Karla Bowsher,https://www.moneytalksnews.com/slideshows/tips-to-protect-your-money-in-uncertain-times/
source https://www.moneytalksnews.com/slideshows/tips-to-protect-your-money-in-uncertain-times/
Wednesday, May 24, 2023
4 Tips to Protect Your Money in Uncertain Times
source https://www.moneytalksnews.com/slideshows/tips-to-protect-your-money-in-uncertain-times/
3 Ways to Edit Messages on WhatsApp
If you frequently make mistakes and typos in your conversations, you’re in for a treat with WhatsApp’s new Edit Message feature. With this new update, you can finally edit your sent WhatsApp messages within fifteen minutes. That said, let’s look at all the details with steps to experience it in this explainer. Additionally, you can learn to use one WhatsApp account on four different smartphones with companion mode.
What is the ‘Edit Message’ Feature on WhatsApp
As the name suggests, the newly launched feature allows you to edit the sent messages on WhatsApp. However, it is only available for a limited time as soon as you send a new message. Its main highlights are as follows:
- WhatsApp users can edit a message within 15 minutes of sending it.
- The modified message will carry the ‘Edited‘ label but won’t show any editing history.
- It is very helpful to correct typing mistakes or add additional content to the sent messages without deleting them.
- The edit feature is currently available to WhatsApp Beta testers and will soon roll out globally.
IT’S HERE
Message Editing is rolling out now.
You now get up to 15 minutes after sending a message to edit it. So you don’t have to worry if you duck it up
pic.twitter.com/JCWNzmXwVr
— WhatsApp (@WhatsApp) May 22, 2023
Pre-Requisites
If you wish to immediately experience WhatsApp’s ‘Edit Message’ feature without waiting for its global release, you must enroll your account in the WhatsApp Beta tester program. Follow our guide to join WhatsApp Beta Program, once enrolled, update the app to the latest version from Google Play Store or Apple App Store.
Note: You might face difficulty enrolling in the WhatsApp beta program for iOS as it is currently closed. Hence, you must wait for the global feature rollout to edit messages on your iOS devices.
How to Edit Whatsapp Messages
If you meet the above-mentioned requirements and have access to the WhatsApp beta program, then you will be able to use the edit WhatsApp messages feature on both smartphones and PC. Here’s how it can be done.
On Android
1. Go to your desired WhatsApp chat and long-press the sent message to view more options.
2. Tap the three-dot menu in the top-right corner and press the Edit option.
3. Next, edit the sent message with the required changes and press the green tick button to save it.
4. That’s it! You’ve successfully edited the original message sent. The modified message will carry an ‘Edited‘ label, differentiating it from other messages in the chat.
On iPhone
1. Long press the sent message to view more options and tap Edit.
2. Make the required changes and save it. The modified message will appear with an ‘Edited‘ label.
Image: WhatsApp
On Desktop
Similar to smartphones, you can edit sent WhatsApp messages using its web interface. However, if you’re using browsing WhatsApp in the desktop app, you must wait some time to get the edit message feature update.
1. Go to WhatsApp Web on your desktop, expand the existing chat, and click the arrow icon next to the sent message.
2. From the pop-up click the Edit Message option.
3. Modify your sent message and click the green tick button to save changes.
4. That’s it! You’ve successfully edited your sent message using WhatsApp web.
FAQs
Q. How to Edit WhatsApp Messages on Android?
Long-press the sent message within fifteen minutes and click the Edit option. Refer to the above-mentioned methods for more details.
Q. How to Edit WhatsApp Messages Online?
You can use WhatsApp web to edit sent messages online through your desktop. However, messages sent via WhatsApp web can’t be edited on your linked smartphone and vice-versa.
Q. Can You Edit WhatsApp Messages Sent by Your Friends?
Unfortunately, you can only edit messages you’ve sent to your friends on WhatsApp.
Q. Why Can’t I Edit WhatsApp Messages?
The editing messages feature is currently available to WhatsApp beta testers. To experience it, you must enroll in the beta program or wait for the global feature rollout.
Q. How to Edit WhatsApp Messages on iPhone?
Currently, you need to enroll in WhatsApp Beta Tester Program, via Test Flight. Follow the easy steps in this explainer to edit WhatsApp messages on your iPhone.
Q. Can You Edit a WhatsApp Message Once It Is Sent?
Yes, with the new edit message feature, you can edit a WhatsApp message within 15 minutes of sending it. For more details, refer to the steps above.
