5 Landscape Lighting Trends Shaping Professional Design
Every season we look at where professional landscape lighting is heading, based on what our contractors are specifying and what their clients are asking for. Five shifts stand out, and each one changes how you design, sell, and install a system.
1. Minimal, Low-Glare Design
Bulky luminaires and harsh glare are falling out of favor. Clients and municipalities are paying closer attention to light pollution, and the best designs now show the effect, not the source. That means low-profile luminaires, tighter optics, and only as much light as the scene needs.
What It Means for Your Projects
Specify luminaires that hide the source and control spill. Glare control is now a selling point you can explain to a client, not just a design preference.
How Sterling Helps
We design every Sterling luminaire around how the light lands on the subject, with a clean aesthetic and attention to glare. For discreet path lighting, the SL17 Hidden Path Light keeps a low profile. For in-grade uplighting, the SL06 Well Light sits flush with the landscape. For more on beam control, see the precision advantage of LED optics.
2. Safety and Security Without the Parking-Lot Look
Safety still drives many lighting purchases, but clients no longer accept flooding a property with light to get it. They want safe paths, lit entries, and visible grounds that still look designed.
Photo: Dayloom
What It Means for Your Projects
Build safety into the layout from the start: steps, grade changes, entries, and dark corners. Done well, security lighting reads as part of the design.
How Sterling Helps
The SL24 Flood Light from our premium SL20s line has adjustable output for larger trees and facades. The compact SL01 Up Light covers walls, trees, and architectural details with removable optics, so you can match the beam to the job.
3. Sustainability and Repairability
Energy efficiency is now an expectation. Low-voltage LED systems draw far less power than the halogen systems they replace, and repairability is becoming just as important: a luminaire that can be serviced in the field stays in the ground longer and keeps waste out of landfills.
Are LED Landscape Lights Better for the Environment?
Generally, yes. Compared with incandescent and halogen lamps, LEDs:
- Use up to 80% less energy for comparable light output.
- Last many times longer, which means fewer replacements and service calls.
- Run cooler, which is easier on plants, surfaces, and components.
- Contain no mercury, unlike CFLs.
What It Means for Your Projects
Clients ask about operating cost and maintenance. Efficient, serviceable luminaires give you a clear answer and a lower long-term cost of ownership to point to.
How Sterling Helps
Sterling luminaires use integrated LEDs and are built from durable materials like marine-grade brass, so they hold up for years and can be serviced instead of replaced.
4. Smart Controls and Automation
Clients expect to schedule, dim, and adjust their outdoor lighting from a phone, often alongside their interior lighting. Controls are now part of the conversation on most high-end projects.
What It Means for Your Projects
Choose a control platform you can support for the life of the system, and design zones with automation in mind. A reliable, well-supported platform matters more than the longest feature list.
How Sterling Helps
Sterling luminaires work with a range of smart low-voltage control systems. For whole-home automation, Sterling is a Lutron dealer.
5. Luminaires That Do More
Every luminaire on a project has to earn its place. Clients want lighting that marks paths, highlights architecture, and sets the mood for entertaining, and it has to survive the environment it is installed in.
What It Means for Your Projects
Favor versatile, low-glare luminaires that can be serviced in the field. Fewer callbacks protect your margin and your reputation.
How Sterling Helps
The SL02 In Line Light (pictured above) disappears into steps, seat walls, and retaining walls, and like all our luminaires it is built to last and to be repaired in the field.
Final Thoughts
Lighting is a growing share of outdoor living investment. The ICFA 2023 trend report found that 36% of outdoor enhancement purchases included lighting. The contractors who win that work pair low-glare design, efficient and serviceable luminaires, and controls their clients can actually use.
Sterling luminaires are designed by lighting professionals, for lighting professionals, and backed by design support and technical help when you need it. Join our contractor program to get trade access and support on your next project.
About the Author: Damien Sanchez is co-founder and COO of Sterling Lighting and an experienced lighting designer, trained under Patrick Harders, LC, since 2006. He's also an entrepreneur who owns a service-based business.
