2016 Hot Outdoor Lighting Trends

The continued and growing popularity across Canada in extending our living spaces outside means home owners are spending more time outside relaxing and entertaining. There are now more outdoor lighting options than ever before. Here are some of the top trends expected for 2016 when it comes to outdoor lighting.

Home Automation
As home owners are looking to network and connect with many aspects of their home’s functions remotely from security to lights to heating, this connectivity is extending to our outdoor living spaces as well. Technology now allows home owners to control not only their outdoor timers, but hot tub lights, pond lights, dimmer switches, but even create a music-timed light show with a remote or from our tablets or smartphones. There are plenty of remote and wireless options available.

Timers and motion sensors will continue to be popular for home security and energy savings, and advanced technology has given these long-popular outdoor lighting options even more versatility.

LED Lights
While solar lights are expected to remain popular with urban dwellers, LED lights are increasingly popular with rural and suburban home owners. With the wide array of colours, versatility, range of options, LED lights continue to offer home owners options in a range of price points. Dimmed LED lights, recessed or rope LED lights in deck railings (expected to be a popular trend this summer), stairs, fences, and seating areas are expected to be popular.

LED lights offer more subtle lighting options (there’s a growing trend to use dark colours – greens and blues) to make the invisible aspects of your landscape inviting without making them the focal point. Look for LED lights in lamps, glowing orbs, cubes, and unique string lights.

Accent Outdoor Features
As home owners continue to create more living space by building decks, patios, gazebos, and pergolas, using those features at night makes outdoor lighting more popular as a result. Canadians are increasingly using their decks and patios as week day retreats and weekend entertaining, the move from far-reaching flood lights continues.

More inviting lighting options are trending this year including spotlights to highlight a feature wall, trees or shrubs.

Tread lights incorporated into outdoor bars, lights under seats and benches (and sitting walls), useful and inviting path lights, pond and fountain lights, and other innovative uses are expected to appeal to home owners. Solar lights and lights equipped with photo sensors (automatically turn on after dark) are expected to remain popular.

Living walls and vertical gardens are growing in popularity, especially in urban areas, and many home owners are choosing to highlight these natural features even at night with a variety of outdoor lighting options.

Creating Outdoor Living Spaces
A growing design trend is to blend indoor and outdoor living spaces creating a seamless look. Lighting options for decks and patios, trees and shrubs (in plant beds to uplight your home), steps, fountains and ponds and pools are all on trend.

As the popularity of outdoor cooking options increases, so are other outdoor warming features such as fire pits, tiki torches, candles, fireplaces, and weather-proof lighting options to mimic any or all of these.