While the Victorian Foundation Repairs team was created with the passion and purpose to reinforce your home from the ground up, the rest of your property is just as important to us. We love playing a role in the process of turning your house into a home that you can share with family and friends, making lasting memories. This means that we’re passionate about everything from painting the exterior of your home, to seasonal landscaping to the nuances of different types of lighting.

Lighting is what we’re discussing today, specifically the exterior lighting of your verandah. If you don’t have one or aren’t familiar, a verandah is a roofed platform that lines part or all of the exterior of your home. In order for it to be considered a verandah it should be level with your ground floor. Verandahs are great in all seasons, but especially during the summer and warmer months when they’re the ideal place to relax. They’re also a great platform (literally) to add seasonal décor. During the holiday months you can set up wreaths, trees and other decorations. During warmer months, they’re a great place for potted plants.

But there’s a flip side to the aesthetic beauty of verandahs and that’s their maintenance. Yes, you need to keep them neat and tidy, but you also want to keep them well-lit. When they’re properly illuminated you can feel safe knowing that your home is safe from predators and that there’s less fear of you tripping up your own stairs on the way home.

First up – the basics. Task lighting is commonly found on most verandahs for both safety and security. You can find task lighting options that have sensor activated nights, which will light up as soon as a person or thing approaches your house. Other types of task lights include spotlights angled in a certain direction as well as table lamps which are paramount if you’re an evening reader.

The other type of lighting that we’re discussing today is ambient verandah lighting. As you may assume from the name, ambient lighting is different than task lighting because it’s providing an atmosphere, but not necessarily solving a need. Different types of ambient lighting include string lights and wall sconces – lights that are mounted to the exterior of your home. You can find sconces in all shapes and sizes, there’s one to meet the need of every architectural style. These range all the way from Colonial to ultra-modern. Even though we included table lamps in task lighting, they could also be seen as ambient lighting, especially if they’re set to lower levels.

Lots more to come in the world of lighting the exterior of your home. It’s important to note that there’s not one solution that will suit every home. It’s also important to note that you can mix and match – you’re not stuck with just one solution.

Questions? Comments? Let us know. The Victorian Foundation Repairs team would love to hear from you.