Q. Does the Editing WhatsApp Message Feature Work on Companion Mode?
Unfortunately, the edit message feature doesn’t work on WhatsApp in companion mode yet. There is no information about it in the future possibilities.
Q. Does the Editing WhatsApp Message Feature Work Cross-Platform?
Currently, messages sent via one WhatsApp platform can’t be edited on another platform. For example, you can’t edit a WhatsApp message sent via WhatsApp web on your linked smartphone and vice-versa.
Wrapping Up
We hope this guide has helped you to make the most of the Edit Message feature on WhatsApp. If you find it useful, share it with your friends, and subscribe to GadgetsToUse for more awesome tips and tricks. Meanwhile, check out the below links for more informative reads:
You might be interested in:
- 3 Ways to Lock Chats on WhatsApp
- 5 Ways to Use ChatGPT on WhatsApp
- 3 Ways to Silence WhatsApp Calls from Unknown Numbers
- 4 Ways to Send Big Files and Large Videos on WhatsApp
You can also follow us for instant tech news at Google News or for tips and tricks, smartphones & gadgets reviews, join GadgetsToUse Telegram Group or for the latest review videos subscribe GadgetsToUse Youtube Channel.
Paras Rastogi,https://gadgetstouse.com/blog/2023/05/24/edit-whatsapp-messages/
source https://gadgetstouse.com/blog/2023/05/24/edit-whatsapp-messages/
Greenville Police Chief Howie Thompson announces retirement
Greenville Police Chief J.H. “Howie” Thompson is retiring effective June 30, 2023, the city announced on May 23.
Thompson has dedicated the past 29 years to law enforcement. He began his career in 1993 at the Mauldin Police Department and joined the Greenville Department in 1997.
After moving up in the ranks, Thompson was appointed the city of Greenville’s police chief in 2020.
“I’ve had a great career. I’ve done everything I wanted to do including working vice and narcotics units and commanding SWAT,” Thompson said.
Thompson said he is proud of the dedicated, professional officers and administrative staff that strive to keep Greenville safe.
“In 2022, the city of Greenville recorded the lowest number of violent crimes in a decade,” Thompson said. “This is a direct reflection of the teamwork among officers and partnerships with other law enforcement agencies.
City Manager John McDonough described Thompson as reliable, professional and a good sounding board.
“I appreciate his hard work, commitment, and dedication. I wish him and his family the best as he begins his next chapter,” McDonough said.
This is a developing story. For continuing coverage on the process behind Thompson’s replacement, stay with GreenvilleJournal.com.
Related Topics
- City of Greenville Police
- greenville
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source https://greenvillejournal.com/community/greenville-police-chief-howie-thompson-announces-retirement/
Hallelujah! Windows 11 is finally introducing RGB lighting standards
Technology
Image: Dreamstime: Norma 938
If you’ve ever felt a little guilty for blinging out your PC with a Christmas tree’s worth of RGB lighting, don’t. Microsoft believes in RGB enough that it’s bringing the technology to Windows with an upcoming Dynamic Lighting feature. (Perhaps, they even heard our complaints!)
Microsoft unveiled a grab bag of new, upcoming features for Windows 11 at Microsoft Build, including changes to the Taskbar and alterations to how Windows widgets work. But one of the weirdest has to be the addition of Dynamic Lighting controls, which are usually controlled by specialized utilities that ship with your PC or peripherals.
“Lighted accessories have been on the rise and can add energy and emotion to your PC experience,” according to a blog post by Microsoft chief product officer Panos Panay. “Today, many of these accessories rely on third-party apps and integrations that are highly fragmented. With Dynamic Lighting, Windows users will be able to effortlessly set up and customize their devices with RGB lights directly from Windows Settings. It has never been easier to help all your RGB accessories seamlessly work together for Windows apps. This month, we are making the Dynamic Lighting preview available to Windows Insiders so that developers and hardware partners alike can experiment with new integrations for RGB accessories and components.”
So far, we haven’t seen the Insider build that Panay references, nor do we know which channel it will appear in. (Windows Insider Release Preview and Beta Channels are for code that will definitely arrive on your PC, while the Dev and Canary Channels don’t offer any guarantees.)
It’s also unclear whether Windows will offer anything better than the surprising number of RGB utilities already on the market, from SignalRGB, OpenRGB, RGB Fusion, and others. New hardware features also often necessitate a complementary feature in the accompanying software utility, and it isn’t clear that Windows will be able to keep up with everything.
