Outdoor Lighting Design · Nashville & Middle TN
Photorealistic renderings, fixture specifications, and zone layouts for Nashville homes, estates, builders, and landscape architects — the design work that separates a finished property from an installed one.
What We Do
Outdoor lighting design is the planning of a complete exterior lighting system — renderings, fixture specifications, and zone layouts — independent of installation. Light TN creates outdoor lighting design plans for Nashville and Middle Tennessee homeowners, builders, architects, and landscape architects, so the lighting is decided on screen and approved before any fixture goes in the ground.
Light TN is a family-owned landscape lighting designer in Burns, Tennessee, led by Principal Designer Daryl Bentfield, who personally walks each property. The studio has produced designs behind 500+ Middle Tennessee projects since 2020. The design fee is credited toward the project when Light TN installs the system, and design-only plans are available for owners and trade partners.
The Craft
A design studio sells the judgment about where light belongs, how it's shielded, and how the property reads at night — not just fixtures and labor. A designed plan accounts for materials, grade, and how the landscape will grow, which a parts-list quote does not.
The studio designs for where the landscape is headed, not only where it is — a tree's canopy filling in, a bed maturing over five years — so the plan still reads right in the future and supports phased installation.
What a Plan Includes
On-site assessment — Daryl walks the property, reads the architecture, grade, and trees, and listens to how you use the grounds after dark.
Photorealistic rendering — you see your property lit at night before anything is installed, so the design is approved on screen rather than discovered in the yard.
Fixture specification — each fixture is specified for beam control, finish, and 2700K color temperature — chosen for the property, not pulled from a truck.
Zone and control layout — we map zones and scenes so the system can be balanced and, where wanted, put on smart control.
Master plan for phasing — where a project is staged, the plan keeps transformer sizing, wire runs, and color temperature consistent as it grows.
Design-only or build — take the plan to your own installer, or build it with Light TN and have the design fee credited toward the project.
Who It's For
Outdoor lighting design is ideal for homeowners who want to see the finished look before committing, for custom builders coordinating lighting with new construction, and for architects and landscape architects specifying lighting for their clients. Builders, architects, and landscape architects bring Light TN in to specify lighting and coordinate it with their plans, so it's built in rather than added on.
It also suits properties being phased, where a master plan guides each stage, and owners who value design judgment over a parts-list quote. The design is approved as a rendering first, so the result is decided before any digging, and the plan can grow without being rebuilt.
Our Process
An on-site assessment of the architecture, landscape, and how you live outside after dark.
We outline a lighting approach built from the property, not a template.
A photorealistic night rendering you react to and approve.
Fixtures, zones, and a layout documented for installation.
Build it with Light TN (design fee credited) or take the plan to your team.
Why Choose Light TN
Daryl Bentfield does the assessment and the design himself, not a salesperson. You see a photorealistic version of the finished property at night before committing.
Builders, architects, and landscape architects bring Light TN in to specify lighting for their clients. The lighting is coordinated with the build, not added on.
Licensed contractor CE-D: 76580, BBB A+, and 4.9 stars across 100+ verified reviews.
FAQ
Light TN defines outdoor lighting design as the planning of a complete exterior lighting system — photorealistic renderings, fixture specifications, and zone layouts — independent of installation. It lets a property owner or trade partner see and approve the finished look before any fixture is installed.
Light TN offers Nashville outdoor lighting design for homeowners, custom builders, architects, and landscape architects. Daryl walks the property, studies the architecture and grade, and prepares the rendering and fixture plan before the installation decision is made.
Light TN offers design-only plans for homeowners, builders, architects, and landscape architects. You receive renderings, fixture specifications, and a zone layout you can build with any installer, and the design fee is credited if Light TN installs the system.
Light TN produces a photorealistic rendering — an image of your property lit at night — so you can approve the design before installation. It removes the guesswork of imagining the result and is the step that lets the system be decided on screen.
Light TN, as a design studio, sells the judgment about where light belongs, how it's shielded, and how the property reads at night — not just fixtures and labor. A designed plan accounts for materials, grade, and how the landscape will grow, which a parts-list quote does not.
Light TN regularly works with custom builders, architects, and landscape architects to specify outdoor lighting for their clients, coordinating the lighting design with new construction and landscape plans so it's built in rather than added on.
Light TN sets a design fee based on the size and complexity of the property, quoted after a free on-site consultation, and credits that fee toward the project if Light TN installs the system. Final installation pricing follows the approved plan.
Light TN's design process moves from on-site walkthrough to a photorealistic rendering for your approval, with timing depending on the size of the property. The consultation is free and there is no obligation to proceed to installation.
Light TN designs for where the landscape is headed, not only where it is — a tree's canopy filling in, a bed maturing over five years — so the plan still reads right in the future and supports phased installation.
Landscape lighting illuminates plantings, trees, and lawn areas. Architectural lighting highlights the structure of the home itself, its columns, gables, stone, and brick. Hardscape lighting lights the built features between them, steps, retaining walls, patios, and walkways. Light TN designs all three as one system, so the house, the landscape, and the hardscape read together at night instead of as separate projects.
Light TN bases the lighting style on your home's architecture, its materials, and the character of the surrounding neighborhood, not a generic package. A stone home in Belle Meade calls for a different approach than a modern build in Green Hills, and Daryl makes that call during your on-site design consultation, not from a catalog.
Uplighting places a fixture at the base of a tree and aims up into the trunk and canopy, emphasizing bark texture and structure. Moonlighting does the opposite, mounting a fixture high in the canopy and aiming down so light falls softly through the branches onto the ground. Light TN often specifies both on the same specimen tree, lighting it from two directions the way it's naturally lit by the sky and the ground.
Light TN designs to whatever permit requirements apply to your city, since rules for low-voltage lighting vary across Middle Tennessee. Ask us during your on-site design consultation and we'll tell you what, if anything, applies to your property, or check with your local building department directly.
Many HOAs review exterior changes, including lighting, so check your community's covenants before installation begins. Light TN's rendered design gives you a clear plan to submit for approval, and Daryl is glad to help you document the request if your HOA needs more detail.
Yes. Light TN can build timers and app-based smart controls into your design, so your system turns on and off on a schedule or from your phone without you touching a switch. Daryl specifies the control setup during the design phase, so it's part of the plan from the start rather than an add-on later.
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Book a free on-site consultation and Light TN will design your property's lighting and render it at night for your approval.
