Showing posts with label home improvement. Show all posts
Showing posts with label home improvement. Show all posts

Sunday, August 17, 2014

Unlock Your Landcape's Full Potential With Tulsa Outdoor Lighting Design

Want to enjoy your backyard past just daylight hours? Carefully positioned landscape lighting for your Tulsa outdoor environment can create an enchanting area to entertain or relax in, well into the evening hours. Here are some Tulsa landscape lighting considerations to get you started.

To begin, decide what you want your outdoor lighting accomplish. That might sound simple…just create more light for at night, right? Well, to have an effective Tulsa outdoor lighting arrangement, you’ll want to consider different spaces of your backyard and what lighting effects are needed for them or what features of your landscape you want to enhance.

landscape lightingFor instance, do you want pathway lighting perhaps to help your guests safely navigate to the backyard? Or do you want to showcase a focal point in your landscape like a fountain, pond, or statue? Does your deck or patio need accent lighting to outline the area? What tone or mood do you want your lighting to create for your whole outdoor living space?

Each of these different facets of your landscape can be borne with different types of lighting or different lighting arrangements. Key points like a statue or fountain may need a spotlight. Pathway lighting will of course call for several smaller lights arranged in a row.

Accent lighting needs to be situated so that it highlights but doesn’t overshadow the outdoor living space. This requires a balance of light between the landscape, different hardscape features, and the home itself. Pathway lighting can easily be overdone and begin to look like a runway, so lighting placement is essential.

Tulsa landscape lighting also needs to work well with natural or man-made changes that could occur to the landscape over the course of time like growth of foliage, hardscape additions, and seasonal changes. Outdoor lighting can look very different and out-of-place when these things start to happen if changes were not accounted for in the initial lighting design.

Low voltage lighting can be used to shape pathways, and it's safe, cost-effective, and environmentally-friendly.

For more outdoor lighting design tips, call the Tulsa landscape lighting specialists at Oklahoma Landscape. Our outdoor lighting experts can help you get the right tone and style for your particular landscape and home architecture, creating a custom outdoor lighting system that will help you ‘find yourself outside’ and fully enjoy your outdoor living space both during the day and at night.

We came across some very nice, well-balanced lighting designs as can be seen in these photos from our fellow lighting designers. The first photo is from London-based designers My Landscapes. The second photo is via Portland, Oregon designers: Beautiful Bones and Purple Stones.

Saturday, February 22, 2014

Patios and Pavers for Tulsa Homes - Spring Home Improvement Projects


Spring is almost here! And thoughts of home improvement are in the air for Tulsa homeowners. Spring brings with it a sense of renewal and regeneration – it’s a fresh start. Home improvement and landscaping projects naturally follow. 

tulsa paver patiosIn the area of home improvement, patios make a great addition to just about any home. They become the basis for an outdoor environment and serve to extend the boundaries of your home. Even a simple patio can add noteworthy value to your property and home. 

Building a Tulsa patio with interlocking pavers is ideal. Pavers not only add charm and definition to the outdoor space but they are also extremely practical. Paver stones are very strong and versatile. Pavers are available in a wide variety of shapes, sizes, colors, textures, and materials. These hardscapes are also easy to install and easy to replace if they do get damaged. 

Interlocking pavers create a sophisticated look for any landscape by providing a seamless transition from inside to outside.  Our Tulsa paver patio designers and installers are certified by the Interlocking Concrete Paver Institute to create quality paver and patio designs that highlight your personal style.

Natural stone pavers like flagstone offer another incredible patio look. Flagstone offers a unique beauty and style with a natural look and feel. These hardscapes also add depth and character to the landscape and come in a variety of shapes and colors. Flagstone is also a very durable material. 

patios tulsa
For a more classic patio with a modern twist, decorative concrete patios provide an upscale patio look for typically a lower cost than some of the other hardscape materials. Concrete can be stained, adding a variety of different colors and hues, as well as various designs or border accents. Stamped concrete mimics the look and feel of other hardscape materials like pavers, tile, and natural stones. This imprinted or textured concrete offers a wide array of color and pattern options to create a chic outdoor living area. 

As the base for your outdoor environment, patios bring versatility and charm to your Tulsa home and outdoor living space and are a great start to your spring home improvement plans.

Sunday, January 19, 2014

Updating Your Tulsa Landscape Design - Increasing Curb Appeal

Is your Tulsa landscape looking somewhat uninspiring? It’s important to maintain and make improvements to our homes, but what about our landscapes? Actually, outdated or poor landscape design can make your home look dated as well. On the other hand, elegant Tulsa landscape design can be a cost effective way to raise the value of your home and add curb appeal.
How can you renovate your Tulsa landscape and thus update your home as well?
First, make sure your shrubs, trees, and plants are not taking over your home. Over time, plants and shrubs can grow until they are no longer in proper proportion to your home or cover your windows. Trimming and pruning these can help prevent them from overtaking your home and property.
You can also relocate a shrub to another part of your landscape to give the landscape a slightly different look – sort of like adding or moving a piece of furniture in your home. Adding new variations of flowers and plants in an assortment of different colors and textures can liven up your landscape. Especially around the front door, updating containers and adding new flowers to them can really spruce up the look of your home.
Adding interesting Tulsa hardscapes is another way to bring subtle charm to your outdoor space. A flagstone pathway creates an inviting way to lead guests through your garden. Walkways can be designed using an assortment of hardscape materials that can highlight the architectural design of your home. These pathways create a visual way to connect your landscape with your home and stylishly guide visitors to your home’s entrance. hardscapes tulsa
You can also use hardscapes to edge flowerbeds to create a more modern and sleek design in your landscape. Retaining walls are another hardscape that can really give your home a sophisticated design feel by effectively separating portions of your landscape into more practical spaces while also shielding your landscape from erosion, all while using materials that come in a variety of decorative styles and colors.
Adding or updating water features like fountains or waterfalls can provide an interesting focal point for your outdoor space.
If you want to really modernize your landscape, building an outdoor kitchen or fireplace with a nearby outdoor seating – ‘living room’ – area will significantly increase the value of your home and transform your landscape. Today, these areas can have all the conveniences of home in a contemporary Tulsa outdoor environment. Outdoor kitchens, fireplaces, and fire pits create the perfect spot for entertaining friends and relaxing with family just about all year round.
From little improvements in flowers, containers, and landscaping to more extensive Tulsa landscape design additions, there’s an almost endless variety of ways to update the look of your landscape while also increasing the value of your home and neighborhood.