Parade of Homes | Spring 2025

OUTDOOR LIGHTING CONT.

“People put them on their patio tables. They also come with garden stake options for walkways and planters. They’re really great for entertaining,” Milne says. “There is an Italian company called Zafferano — they are the Rolls-Royce of portable lamps. They have absolutely gorgeous wall sconces that you can light up anywhere — on a post or the shed wall. They’ve got eight to 15 hours of battery life. Just recharge, and they’re ready to go.”

Portable lighting has opened up the market with price points and applications for a range of budgets and uses. And coming up fast is solar-powered lighting. “In the next one to two years, there’s going to be more solar avail- able at the quality that cities would be using for, say, powering parking meters. This will be accessible for residential lights. It’s a big improve- ment in solar and it’ll be really good for energy efficiency.” 

“With proper landscape lighting, you can do a lot of shadow play,” says Liam Milne, branch manager at Robinson Lighting Centre. “You can evoke different moods and play to different strengths of the yard in the landscaping. You’re going to highlight trees, rock beds and flower gardens. When it’s a dark night in the garden, you get to decide how people are experiencing your environment.” Milne says it is important to avoid the “movie set” effect with floodlights. Getting the right amount of light into the right places is paramount. Part of the magic of good lighting design is an “invisible” light source. “You want to hide the light source, so there should be hoods and cowls to cover them where needed,” he says. As for coloured lights in your land- scaping — Milne says no. “Every designer says white only. Colour should only be used for holidays, festive events or patio lanterns. Otherwise, you want warm white LED everywhere or warm white halogen if needed to melt through the snow in the winter,” Milne says. Highly portable rechargeable lights have become a game changer, allowing people to move them around their property as needed without concern for a power source close by.

Part of the magic of good lighting design is an “invisible” light source.

SUBMITTED PHOTOS

114 PARADE of HOMES SPRING 2025

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