Whether you are remodeling your home, or building, choosing outdoor lighting can be very overwhelming.  There are several things to take into consideration.  So before tackling your outdoor lighting project, make sure to follow these tips to beautify and enhance your home.

• Function:  what will your lighting be used for?

1. Safety (walkways, entrance ways)
2. Decorative (outdoor patios, hanging porch lights)

• Size/Placement
  1. Measure the height of your door. Your wall mount fixtures should be ¼ – 1/3 the size of your door.
  2. When hanging the fixture you will want to position the light around eye level, or a little above.  A good rule of thumb is 5.5’-6’ from the ground.
  3. You want to see your fixtures from the road.  One of the most common mistakes is choosing a fixture that is too small.  Your lighting will appear to be ½ the size when you get 50’ away from your home.  When in doubt always go bigger.  What looks large in the showroom, will look much smaller on your home.
  4. Post lights should also be in line with the size of your home. Bigger is usually better and keep in mind that the farther you are away from the light the smaller it will appear.
• Style
  1. What style of home you have will help you determine what style of lighting.
• Finish
  1. Brass is one of the most durable outdoor lighting finishes.  It holds up in all environments.  You can a choose raw brass, or dark brass finish.  Raw brass will eventually darken over time, but will not corrode.
  2. Copper also holds up well outdoors but is not as durable as brass
• Light bulbs
  1. How bright do you need your fixture. Keep in mind that going to the maximum amount of wattage on your post or wall mounts may be too bright.  You want to softly luminate your home.  Not have lights that are too bright and glaring.
• Take pictures of your home
  1. We will be able to assist you much easier if you have pictures of your home.  Blueprints are also beneficial when choosing lighting.  This will also help us determine style and size of the lighting you will need.

     

How to keep your lighting looking great all year round?  Replace broken or burned out light bulbs when needed.  Replacement candle sleeves are available and can easily be replaced.  They come in cardboard and plastic.  Regularly clean your glass inside and out.  Make sure to clear your lighting of any nests or debris.  Keep your bushes and shrubs trimmed around your light fixture.  They should compliment your lighting.

Choosing the right lighting will compliment your home.  Think of it as a way to welcome your guest.  As we like to say, it’s the jewelry to your home.  Lighting is one of the first things people notice and one of the most important items to showcase your home.

If you have any questions please let us know.  We have a variety of outdoor lighting fixtures to choose from with many styles handcrafted right here in Lancaster County, PA.  Our Olde Mill Lighting has also been featured on the big screen in “Pirates of the Caribbean”,  “Pirates of Caribbean 2”, “The Village” and the “John Adams” documentary featured on HBO.

Spending the holidays with your family and friends is a magical time. Whether you see your guests once a week or once a year, there’s just something about the holiday season that brings out the best in everyone. However, planning and setting up for the holidays may add an unwanted level of stress. Making sure the decorations are perfect, the place settings are beautiful and the Christmas tree radiant takes careful planning. Thankfully, there are ways you can make next year’s holiday season stress free by simply following through with these end of the season tips.

• Snap Some Pics

Love your current setup? Want to use it for next year? Remembering the exact setup 365 days later isn’t exactly easy. So snap some pictures with your phone. You can even save the images in a “Holiday” folder on your computer. This way, when the time comes next year to decorate, you’ll have all the visuals you need.

• Separate Your Rooms with Storage Containers

One of the more stressful elements of decorating a home is tracking down all the different items. If you separate decorations by room, you’ll always know where everything is. So make sure to label each plastic bin for the room. You’ll thank yourself later.

• Protect Your Bows

Bows are beautiful but also are easily crushed and crumpled in storage. Use a wire hanger to protect your bows and place a plastic bag over top to prevent dust buildup.

• Protect Your Wreaths and arrangements

Like your bows, wreaths and arrangements are easily damaged or may get dusty when in storage. Place a plastic bag over the wreaths and try to hang them in the garage, basement or other storage area. Use a plastic bag over your floral arrangements to keep them dust free.

• Ditch the Batteries

Do you have decorations that rely on batteries? Remove these batteries before putting everything into storage. Even though the items are not on, power will drain because the positive/negative connectors are in use. Also, any moisture the batteries come in contact with can cause battery acid leaks, which becomes a health hazard.

• Take Notes/Create a Holiday Binder

Maybe you needed a few more light strands or you were missing just that little something extra to take your room to the next level, take notes (maybe even write directly onto the photographs). What about a holiday party you hosted. Create a special 3 ring binder just for your holiday note taking, recipes, and decorating ideas.  Print off your pinterest ideas and save them all in one place.   Check out this website for some great planner ideas and printables for your binder.  http://www.iheartorganizing.com/2013/12/holiday-planning-binder.html

• Update the Card List

Did you receive cards back with “return to sender” messages? Perhaps some new friends sent you cards. Now is the time to update your Christmas card list, as you don’t want to forget anyone next year.

• Wrap the Lights

Nothing is worse than pulling out a tangled mess of Christmas lights. This all comes down to how you store your lights. You can’t just toss the lights into a bin. Wrap the lights like you would a power extension cord (or think of Indiana Jones’ whip and how it’s perfectly wrapped). If the lights don’t want to stay in place, wrap the lights around a 4-inch piece of cardboard and tape the ends down.

• Clear Out the Decorations

Do you have decorations in storage you haven’t used in a few years? If so, chances are you’re not going to be using them again. Now is the time to take the decorations in to Goodwill or try to sell well kept decorations. This will help clear up valuable storage space for any new decorations.

• Winter cleaning

Don’t forget to dust the items before packing them away. This will save you time when you take them out next season.

At Olde Mill House, we want to help make planning for next year’s holiday season as stress free as possible. Whether you are looking for furniture and accessories to accent your room or to protecting those priceless decorations, we are here to help. Check out the website for some of our latest items, or visit the shop in person to take in the quality of products we have to offer. Have a question? Email us on the website or give us a call at (717) 299-0678. Whatever you decide, we want to make sure your holiday season is just as magical next year. Just a little less stressful.