What we do know, however, is that apparently you won’t need to always rely on a piece of third-party code to keep the party pumping. Besides, can you really game without a swirling rainbow of lights in the background?
For more from Microsoft Build, check out our stories on Windows Copilot, how Microsoft will make moving to a new PC easier, and the changes coming to Microsoft Edge.
Author: Mark Hachman, Senior Editor
As PCWorld’s senior editor, Mark focuses on Microsoft news and chip technology, among other beats. He has formerly written for PCMag, BYTE, Slashdot, eWEEK, and ReadWrite.
https://www.pcworld.com/article/1928248/dynamic-lighting-will-be-windows-tool-to-manage-your-pcs-bling.html, PCWorld
Read More
source https://ihomenews.com/hallelujah-windows-11-is-finally-introducing-rgb-lighting-standards/
Tuesday, May 23, 2023
Living Room Furniture – Modern Home | Interior Decorating Ideas 2023
foreign.
thank you foreign.
Thank you foreign foreign thank you foreign.
source https://ihomenews.com/living-room-furniture-modern-home-interior-decorating-ideas-2023/
DIY FRONT PORCH MAKEOVER | DECORATING IDEAS | LANDSCAPING | HOUSE PROJECTS
Hey guys welcome back for a DIY front porch makeover it has actually been a couple of years since we've touched this space last year we didn't do anything because we were traveling so much so there is tons to do we wanted to work on some DIY Landscaping in our front flower beds and then also set up our front porch furniture and share some.
Decorating ideas that will make this space really pretty but also keep it functional for us and suit the needs of our family of course I'm going to be potting some herbs and hanging up some flowers and we're going to try to do everything on a budget because we didn't want to break the bank for this project so I'm going to share that entire.
Process starting with some before shots we had spent a few days digging out our flower beds because we knew we were going to revamp our landscaping and try something new this year but before we get started on that I noticed tons of staining on our front steps so I'm going to grab the power washer and take care of all of this.
Thank you thank you foreign is there anything more satisfying than power washing I love power washing even.
Though I'm clearly not a professional I don't have a professional skill set here my ankles are all wrong and sometimes I feel like I end up making a bigger mess and I'm cleaning up but I still have so much fun doing it and I think it's because there's something so unique about this task with this level of instant gratification that you like can.
See this dirt being blasted away and you can visualize the end product in real time and so that motivates you to work through the entire project but also makes you want to just power wash everything within sight I don't know maybe I'm just a weirdo and that's just me and I think the type of power washer that you have makes a huge difference as.
Well a few years back we tried that 99 one off of Amazon and it was horrible it broke after two uses and it was such a waste of a hundred dollars but for just a couple hundred dollars more we got this one a couple of years ago go and we have loved it it was a very worthwhile investment for us we use it all of the time and it does such a good job so if.
You're looking for a really good power washer I'll leave the link to ours down in the description box but while all of the water was soaking into our flower beds I wanted to go ahead and spray some weed killer as well so my logic behind it and I'm not sure if this is entirely right I'm sure it's not but this is just what I decided to do so my logic was if.
This water is seeping into the ground I should put some weed killer in here so it can seep down with it and really get down there because our flower beds have so much Rock in the soil that it makes it really difficult to like till them or dig them up and so I feel like no kind of topical treatment ever penetrates the ground as much as we would want it to so.
That was just my logic and reasoning behind it I don't know if that's the right way I'm sure one of you will tell me if I did it wrong or if I did it right but that's just what I decided to do and we did like the weed killer that we got we made sure to get one with this little hose that had a plastic tent around the end to make sure we were.
Protecting our existing plants while still spraying to not have all these weeds popping up all summer long so far so good we finished this project this week and we haven't seen a single weed pop up so I'm not sure if it's this or the weed barrier that I'm about to put down but either way we were just doing our due diligence and trying to get this.
Landscaping done the best way that we could come up with thank you thank you along with the weed killer I also wanted to lay down this weed barrier when we were digging up the flower beds we had.
Torn out a lot of the old whatever they had used and so we wanted to replace it we were really trying to make sure that we were doing this the right way instead of it being an obvious DIY or rushed DIY we wanted to take our times and make sure that this was going to be a lasting investment I feel like Landscaping can often feel like a money pit but the.
