your Lighting Installation

Preparing your outdoor areas for fall includes some routine maintenance. Some tasks that you may want to add to your to-do list include cleaning light fixtures, removing debris that may be covering the lights, reburying wires that have become exposed and checking the system to ensure that it’s still in perfect working order. These steps are important as regular maintenance of your outdoor lighting installation will ensure that it continues to function optimally, and it can have a big impact on the lifespan of your outdoor lights.

Southern Landscape Lighting Systems for Atlanta, GA residents offer a range of services from design and installation, to maintenance in order to help keep gardens in Atlanta looking their best. With thousands of satisfied clients, they pride themselves on their ability to expertly install custom outdoor lighting that accentuates a home’s natural features. The Southern Landscape Lighting Systems team uses only the highest quality products for their professional design and installation services, which they follow up with outstanding continued customer support.

May 08

Highlight the Beauty of Your Home with Landscape Lighting Design in Marietta GA

By Southern Landscape Lighting Systems | Acworth GA, Landscape Company, Landscape Lighting, Landscape Lighting Company, Landscape Lighting Design, LED Lighting Guide, Outdoor LED Lighting, Outdoor Lighting, Outdoor Lighting Company, Outdoor Lighting Ideas, Outdoor Lighting System, Security Lighting | No Comments

The best landscape lighting companies in Marietta, GA know that the secret to a perfect outdoor landscape lighting installation is to carefully draw attention to the architectural highlights of the home, as well as the best features of the yard. As the sun sets, a property without correctly installed exterior lighting is no longer able to showcase its best features. An architect carefully plans the design of a home considering the owner’s preferences, functional elements and the use of texture and shapes. But it is the landscape lighting company’s duty to ensure that the vision is available for everyone one to see, both during the day and at night.

Variations in Landscape Lighting to Showcase Your Home’s Architecture

A landscape lighting installer will take into account design considerations for the lighting. This includes the color of the light, and as such, they will often include variations in the warmth of the white lights that are used in the design. They will also look to change up the output intensity, so that there is more light in some areas, and less in others. They will then use the direction of the light beams to showcase the property’s features to their best advantage. Lighting up your home makes use of all these different options to create a multi-layered visually stunning nighttime perspective.

Quality Light Fitting to Transition Seamlessly Between Night and Day

Working with a landscape lighting installer, it is important to choose the right kind of outdoor light fixtures as the light fixtures should not detract from the property during daylight hours. With this in mind, it is important to choose fixtures that will not obstruct any features in the garden such as an outdoor area or a fountain. Rather, fixtures should enhance the original beauty of the architecture at night and not be noticeable during the day.

Key Reasons to Choose Landscape Lighting for Your Property

Landscape lighting is quickly becoming non-negotiable for homeowners wanting to improve their properties for several reasons. Firstly, outdoor lighting can improve the value of the property as well as the sense of enjoyment that you get from being able to use your outdoor areas during the day and at night. Secondly, it increases the safety of your property and reduces the risk of any costly accidents. Thirdly, it works to improve the security of the property as it acts as a deterrent for possible break-ins. And lastly, it showcases the beauty of your property at night so that you can enjoy your home and yard twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.

More Than Just a Practical Necessity

Landscape lighting is about more than just lighting up walkways to get people from point A to B; it’s an opportunity to build on the architectural appeal of a business. In the right hands, outdoor lighting has the potential to create or bring out different textures and structural elements, making them stand out to anyone who visits at night. This is done through the careful selection of the right kind of LED lights and the strategic placement of the fixtures.

Southern Landscape Lighting Systems is the best landscape lighting company in Marietta GA to work with if you want a solution that’s creative and carefully designed using only the best fixtures and technology. Their professional outdoor lighting designs are guaranteed to enhance the architecture of your home as well as highlighting any important features on your property. They’re available to ensure that your property realizes it’s potential with friendly, efficient service and quick turnaround times on designs.

Oct 23

Outdoor Landscape Lighting Company Sets The Bar High For Service Excellence

By Southern Landscape Lighting Systems | Acworth GA, Landscape Company | No Comments

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Southern Landscape Lighting Systems Sets the Bar High for Service Excellence in Greater Atlanta Area

Southern Landscape Lighting Systems in Acworth, GA has become synonymous with industry-leading landscape lighting installation. With many years of specialized experience in the field of outdoor lighting, owner and founder Lindsay Rodericks is excited to open up the opportunities for new and existing homeowners looking for landscape lighting design and installation services in the greater Atlanta region.

Since expanding their services outside of Acworth where SLLS first started, Southern Landscape Lighting Systems has been honored with recognition from their customers for the quality of the work that they offer, in particular, the professional service that they provide from start to finish. Customers have commented on the end-to-end experience from the initial, free-of-charge consultation, to the demo setup, landscape lighting design and installation, and the superb follow-up and support.

Lindsay has often gone on record saying “delivering an excellent service to our clients that exceed their expectations is the most important part of what we do.” She went on to add, “our clients want to understand what they’re getting and how we add value, so communication is key.” Southern Landscape Lighting Systems understands that making the decision to hire a professional landscape lighting company can be daunting when there are many outdoor lighting providers including electrical contractors who offer this as a side-service; and it can be difficult to know who to trust with such an important job.

The three concerns that Lindsay and her team address up-front with clients is delivering an excellent service as well as offering security and competitive pricing. As Lindsay says “clients want to know what they’re signing up for, they want regular feedback and updates on the status of the project and they want to know that they’re getting a good deal. And because those areas are important to us as well, we know that we can offer clients what they’re looking for.”

Throughout the installation process, the SLLS landscape lighting team is in constant contact with their clients, sharing feedback, updates and offering personalized recommendations where necessary. Southern Landscape Lighting Systems has designed their product offering to deliver on their client’s expectations. They add up-front value to home-owners and business owners by offering free day-time consultations (or picture consultations) that help clients to understand some of the options that are available to them for their landscape lighting design.

If the client needs further assistance with visualizing the project and are wanting to move forward with the project, they are also available to do nighttime demonstrations at the owner’s home or business. This is a live demonstration of the outdoor lights that can really provide the home or business owner confidence that the outdoor lighting solution is precisely what they want and need.

The company has also found that something that their clients value, but don’t always prioritize in the initial stages of the installation, is the importance of after-sales service, and this is an area where Southern Landscape Lighting Systems excels. Garden, landscaping and security lights are often exposed to the elements and experience the full impact of mother nature, landscaping contractors, children, and pets. For this reason, Southern Landscape Lighting Systems is proud of their comprehensive after-sales service, and free service calls for one year following the lighting installation. Their team is committed to keeping their client’s outdoor lighting systems in good working order assisting with cleaning lenses, replacing timer batteries, greasing sockets, replacing halogen bulbs, re-burying exposed wires and adjusting or re-aiming fixtures if needed.

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Southern Landscape Lighting Systems in Acworth, GA offers a one-stop solution for outdoor lighting. Their team designs and installs high-quality, custom lighting that will accentuate the best features of your home, garden or business. Their installations also focus on providing security lighting for darker areas to give their clients complete peace of mind. Their talented staff offers only the highest quality products, professional, creative designs, and the best installations and after-sale support services for their customers.