A wider angle, the silly little lamp on the right with the blue bulb is also one oft favorite things

My grandmother had up lights in all her plants and I always thought it was so cool. Not an option for me until my kids are older.. They think all the shadows are scary- lol!

I'm a christopher lowell fan and uplights were used all the time in corners and on plants. He used to say you need a balance of light from the ceiling down, at eye level and from the floor up.

If any of you remember a program called Sell This House with a guy Roger Hazard where they would take a house that hadn't sold in months and months and then stage it for real cheap to sell....they never said, but in all the afters, there were uplights in the corners of the rooms to make them look larger.

ooh, yeah. When I was a kid, shadows were scary! forgot that.

funny, a Pinterest search for "uplight" yields mostly wedding stuff.

A Pinterest search for almost anything yields mostly wedding stuff! Frustrating sometimes!

Nevertheless, this thread reminds me...where are my uplights?

I don't...but now I totally want!!!

Banking this idea for when we revamp the LR...maybe after Christmas. Our LR is dark and dreary, and my DH loves to flip on the overhead ceiling fan light at night. It doesn't create nice atmosphere at all.

ugh. overhead lights. I'm aaaaaallll about the mood lighting. I've got dimmers, rope lights up on the top of the cabinets, small lamps, candles, twinkly lights, colored lights, etc. etc.

I only turn the overhead lights on if I'm forced to actually see something at night, ha!

Oh I want to see the twinkly lights Violet! I left mine up after Christmas for a long time (not on a tree!!) and I would love to have some up year round.

I don't think I have anything worth up lighting but I do have a goal to add some plants to the house now that our cats are no longer with us :(

The "twinkly lights" I was thinking of are not typical strand lights but instead are laser Bliss lights I use outside. Hard to get a good pic but here's one-- with yes, another uplight. I love, love, love them -- expensive, but they make me so happy.

This post was edited by Violet.West on Fri, Oct 10, 14 at 15:27

Violet I love those! What a gorgeous setting.

The uplight behind the plant shot looks "scary" as it's the only light on in the room, but when you balance light sources, it isn't scary...just makes the room look brighter and larger.

Note the uplight causing a soft shadow from behind the plant in this Christopher Lowell room

I hope I didn't sound as though I think they are scary. I love them, but my kids think everything is scary. My oldest daughter mad me take a Tarkay print out of her room when she was 5 or 6...little nutter. :-)

I have an uplight or two, but mine do not throw off shadows like the first post. It lights up the corner of the room. Perhaps my plant is not large enough. Those shadows remind me of the dead shadows from the movie, Ghost. I would say that they would scare my grandson, but this kid doesn't seem to be scared about anything. He will walk into a dark closet and let you close the door (or do it himself) and will wait until someone finds him. LOL Of course, only about 2 seconds go by before we open the door back up and say so.

Violet, do you use that all year round?

yes, I use them all time. I use the indoor one when I feel like it -- usually on the weekends. Normally all the rest of my lights (except the overheads) are on at the same time, so there aren't so many shadows. And they don't scare me!

The outside ones are solar so they just turn on and off by themselves.

The outside are solar? You must have enough sun then to keep it going? I find out solar lights now, aren't that strong, as they are in the summer.
I am thinking I want to put one outside for the holiday.

Yes, we have enough sun. I think I bought mine in spring, or in the beginning of summer, so we'll see though.

I do highly recommend the green Bliss lights I've gotten from QVC, which project multiple small lights. I use them year round, but they do make lovely holiday lights. You'll see a variety of reviews from "meh" to "love them" but -- I love them. I think they're expensive for what they are, but I'm addicted now.

We have four 500 watt halogen uplights in the landscaped middle of our circle drive. We have really big trees in that circle and the lights highlight the leaves up 50 feet. It's cool, not scary, outside so no shadows.

Oh no! Something else I "need" - up lights!

These photos are amazing. I have a huge Christmas cactus that blooms from November to mid-May. Maybe I will get it a seperate plant stand and devise a way up light it up.

Violet, is it the one on QVC that is about $159.00?

yes, that's it. It's usually on "easy pay" though. In the evenings, I sit in my porches and enjoy the view of city lights, my uplights, and the fairy Bliss lights. The pictures don't do it justice. It makes me so happy so it's worth it!

I think it looks wonderful! I have to think about where I would put them :)

Thanks Violet. Will get one!

Newhomebuilder- I think yours doesn't make shadows because it's behind the plant; not in front like mine. Which is fine, of course

Newhomebuilder, I love your walls and colors. So pretty!

We do have uplights on the outside of our house.

...we were very careful to place them so they didn't cast frankenstein shadows on the house....we didn't want to look like this...

lovely, lovely, Annie! To avoid the Frankenstein effect, do you just not put as many? Or is there some spacing equation? I rather like dramatic shadows, but wouldn't want to overdo it.

I wonder if they will do okay in the snow?

violet, we borrowed some lights from the lighting store and took them home and played with them to get just what we wanted. It has to do with the distance from the house and what plantings or other architectural features are between the house and the light. So for the big gable we placed them close to the house so the light grazes the stonework and adds texture without casting ominous shadows. The other up light we used was placed far away with no plants in front to spotlight the gable over the porch.

livvy, we have LED lights as they are very inexpensive to run and they have been through several winters already, under 4' or more of snow without issue.

very smart, Annie.

Where did you get the indoor uplights? I have been looking everywhere for incandescent or CFL can uplights and have been told they are no longer legal. I can find LEDs but the lighting is too harsh.

Found mine at Lowes. It has a CFL in there. I'll try to find the specific product for ya.

ETA: well, I can't find it at Lowes, and you're right--the ones I'm seeing listed have LEDs in them. Will look at my light tonight and let you know what it is.

This post was edited by Violet.West on Wed, Oct 15, 14 at 13:04