The team of licensed professionals at Southern Landscape Lighting Systems of Marietta, GA, designs and installs custom outdoor lighting that blends beauty and function. Merging the art of lighting with the science of home safety requires skill and expertise gained through years of experience. Elegant LED outdoor lighting can work in tandem with a senior-friendly landscape strategy without sacrificing beauty or compromising safety. A lighting consult, along with a nighttime demonstration, can provide lighting solutions to make a resident or business senior-friendly.
Life Changes Bring Light Changes
A well-designed landscape lighting plan makes a home or business not only beautiful but also safer for the residents and for guests. Baby Boomers, the generation defined as being born between 1946 and 1964, are retiring at a rate of 10,000 per day. Many “boomers” are choosing to live near their children and grandchildren in order to be a part of their lives. This life choice makes for many visits from the grandparents. One of the hardest realizations that adult children face is the age-related decline in the mobility and vision of their aging parents. These life changes may mean light changes in a landscape lighting plan to keep the outdoor living space safe.
Decline in mobility and vision heightens the need to make the outdoor home environment safer for aging parents. The situation may be that the time has come for the homeowners to upgrade an existing system to meet their own changing age-related needs. Adjustments to an existing lighting plan need not be dramatic. They can be intentional and subtle while achieving the dual goals of visual enjoyment of and safe mobility around the outdoor living space.
Two Tips to Make the Outdoor Living Space Senior-Safe
The safety solution for a senior-safe landscape involves a common sense, two-pronged approach: eliminate and illuminate.
Tip #1: Eliminate obvious daytime mobility hazards.
The outdoor landscape must be safe during the light of day. Eliminating or mitigating potential or obvious hazards is the first order of business. Some obvious or potential hazards include:
- Uneven or unsecured deck or patio steps
- Wobbly handrails
- Low seating – A low bench or seat can pose a challenge for both sitting down and standing up.
- Uneven bricks or stones in a walkway – These bricks may need to be repositioned. If the walkway is in poor condition, it may need to be entirely reworked or replaced with a concrete walkway or large, concrete stepstones. Some senior citizens suffer from a condition in which the foot droops, increasing the danger of catching the toe on an uneven stone, step, or deck board.
- Slanting, tilting, or mulched walkways
- Toys, sticks, or other debris
Removing or repairing some of the features mentioned above will go a long way to instill confidence in senior family or guests. They will be more prone to participate in outdoor activities when they have peace of mind that maneuvering through and around the beautiful landscape is safe.
Tip #2: Illuminate obvious and potential hazards in the outdoor living space.
The professionals at Southern Landscape Lighting Systems possess the lighting techniques, equipment, and technology to make the most complicated landscape senior-safe after the sun goes down. The right technique, coupled with the correct lighting fixture, can work safe, beautiful miracles. Here are a few examples of how landscape lighting can transform a beautiful landscape into a safe and inviting landscape for seniors, whether they are visitors, grandparents, or residents in the home.
- Illuminate railings, steps, and walkways with a cascade of abundant light. Steps are challenging for sight-impaired seniors. Well-lit steps cast a contrast of dark and light that greatly assists seniors, especially those who are unable to see their feet. Strategic downlighting and spot lighting can reduce or prevent light pollution or light intrusion altogether. LED lighting is bright, safe, cool to warm to the touch, and affordable.
- Illuminate benches. A senior citizen may be able to see very well in the daytime and be able to judge distances correctly. At night, however, he or she may not be able to see a bench or discern how far down it is. Sitting down too hard on a firm bench can cause back injuries to seniors.
- Illuminate the beautiful and elegant. Make the landscape not only mobility accessible but also aesthetically accessible. It is one thing to hear the soft, peaceful gurgling of the water feature; it is another to be able to capture its visual beauty and mystique.
- Illuminate with the power of technology. An LED landscape lighting plan specifically designed and calibrated for the grandparent with poor nighttime vision can be programmed into the system and modulated from a smartphone. When needed, the secondary senior-friendly lighting program can be initiated in seconds.
Southern Landscape Lighting Systems is an expert outdoor landscape lighting and security lighting installation company that has the right solutions to meet the customer’s specifications. Their consultations are free, and they can also provide nighttime demonstrations. The team offers a single point of entry for all landscape lighting design, supply, and installation requirements in Atlanta and surrounding cities, including Alpharetta and Acworth.
For more information about outdoor landscape lighting options, visit the Southern Landscape Lighting Systems of Marietta website at southernlls.com/locations/marietta-georgia. Contact the office by phone at (678) 616-9166.