Materials that we decided to use this year made it feel like it was worthwhile for us a big part of that was these mulch nuggets that we decided to switch to so a few years ago we had dug out a bunch of Red Rock in our front flower beds we just we didn't like the aesthetic of it but we also didn't like how sharp it was our kids run through.
These flower beds all the time and as they get older and play outside more and ride bikes and things like that they were just always tripping over them hurting themselves cutting themselves and we decided to switch it out with black mulch at first I loved the look of the mulch but I felt like it didn't hold its color it had to be re-mulched every.
Single year which with this amount of landscaping area is hundreds of dollars every single year for it to just last one season and also it attracted a lot of bugs because it's wood and there's a risk of it attracting termites so this year we just decided to go for it switch to something else and we settled on these black mulch nuggets and I love.
Them Derek is starting to fill in this front flower bed but I have this one all covered so far and I just can't wait so this is not very labor intensive work I could easily do this myself it's actually these nuggets are a lot less heavy than like bags of mulch and things so he's going to Breeze through this but while he's doing that I'm going to start.
Setting up this area that we like use as our front porch area because I just can't wait so I'm going to set up the seating area do a little bit of planting set up our front step and our front door and start bringing it all together so that by the time that he's done with all of this Landscaping I'll have this done too and we can just enjoy the entire.
Space last year in the middle to the end of summer I found this little outdoor seating set on clearance at Aldi it was under 2 hundred dollars I think it was under a hundred and fifty dollars and I love it we got it at that time of year after the summer had passed and we actually used it for a fall front porch decorating video I did share that on my.
Channel every fall every Halloween and every Christmas we love to set up really big seasonal displays in this area and I always share that some of my favorite content to film and it's one of Derek and I's favorite things to do together but we were so impressed with this seating set it's very comfortable very pretty I would repurchase it at full.
Price if I needed to so definitely check your local Aldi if you're looking for some outdoor front porch seating this set is great and I would buy it even at full price I don't think Aldi has an online store though so you're gonna have to check in store to see if it was brought back I also did pick up some planters this year at Home Goods we had.
Some plastic ones for from years before that were just getting really banged up and beat up and I wanted to get some really pretty high quality ceramic and terracotta Planters but I didn't want to spend the lows in Home Depot's prices because I feel like they can be really unreasonable so I checked our local Home Goods they had a ton of phenomenal deals.
The largest planter I bought was only 35 dollars and both of these were under 20 bucks so if you're looking for some really high quality Planters but not wanting to pay an arm and a leg check out your local Home Goods if I can find the links to these ones on the Home Goods website I'll leave them down in the description box they just they.
Really do it right as far as outdoor decor furniture and just anything you need for outdoors I would always check Home Goods first because you're guaranteed to save so much money shopping at those types of stores rather than the big box retailers at least in my local area and in my opinion.
okay so these are all of the plants that I decided to put next to the seating area in this front flower bed I love them I chose all of the herbs my kids chose the flowers and the little bunny.
And I think it looks so cute but now we're gonna move on to our front step area and I really wanted to revamp this space our old layering rug started growing mold after a couple of years no shocker there it was time to replace it so I found this one at home goods for 16 it's very neutral very pretty and oversized this was the largest layering.
Outdoor rug I could find for the cheapest price everything else I was seeing at like Kirkland's and Target was like 25 and way smaller than this so I felt like this was a really really good find they did have a couple of different colors and patterns so check your local Home Goods if you're looking for something like this I also found this.
New front door mat at Target and this was a little bit of a Splurge it was thirty dollars but it's a different kind of material than usual front door mat so it's made to last a lot longer it's like made out of the same material as outdoor furniture and I thought that made it worth it I'll use it for every single season except probably Christmas is the.
Only time I'll put it away so if I can get a couple years use out of it every single month instead of having to change it monthly that makes it worth it I also found these lanterns at Home Goods this year they are outdoor lanterns and their material is also the same as like outdoor kind of faux wicker Rattan it's like that plasticky kind of wicker so I.
Thought that they would hold up really well I love the look it's just a little change of pace from our Black Lantern that we've had out here for quite a few years and they were really affordable I felt like the price was fair for the quality product I was getting so I just love the way they look but anyway the next thing that I'm going to do is clean.
This space I know that I had power washed it earlier but it is pollen season and pollen was already collecting so I'm going to use my jaws hardwood cleaner and wipe down the door all of the wood trim and also the glass storm door I probably should have switched between the hardwood cleaner and the glass cleaner but I was feeling lazy and.
