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All is Bright When it comes to lighting your home’s exterior for the holidays, there’s a fine line between merry and scary. Outdoor design expert Carson Arthur lays the ground rules for elegant illumination. BY BRETT WALTHER
LED lights can have the look of traditional incandescent strings, as Carson Arthur explains here.
ARTHUR INVITED CANADIAN LIVING ON A TOUR OF HIS DECKED-OUT-FOR-THEHOLIDAYS FARMHOUSE. TAKE A PEEK AT
canadianliving.com/carsonarthur.
Camouflage the cords The ideal holiday lighting scheme makes an impact at night but disappears by day— and that means paying attention to more than just the bulbs. “If you’re going to string lights up against a white eaves trough, choose lights with a white cord,” Arthur suggests. Similarly, when stringing lights in evergreen trees and shrubs, Arthur reaches for green cords that will blend in with surrounding branches.
Take a shine to projection Projection lights, the season’s biggest trend in outdoor illumination, create the effect of hundreds of twinkling strands with one crucial difference: There’s only one light source. “For anybody who is concerned about being up on a ladder or has put off decorating until two feet of snow has fallen, projection lights are the way to go,” Arthur says.
Accentuate good architecture
PHOTOGRAPHY, T. MERRIMAN
Buy more lights than you think you’ll need Gauging how many strands of lights you’ll need to run across a roofline seems simple enough—until the roof ’s peaks come into play. To get a rough estimate, Arthur will measure the length of the façade, then add at least two-thirds more. “You’ll probably be over, but that will give you enough lights to go up and down most peaks,” he says. For window calculations, first measure the height and width of a window, then double the sum of those lengths. DECEMBER 2015 | CANADIANLIVING.COM
Pull the plug on incandescent lightbulbs Treat yourself to an early Christmas present and swap your old-school incandescent lights for LEDs. These long-lasting alternatives will not only pay for themselves in saved kilowatt hours but also prove to be a versatile investment, thanks to recent innovations. “Some of the new LED lighting systems can change colour, which is great for someone who wants a different look every year,” says Arthur.
The first step in Arthur’s outdoor lighting strategy is to identify the best features of a home’s façade. “Instead of trying to light every single surface— which will end up looking like the Griswolds’ in Christmas Vacation— focus on strong architectural details,” says Arthur. “It could be a bay window, gingerbread trim or even a really nice peak—anything that’s worth drawing the eye.” After highlighting these focal points, you might have the urge to light the house from left to right. Don’t. “There’s nothing worse than getting halfway across the front of the house and realizing there’s no way you can continue the way you started,” says Arthur. Instead, build outward from those illuminated architectural features in manageable, balanced sections.
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