Hang around outdoor lighting designers long enough and you’ll hear a lot of talk about “moonlight effect.” That’s a naturalistic look that features light no more intense than that of a full moon, but still strong enough to make beautiful shadows and intense highlights on your home’s exterior.

How Outdoor Lighting Helps Security

Soft, overall landscape lighting eliminates dark areas that might hide an intruder, exposing any movement on your property.

Overly bright lights actually have a negative effect, creating undesirable pockets of deep shadow.

The Best Outdoor Lights Designers Recommend

Once disparaged for their high cost and cold, bluish glow, LEDs are now the light source of choice for lighting designers.

Although LED fixtures remain twice as expensive as incandescents, installation is simpler because they use low-voltage wiring.

The Cost of Outdoor Lighting

Total outdoor lighting costs will vary according to the size of your home and the complexity of your lighting scheme. Expect to pay about $100 to $200 per LED fixture including installation. LEDs also require a transformer; together, they’ll cost $300 to $500 with installation.

#2 Beautify a Steep Slope With Retaining Walls

Plants are cheaper in fall because nurseries like to clean out their inventories — often between 20% and 50% off. Or, better yet, get them for free from neighbors and friends. Gardeners have to divide and cut back their plants in the fall, so don’t be afraid to ask if you can take advantage of their unwanted offshoots. Chances are they’d be happy to give them to you.

#3 Build an Edible Garden

Prepare your garden for fall veggies by pulling out all summer plants that are done, turning and loosening the soil, removing all weeds, and adding compost. Then plant vegetables that thrive in cooler temperatures (down to 20 degrees F) — broccoli, spinach, and cabbage.

Don’t waste fridge space on food that doesn’t need to be chilled. Examples: fresh eggs from backyard chickens (though store-bought eggs do need refrigerating), ketchup, vinegar, jam, mayonnaise, and butter. Put those items in the pantry. You can store fresh eggs in a bowl on the counter for eight weeks.

Never put tomatoes in fridge, or they’ll get mushy; onions will soften; honey will thicken; potatoes will turn too starchy. Keep onions and potatoes in separate paper bags and store in a cool, dark place (a lower cabinet drawer is great).

Make an outdoor living area comfy long after the sun sets or the leaves turn.

Low-Voltage Lighting

Low-voltage fixtures clip onto a safe, 12-volt cable connected to a transformer, which plugs into a GFCI-protected 120-volt electrical outlet. A timer or light-sensitive control automatically turns lights on and off. 

For a pool area, a kit with eight LED step lights and 12 hardscape lights, plus wiring, a transformer, and installation, would cost about $3,000.

Solar Outdoor Lighting

Solar outdoor lighting fixtures don’t need cables and transformers. They simply turn themselves on automatically after dark. Each standalone fixture stakes into the ground or secures to a deck or exterior surface. Because a sunlight-charged battery powers the bulb, you’ll save energy. Solar light fixtures cost $188 to $231 for six lights, with installation ranging from $167 to $271.

Solar technology has improved over time. The lights generally include LED bulbs, which emit a large amount of light for their size and the amount of energy used. With about an eight-hour charge from the sun, solar lights can illuminate all evening. That said, the amount of sunlight around your house will greatly affect how the lights perform. Outside solar lights can last three or four years, and the LEDs,10 to 15 years.

Your home’s interior lights want to help you have fun, feel better, and save energy. Will you let them?

Lighting Our Homes With a Purpose

Today’s progressive lighting schemes aren’t about turning lights on and off; they’re about being partners in your lifestyle. The concept is simple: Imagine all your home’s light fixtures as a single system that can be programmed into a variety of zones. Each zone is dedicated to particular task or mood, and can be controlled by wall switches, a master wall panel, or a smartphone app.

Easing the Fear of Lighting Technology

Do your eyes glaze over at the thought of yet another layer of high tech added to your everyday life? Fear not: In the hands of a pro, zone lighting systems are relatively easy to install. Home automation companies and lighting contractors can retrofit your house with a single-zone system in half a day or, with more time, install a whole-house system.

DIYers Can Zone Out, Too

Relatively low-cost mini-systems are coming to market that’ll let you install your own zones, even if your geekability quotient is near zero.

Vinyl Kitchen Flooring Is Ideal When:

• You cook a lot.
• You want the easiest-to-maintain floor.
• You’re on a tight budget.

Porcelain Kitchen Tile Flooring Is Ideal When:

• You want the toughest flooring.
• You like the look of stone.
• You want low maintenance.

That hollow triangle of space beneath your staircase can house more than lint. Claim the square footage for organizing your stuff.

Closet

One of the simplest and most common under-stairs storage solutions, a closet can be lined with shelves and equipped with wire organizers to provide an abundance of organizational space. Include a light fixture in your plans.

Open Shelves

Rather than keep your belongings undercover, line the space beneath your staircase with built-in shelves that provide access from the side of the stairs. Use wicker baskets or canvas bins to corral smaller items.

Drawers

Drawer storage allows full view and access to your belongings in one smooth motion. Accessed from one side of a staircase, drawers can be designed in a variety of depths and widths. Or, build drawers into the risers of one or more steps.

Cabinets

Built-in cabinets can feature solid doors or doors with glass inserts. Use clear glass when you want to keep books and treasures on display, or choose decorative opaque or translucent glass to obscure the contents.

Choose the right bathroom flooring based on your priorities — cost, kids, safety, and eco-friendliness.

Low Cost But Tough

Vinyl flooring comes in an array of colors and patterns at a relatively modest cost. Although the price can be as low as just under $1 per square foot, you’ll find fewer style choices among the least expensive varieties.

The Designer’s Choice

Ceramic tile bathroom flooring is the preferred choice of 64% of respondents, according to a survey by Floor Covering Weekly. With good reason: Ceramics come in a huge array of sizes and shapes, and can be mixed to create endless custom patterns. It’s the ultimate designer’s medium.

Best for Kids

Water, water everywhere! That pretty much sums up bath time at households with young children. In addition, kids have a knack for dropping the shampoo bottle and conducting bathroom experiments. If protection from water and stains is a high priority, sheet vinyl is the choice for you.

Best for Durability

Quarry tiles are stronger and more wear-resistant than glazed tile and are made with a slightly rough surface texture that makes them slip-resistant.