This worked just as well it got all of the mess up and didn't leave any streaks and I guess that's all I can really ask for thank you I found this front door wreath at Target on clearance two or three years ago at.
The end of the summer season it was only six dollars and I love it it has held its shape beautifully throughout the last couple of years I use it at various times of the year and it's one of my favorite clearance finds okay this is looking so good so far but I just wanted to give you guys a quick update on these mulch nuggets in case anybody is.
Planning on replicating this or using this and wants to know like about how much you would need because we did just run out so we got this entire front flower bed area done and we stopped it right here you can clearly see that and then of this flower bed which has like it's a lot bigger and has a more unique shape I guess we got all the way over to.
Here and this was 30 bags of the Nugget Mulch and it is like it's nice in there I'm actually really happy with going this direction instead of the wood mulch so we got way more coverage area out of it than we thought that we were going to and this is just 30 bags I feel like 30 bags of the wood mulch didn't even last us this long.
So we still have the rest of this and I would say that that's a little less than this space like it's definitely not double what we've already done so I would say it would take 20 to 25 more bags to extend it this way which we are going to obviously so it all is cohesive but also we want to put our bird bath right there and we can't do that until.
We have all of this done so I'd say we need about 20 to 25 more bags for that direction and then over here on this side area I would say four to five bags would cover it so we probably need double the amount we got we knew we were going to need more but 30 was all that would fit in our car so Derek's gonna get that when he's at Lowe's too but.
This is looking so good I'm really happy with it I can already tell we're gonna like it so much better than the wood mulch it like repels bugs or like just doesn't invite bugs in and termites and things like that it also keeps its color a lot better and it's a lot more comfortable to step on it's just like rubber tire material so or maybe it is.
That's exactly what it is a shredded up tires but it looks really pretty it it in my opinion looks better than the mulch it'll keep its color a lot longer you won't get splinters I would just highly recommend we really like it but just in case you're planning on doing this as well I wanted to let you.
Know that 30 bags covers this amount of area so anyway we are almost done as soon as Derek comes back with the mulch we'll finish that and we'll put the little plant in here but the last thing that I wanted to do was put together this deck box I just ordered it online I'll leave a link down in the description box in case you're.
Interested but I had seen on Pinterest or Tick Tock Maybe this idea to use a duck box next to your front step for deliveries like especially in the springtime when it spontaneously rains and things like that so if you have like an Amazon delivery or something they can just put it in the deck box protect it from the weather not.
Have it on your front step so since we don't have a covered porch area I thought that was genius so I'm going to go ahead and put this together get it set up nestled right in this little corner so it's out of the way but still obvious for our delivery drivers and hopefully this will work out exactly as I hope it will.
so I'm not gonna lie when this showed up at my doorstep I was just like there's no way that everything is in here they must have forgotten part of it it's going to be coming in multiple packages something like that so I waited a few days and nothing else showed up and I don't know what I was expecting when I.
Was unboxing it but I was not expecting this to be so easy I've never purchased a deck box before so I really didn't know what I was getting into but for some reason I had built it up in my head that is going to require a lot of tools it was going to be heavy it was going to be hard to put together and that could not have been further from the truth it.
Was so easy to snap everything into place there were no tools required at all for the assembly and I got this entire thing put together in less than five minutes but it still looks like it has really good quality none of the seams are open like everything is weatherproof Groove I was highly impressed with this.
All right this is exactly what I wanted that fits in that little corner perfectly without being too much of an eyesore like it doesn't necessarily look out of place and maybe I saw this on the product listing and not on Pinterest or Tick Tock because look please Place packages in box and it has like Amazon FedEx UPS the post office it's a sticker.
So I can just like put this right here or right here I think I probably probably put it here so it's really easy to no I'll probably put it there because even before you can read it you would see the logo so I think I'm going to put it on the front and that way it's just super easy I don't have to worry about like making a little sign or anything.
This is perfect I love that it came with this and then also if you are wanting to like store things like when it rains we'll probably put these lanterns even though they're outdoor lanterns we'll probably just quickly put them in here just to keep them lasting for as long as possible but there's this little combination lock that also came.
With it I didn't realize it would be coming with it and that just fits right in here to keep it secure and keep all of your belongings locked up so if you're using this on a patio or a deck or as any other kind of storage it's just really easy to secure your things so I really like that I got this one this is a 30 gallon and it is way bigger.
