Just a few years ago, it was understood that high-quality audio and visual equipment didn’t belong outside. But, today, running great A/V equipment outside is much easier, and it’s providing people with better outdoor living spaces than ever before.
When it comes to installing outdoor lighting, aesthetics become a vital component of the system’s design. Again, lamps and fixtures should add to your entertainment experience, not distract from it, so placement is an important matter to consider, the good thing is there are professionals in charge of this, a professional interior fit out company can help you transform your commercial space outdoor or your residential house. You will get all the help you need with a good service company including the planning, installation and final aesthetics design.
Outdoor audio and video systems can enhance the way you entertain in your outdoor living spaces by using high-quality equipment that’s designed to withstand the elements and provide access to the clearest, sharpest media in any conditions. You can order these audio and video systems online and get them fast and safe thanks to the besthttps://www.amazon.com/Pro-Office-Shipping-Labels-Printers/dp/B00OTXWVXI to have your equipment ready for the installation process of the whole refurbishment.
Read on to see what the impact of upgraded outdoor A/V equipment is, different ways to use it, and examples of great products you can use.
Use Distributed A/V For Entertainment Anywhere
Distributed audio/visual systems allow you to access audio and video entertainment throughout your home. With this technology, entertainment such as television, music, movies, and so forth are no longer constrained to a single room.
Instead, you can stream music anywhere, move from room to room without having to pause, and entertain virtually anywhere, including outside.
Adding to the value of these systems is the fact that they are controlled without the use of remotes and knobs, making them both simple to use and highly convenient. They can even be controlled through your tablet or smartphone, so virtually any place you get together with friends and family is a spot where entertainment is available.
Take Your Entertainment Outside With Outdoor A/V
Having your entertainment system available throughout your house sounds wonderful, right? What many people don’t realize is that you can bring that technology outside as well, allowing you to enjoy it on your porch, lawn, deck, hot tub—anywhere. Some might scoff at that concept, but it can be more useful than you might think.
Imagine a warm, sunny Sunday afternoon. There’s a big game on tonight, but this is also the perfect day for a barbecue. Without outdoor A/V, you have two options:
- Cook out, but then eat inside once the game comes on, or;
- Cook out, eat outside and miss the game, or at the very least, have it going inside while everyone is trying to have a good time outside
Now suppose you have a high-quality, high-definition entertainment system right on your porch. That changes things, doesn’t it?
You get to enjoy the smoky barbecue, the warm sun, and the fresh air outside, all while also rooting for your team with your friends.
This isn’t the only way outdoor audio and video systems can benefit you. Even if you’re not planning to watch anything, you can have ambient music going while eating outside or crank up the tunes for a big backyard party.
No longer do you need to keep outdoor and indoor activities separate. With distributed A/V outside, you can blend the two in order to make the most of any entertainment situation.
High-Quality Equipment You Can Count On
In order to truly enjoy your entertainment outdoors, you need A/V equipment that is specifically engineered for it. Average TVs simply aren’t designed to withstand the open air outside your home, and dust, rain, moisture, insects, and even sunlight can eventually ruin the device.
Even without that drawback, you still won’t get a very clear picture in the bright daylight as the sun outshines the screen. Speaker systems don’t fare much better. What you need for your outdoor A/V is high-quality, durable, weatherproof equipment that will provide the best outside experience possible. At Livewire, we use only high-quality brands for our outdoor A/V entertainment systems. Two of these brands are Séura and James Loudspeaker.
An important thing is to also remember, if you are doing this for your own house or getting the new house ready for sale you can’t forget to use removalists Sydney, which will provide moving boxes, shrink wrap and other packaging materials, and a team of professional packers that will help to make the job easy, also providing secure storage solutions for furniture you don’t intend on moving home.
Séura TVs for Outdoor Living Areas
Séura designs and manufactures finely crafted visual entertainment systems, including outdoor televisions. Their Storm and Storm Ultra Bright TVs are sleek, sturdy, and carefully designed to withstand the elements.
In addition, the Storm Ultra Bright TV automatically adapts its picture to show brightly and clearly in any lighting, so it won’t fade to black when the sun is out. Séura TVs are waterproof, weatherproof, corrosion resistant, and triple-sealed to keep out rain, snow, dirt, and bugs. In addition, you get ultra HD picture, making them an excellent addition to your outdoor entertainment system.
James Loudspeaker – Outdoor Speakers
Providing everything from powerful freestanding speakers to discreet in-wall units, James Loudspeaker units are engineered to provide the best sound quality in any setting, whether you’re indoors or outdoors.
James Loudspeaker systems are sturdily built from powder-coated aircraft-grade aluminum, so they can provide rich, strong audio in any conditions. Also, these systems can be custom-designed to fit any landscape or patio sound system.
By using only the best A/V equipment as part of your outdoor entertainment system, you can be assured that you’ll enjoy audio and video in any conditions and for years to come.
In addition, equipment that is designed to be used outside will be covered for outside use by warranty, which cannot be said for regular screens and sound systems. Using the right equipment for the right scenario is vital to keeping the warranty valid.
