Lighting is a very important aspect of any structure, whether you're talking about a commercial or residential application.
Consider that without light, aesthetics would mean nothing.
With that in mind, wouldn't you want the best possible illumination for your home, both indoors and outdoors? You probably do, but there is also another consideration: money.
Obviously, you want to conserve energy and spend as little on electricity as possible.
This is what prevents most people from getting the elegant accent and walkway lighting to brighten the exterior of their house at night.
Though most people will agree that it looks nothing short of amazing, they don't see it as worth it to have lights on all night.
There are a couple of options for that.
The most practical is to invest in solar landscape lighting.
This is extremely cost efficient and allows any outdoor light to charge all day as it bathes in UV light, then release the energy in the form of beautiful light at night.
The photovoltaic cells are now good enough to provide a charge for up to 8 hours.
They're also available for post and patio lights.
If you're not quite ready to make the jump to solar power, don't worry, you're not alone.
Many people would rather not deal with it until it becomes more standard.
This isn't a problem though, because you have another option.
If you've ever heard of LED (light emitting diode) lighting, you'll know that it's the wave of the future.
The beauty of these inexpensive bulbs is the fact that they last extremely long (usually over 10,000 hours) , don't waste energy in the form of heat (like incandescent bulbs do) and come in just about every color you can imagine, from a bright purple to a deep green.
Yes, they also come in regular white.
The best part is the fact that they can go in your garage, on your patio or on the fence in your backyard, or on the ground as accent lights.
Many people are now using them to make a more modern type of chandelier for their living room, as well.