Than I thought it was going to be also ridiculously easy to assemble no tools required it just kind of like Snapped into place let me show you guys you see those little snaps down there um I would hear them snap and then try and take it apart and it is secure in there but this is the 30 gallon I also.
Got a 100 gallon to use on our actual patio for like our kids outdoor toys and things like that we'll be setting that up this week but I love it I think it's great this is the gray color in my opinion it looks a little more grayish it's definitely neutral and can fit in with a ton of different Aesthetics but yeah I'm loving.
This so I'm gonna put this sticker on the front right here get this cleaned up and I can't wait to show Derek when he gets back from the store I really really like it like I said I'll leave this Linked In the description box in case you're looking for something like this that was the last part of this front porch makeover so before I share the.
Final reveal I wanted to remind you of our starting point share these before shots one more time and where we are right now I am loving how everything turned out I had so much fun pulling this space together it's definitely the most simple setup I've ever had here the most simple and affordable decorating ideas I've shared but I love that I love.
This space I love how manageable it is it's beautiful it's functional it's everything I wanted it to be and I hope that you enjoyed coming along on the process with me if you did give this video a thumbs up subscribe if you aren't already thanks so much for choosing to spend your time here today and I'll see you in the next one.
source https://ihomenews.com/diy-front-porch-makeover-decorating-ideas-landscaping-house-projects/
How to Light Your Patio or Yard Without Annoying Your Neighbors
The Fix
How to Light an Outdoor Space Without Infuriating Your Neighbors
Forget the floodlights. The key to effectively illuminating your yard or patio at night is subtlety.
It’s that time of year again. Gardens, terraces and yards are coming alive with greenery. Outdoor furniture is being dusted off. But don’t forget the one thing you really need for enjoying your outdoor space at night: outdoor lighting.
Why does it matter?
“Especially in the city, most people experience their gardens at night more than they do during the day,” said Stephen Eich, the urban studio director at Hollander Design, a landscape architecture firm based in New York. “We’re always super conscious about making sure that it’s well illuminated and inviting, just so people can enjoy their garden.”
Light is also essential for outdoor activities like grilling and dining — and so your guests can see where they’re going. “From a safety standpoint, lighting is pretty important, particularly if you have any grade changes or material changes,” said Daniel Nolan, a landscape designer in San Francisco.
But maybe most important of all is the magical feeling that outdoor lighting conjures. “It just changes the mood,” said Jeffrey Salcito, the founder of the Brooklyn-based garden design firm Huntergreen. “Even if a space is very industrial, just adding string lights is going to instantly make it a more enjoyable space.”
With so many options to choose from — string lights, LED fixtures, rechargeable lamps and more — we asked designers of landscapes and lighting to share their advice.
Image
Focus on Warm, Gentle Light
Don’t even think about blasting your garden with floodlights. To create an outdoor space that people actually want to spend time in, most designers try to create subtle, glare-free illumination. That means installing layers of gentle light focused on different areas and functions.
“What that does is it creates a more subtle contrast between the light and the dark, which actually allows you to see more, while making everything feel better,” said Nathan Orsman, a lighting designer with offices in New York, Southampton and Miami.
Most exterior lights are now LED. “But the trouble with LED lights is that they tend to be very white and very bright,” said Scott Shrader, a landscape designer based in West Hollywood, Calif.
He and Mr. Orsman both suggested finding LED lights that offer a warm-white color temperature of about 2,700 Kelvin, as well as low-wattage fixtures that aren’t blinding. (Mr. Shrader often uses fixtures that consume just 2.5 watts each.)
If you plan to use multiple fixtures, Mr. Orsman suggested buying a single light to test it before placing a big order.
“Everyone’s version of 2,700 Kelvin is slightly different,” he said. Regardless of what’s printed on the box, “it’s not as fixed as you would think.”
Image
Consider the View From Inside
Outdoor lighting isn’t just useful when you’re outside — it also improves the view from indoors.
“Whenever we’re working on lighting landscapes, we’re always trying to break the reflection on windows from the interior,” Mr. Eich said.
At night, a window looking onto a dark garden will act like a black mirror, making it difficult to see anything outside. A little lighting on the other side of the window can reduce reflections and help you see through the glass. That’s beneficial even on colder days when you don’t go outside.
