Houston Outdoor Lighting, Indoor Art Lights, Landscape Lighting Designs, Home Automation Blog

Saturday, January 26, 2008

Houston, Texas Lighting Contractor Specializing in Fine Art, Landscape & Display Lighting.

Houston lighting clients do not have to choose between the practical and the aesthetic. By bringing all the disciplines together, the professionals at are able to produce incredible lighting effects on the solid backbone of commercial grade technology and sound electrical wiring installed only by experienced and certified journeymen and licensed electricians.

The following summaries describe just a few of the many service offerings that Houston lighting clients can rely upon ILD to custom-install and integrate seamlessly into their home and lifestyle.

Houston Design Professionals
Clients can depend on having all of their questions answered by a knowledgeable and down-to-earth staff that will explain in understandable terms how their new lighting system will work for them.

Houston is a practical town, so every home lighting system we design has real world value and is integrated seamlessly with every element of home and life.

Houston Electrical Contractor
Clients benefit from the expertise of our fully licensed and certified electricians who know how to not only install lighting systems, but to power them safely, dependably, and continuously in cost effective ways.

Electrical design and service is the backbone of any technology-driven design. To install a truly sophisticated lighting system, Houston residents often require initial electrical panel service upgrades and integration of electrical systems into new home lighting controls.

When Gulf Coast storms down power lines and plunge neighborhoods into darkness, Houston lighting clients can keep their equipment safe and their power on with transient whole house surge suppressors and electrical generators professionally installed by ILD certified electricians.

Home Lighting Design Houston Texas
Clients benefit from working with a company that can light the entire home interior and showcase the home’s exterior as a monument to family name and personal lifestyle.

We take a two-pronged strategy to this line of service. When working within the house, we isolate the emotional elements that make it comfortable and tie these elements to practical daily activities, thus uniting the functional with the aesthetic.

To showcase the exterior of the house, we draw extensively upon our knowledge of architecture to find specific elements that make that particular home unique. Using advanced and easily concealable lighting fixtures, we position our equipment in ways to keep it hidden from normal viewing angles. This enshrouds the house in what appears to be a field of sourceless light.

Houston Landscape Lighting Design
Clients benefit from the blend of contemporary lifestyle and natural beauty that our environmentally friendly landscape lighting systems create.

Trees figure prominently in our landscape designs. We are one of the few Houston lighting companies to use exclusively “green” technology, and we make it a point to install that equipment with environmentally friendly methods that do not harm the trees.

Unlike most of our competitors who only use two layers of landscape lighting, we use four compounded layers that accent outdoor monuments and completely illuminate gardens, foliage, and indigenous vegetation.

For over two decades, ILD has continued to rise to an increasingly prominent position of leadership among Houston lighting design firms.

Click here to read more about Illuminations Lighting Designs many areas of specialty in residential, commercial, and high-end lighting systems and controls.

Labels: Houston Electrical Contractor, houston landscape lighting, Houston Lighting Design Company, Houston Texas Contractors, Texas Lighting Design

Tuesday, August 09, 2005

Landscape Lighting, when it's done right, can transform your garden from a black hole into an enjoyable nighttime experience.

Ever notice that when you look out your windows at night you see...yourself? When the inside of your house is lit and the outside is dark, your windows become like mirrors. Many people will spend much time, effort, and yes, money to construct their yards and their landscaping, but then lose the views and the functionality of the space as soon as the sun goes down. This scenario is all too often the case for most homeowners, but it doesn't have to be. By bringing lighting into the garden, you can not only make it functional at night, you can maintain your view from the house year round.

Lanterns, porch lights and exterior floodlights can create glare and do not, on their own, constitute well designed landscape lighting. These lights serve a distinct purpose and should not be the only light source in the garden. They should be kept at a very dim level so as to not create overwhelming glare. Proper landscape lighting, used in conjunction with other light sources can transform your garden into a nighttime extension of your home and enhance your outdoor investment.

One popular way to add a soft blanket of light to a property is through a technique called "Moonlighting." Like a full moon, lights mounted high in the trees and aimed back through the branches will create a dappled display of light and shadows across your property. This effective landscape lighting technique is perfect for soft, even illumination of the property from the aesthetic view and well as providing a security function. One of the main benefits of mercury vapor tree lighting (the type of lamp used most often in moonlighting) is that the fixtures are out of your normal field of view and the color of the light is very close to natural moon light. This type of equipment has a tremendous lamp life and requires very little maintenance.

Moonlighting should be done by lighting professionals who are trained in fixture selection, fixture placement, wattage requirements and tree preservation, since controlling glare, light level, aiming, and understanding the needs of the tree are very important to a successful installation.

To compliment the tree lights, professional lighting designers typically illuminate small ornamental trees, sculptures, fountains, pathways or structures with a contrasting color of light. Lighting architectural elements of the home, such as columns or entry ways, or even washing the facade, can also add huge amounts of beauty, function, and security to your valuable investment. This layering effect of different light sources, intensities, and textures produces a very dramatic effect.

Finding a company you trust to do the installation should not be taken lightly. Besides the inherent design pitfalls of glare and intensity that can be challenges for outdoor lighting, there are the issues of safety and respect for your existing landscape. Installing electrical fixtures and wiring outside where it will be exposed to the elements for years to come is serious business and should only be handled by experienced professionals. It may be tempting to try to save money by staking some solar lights (that, by the way, don't put out ANY usable light) along a pathway or hire a landscaper to put in some low voltage lights, but the lack of appropriate fixture and/or the lack of true electrical and lighting design expertise will most likely leave you sorely disappointed and spending more money in the long run.

So how should you evaluate the different companies in your area? Do you homework and ask questions. Request to see a company's credentials, insurance, press releases and portfolio. Ask for references, pictures or testimonials. This highly specialized art has been mastered by Rick Luberger, landscape lighting designer, and the trained staff at Illuminations Lighting Design. For over 25 years, Illuminations Lighting Design has worked on both residential and commercial projects to create some of the most elegant and tasteful creations in the industry.

Join us in celebrating our 25th Year of business by viewing our Client Testimonials to see what people are saying about our services. Like music, lighting sets the mood! For more information regarding professional landscape lighting services contact Rick Luberger by email at or by phone at 800-863-1184.

Labels: Commercial Landscape Lighting, houston landscape lighting, Mercury Vapor Tree Lighting Houston, Outdoor Architectural Lighting, Outdoor Restaurant Lighting, Texas Lighting Design