Outdoor Lighting
Often, outdoor gatherings will go on until after the sun sets. There’s something magical about the transition from day to twilight and into the night. This can be the perfect time to spend quality time with friends, continue enjoying the game, and having an overall marvelous time. However, that does mean you need tasteful and effective outdoor lighting.
To make the most of your outdoor experience after dark, there are a few things to remember about designing a landscape lighting scene.
Illumination, Highlighting and Silhouetting
Landscape lighting for outdoor entertaining needs to be functional (i.e. it allows everyone to see where they’re going without tripping over the landscaping) and attractive. It should highlight the best features of your landscaping while also providing attractive illumination for the space.
Even then, it shouldn’t be too bright—people shouldn’t have to squint or avert their eyes as soon as your outdoor lights come on.
Consider the following scene: you have a deck surrounded by hedges that leads down to a cobblestone walkway. This is lined by a short stone wall and trees of various sizes as it winds down around a fountain and through your garden. How would you light all this without washing everything out?
Lamps mounted on posts can provide nice ambient lighting for your deck while path lights can be used to illuminate your walkway. Just under the lip of the stone wall, you can mount downlighting fixtures to illuminate the walkway further in a very attractive way.
For the trees, a combination of spotlights mounted at the base pointing upward and up top pointing downward (uplighting and downlighting respectively) create a pleasant moonlighting effect. Finally, the fountain can benefit from underwater lights that play on the constantly moving surface.
There are various brands and styles to choose from when it comes to lighting your outdoor spaces. We’ll go over a few of the more high-end brands, known for their quality lighting and tasteful fixture design.
Kichler Fixtures
From post lamps to spotlights to LED lanterns, Kichler provides a wide range of high-end fixtures for outdoor applications. The styles offered also range from the simple and functional to elaborate wall lamps boasting textured glass. Each fixture, regardless of its function, is ultimately designed for aesthetic appeal with a tasteful combination of finish and glass.
Hinkley
Hinkley brand lanterns come in a variety of eclectic styles, whether you want something fruit-shaped or tasteful wall mounts with silver finishing. They tend to run a little less expensive than other high-end brands, but that doesn’t mean they don’t provide quality—their fixtures are designed to provide tasteful lighting with elaborate designs.
From modern chic fixtures to old-fashioned designs, Hinkley provides a wide array of options for their customers to select from when it comes to lighting up their outdoor space.
Sea Gull
The LED fixtures provided by Sea Gull afford homeowners numerous features, including color-changing bulbs and warm-on-dim functionality. With over 90 colors available with numerous types of fixtures (wall lamps, post lamps, flush-mounted lamps, spotlights, etc.), these are ideal for creating just the right atmosphere for your outdoor gathering.
Foscarini
Artistry and refinement are the hallmarks of Foscarini brand lights, and they provide their artistically designed fixtures in a wide range of materials, including textured glass, polyethylene, wood, carbon fiber, and even Kevlar. Whether you need something mounted on the ground or hanging from your patio overhang, Foscarini offers refinement and quality.
Choosing Fixtures
The right fixtures will match your home’s aesthetic without detracting from it. They can also incorporate various technologies, including solar powered (for saving electricity), motion sensors, timers, and remotely controlled smart lighting.
When it comes to application, you may, for instance, want to use color-changing Sea Gull lamps to create mood lighting for a backyard dance party, or you might only want something simple yet elegant from Hinkley to cast a soft glow over the deck area.
To accentuate attractive details of your landscaping, recessed ground lighting or flush lights on the sides of your walls can provide the right aesthetic, depending on where the desired lighting is needed. Downlights can provide ambient lighting or help accentuate trees. Spotlights can highlight details without flooding an area with too much light.
As you incorporate landscape lighting with your outdoor entertainment area, you will want to be sure it doesn’t detract from your A/V as well as the aesthetic appeal of your landscaping. Location is key—after all, you don’t want a lamp shining in your eyes while watching the game on your Séura outdoor screen. Careful integration is key.
Design and Installation
When you’re ready to fully integrate your outdoor A/V into your distributed home entertainment system, proper design is key. Not only do you need the right equipment, but the overall system needs to be connected and installed in a way that offers both ease-of-use and optimum quality.
Determining how your system will be implemented begins with a consultation with Livewire. Among the different factors that we’ll assess when designing your outdoor audio and video are:
- The amount of shade provided by trees or patio roofing
- Your usual climate
- The layout of your landscaping or patio
- Positioning of existing light sources
- Acoustics of the outdoor space
- Connectivity and usage preferences
- Aesthetic appeal
Take Your Outdoor Entertainment To The Next Level with an Outdoor Theater
Ready to take your outdoor living space to the next level? With Livewire, we’ll assess these and other factors, including your own personal tastes. Then we’ll design a system that meets your needs.
To get more information about upgrading your outdoor entertainment space, contact us for a Free Consultation today by filling out the form below.
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