“If you have a terrace that’s been landscaped and you can see it from your kitchen, or another room, it expands your sense of space,” Mr. Salcito said.
Begin With General Illumination
There are many ways to give large gardens and yards a subtle glow.
One of Mr. Shrader’s favorites is known as moonlighting: mounting multiple low-voltage fixtures in trees so they cast a light resembling that of a full moon on a clear night. “It’s the most beautiful lighting, from my point of view,” he said.
He often sets fixtures from Lightcraft Outdoor through tree branches to project arboreal shadows downward. “You cross them through the branches so that it gives you this beautiful pattern on the ground,” he said.
If your yard is fenced, another option is to mount multiple low-voltage sconces directly to the fence, a technique Mr. Salcito often uses in Brooklyn backyards. On a small terrace, one or two sconces mounted on an exterior wall works well.
Image
Uplight Features
To give specific trees, plantings or sculptural features a dramatic boost, designers often uplight them with fixtures on the ground.
Hollander Design sometimes uses uplights to highlight an allée or a pair of trees. “A lot of times, we’re playing up symmetry or just the overall order of the garden,” Mr. Eich said. “Typically, we’ll choose trees that have interesting features, like the exfoliating bark on river birches or the smooth, muscly bark on a beech tree.”
Mr. Shrader has used uplights to accentuate the texture of a weathered brick wall, and Mr. Salcito has used them to show off vine-covered fences.
Image
Illuminate Paths
To lead guests through a garden, consider lighting pathways with low-voltage landscape lights on short stakes. Some have a mushroom-shaped shade that reflects a circle of light onto the ground, while others have a head that provides more directional light, like a spotlight.
For stairs, consider recessed step lights. And if your outdoor space has built-in benches or elevated platforms and landings, you may want to tuck LED strip lights underneath them.
“That’s really nice, because when you’re in an area with furniture, it often becomes a black hole in the garden,” Mr. Nolan said, because it can be difficult to add landscape lights where there is no soil.
Image
Address Specific Functions
Illuminating a dining area, kitchen, reading nook or other functional outdoor space requires a different approach. In those cases, it’s not just about creating an inviting glow or helping people to see where they’re going — it’s about providing light for specific activities.
If there is a pergola overhead, one option is to hang a decorative pendant, lantern or chandelier, as you might illuminate an indoor dining room. For a more streamlined look, Mr. Shrader often integrates LED downlights into a pergola frame, so they’re nearly invisible.
If there’s no pergola, there are other creative options. “Where we don’t have an overhead structure, we can use string lights, going from tree to tree, to provide that illumination,” Mr. Eich said.
Mr. Orsman also uses string lights (some of which come with shatter-resistant LED bulbs), even in landscapes with more elaborate lighting systems. “All of our clients like them,” he said. “Who doesn’t?”
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Embrace Flexibility
Candle lanterns, hurricanes and votive holders are easy, portable options for lighting a table or a seating area. “Candles are a really important aspect of a lighting program,” Mr. Shafer said. “Just because they bring so much mood and elegance to an outdoor space.”
The biggest trend changing how people illuminate outdoor spaces, however, is the rise of portable, rechargeable LED lights from companies like Zafferano, Smart and Green and Fermob.
“One of the most amazing things we have now, that we didn’t before, is the incredible range of options in rechargeable lamps,” Mr. Orsman said, which can simply be carried outside as needed.
Indeed, not all light fixtures you use outdoors need to live there all the time — or even be designed for outdoor use. Mr. Shafer sometimes carries indoor lamps outside and plugs them into exterior outlets. “I’ll have a whole bar set up and I’ll just go and plug a lamp in, just for the night I’m entertaining,” he said. “That’s kind of fun.”
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Be a Good Neighbor
As you add light fixtures to your outdoor space, there’s one major caveat: Be mindful of your neighbors.
“One of the biggest mistakes people make is they go overboard on lighting and then become that neighbor, where it looks like a resort,” Mr. Nolan said. “That’s the last person you want to be.”
If neighboring outdoor spaces are dimly lit, try to avoid making your own space too bright, Mr. Nolan suggested. And definitely avoid directing light at nearby windows.
Mr. Orsman also recommended putting landscape lighting on a timer, to avoid accidentally leaving it on all night. “I don’t like anything on all night,” he said. “You should always try to be respectful of your neighbors.”
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Tim McKeough
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source https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/23/realestate/outdoor-lighting-yard-patio.html
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