See the Stars Again
Dark Sky Lighting That Brings the Night Back
At The Light Center, we believe great lighting does more than illuminate your home—it enhances how you live in it. With over 50 years of expertise, our team helps you create outdoor lighting that feels intentional, beautiful, and aligned with the way your home is actually used.
Dark Sky lighting is a more thoughtful approach to exterior lighting. Instead of flooding your property with unnecessary brightness, it focuses on lighting only what needs to be lit—using downward-facing, properly shielded fixtures and the right level of brightness.
As the largest lighting showroom in northern Colorado, we offer a curated selection of Dark Sky-friendly exterior lighting designed to reduce light pollution while still delivering the safety, visibility, and atmosphere you want.
Lighting That Reduces Light Pollution for Everyone
Why Dark Sky Lighting Matters
Many homeowners choose Dark Sky lighting to create a more intentional, refined outdoor environment—minimizing glare, avoiding overlighting, and complementing the architecture and landscape. In many areas, this approach is also shaped by local regulations, zoning requirements, or building codes aimed at reducing light pollution.
Dark Sky-friendly lighting helps:
- Reduce glare, light trespass, and sky glow
- Align with Dark Sky compliance guidelines, whether required by local zoning ordinances, building codes, or state regulations
- Minimize unnecessary light pollution in your neighborhood
- Use light more efficiently by directing it only where it’s needed
- Preserve the natural night sky for your home and your community
Get Inspired
Choosing the Right Dark Sky Lighting for Your Home
The right fixtures create clarity, safety, and atmosphere while maintaining the natural feel of your surroundings.
Explore the options that bring balance to your outdoor spaces:
Wall Sconces
Perfect for entryways, garages, and exterior walls, these fixtures provide focused, downward lighting that enhances visibility without overwhelming your home.
Path & Landscape Lighting
Guide walkways, highlight landscaping, and create subtle definition throughout your property with low-level, well-placed lighting.
Downlighting & Shielded Fixtures
Designed to direct light exactly where it’s needed, these fixtures reduce glare and eliminate unnecessary upward light.
Smart Lighting Controls
Incorporate motion sensors, timers, and dimmers to ensure your lighting is only on when it needs to be—improving efficiency and reducing excess use.
Dark sky lighting refers to outdoor fixtures designed to minimize light pollution by directing light downward—where it’s actually needed. These fixtures eliminate upward light emission, reduce glare, and use warmer color temperatures to cut down on sky glow. The result is outdoor lighting that is safer, more efficient, and better for the environment and your neighbors.
DarkSky refers to DarkSky International (formerly the International Dark-Sky Association), a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting the natural night sky. When a product, community, or lighting plan is described as “DarkSky,” it means it meets the standards set by this organization for responsible outdoor lighting—minimizing light trespass, glare, and sky glow.
A DarkSky rating—formally called the Fixture Seal of Approval—is a certification given to outdoor lighting products that meet DarkSky International’s criteria. To qualify, a fixture must be fully shielded (no light emitted above the horizontal plane), emit light at 3000K or lower, and produce no unshielded uplighting. Our team can help you identify DarkSky-rated fixtures for your project.
There’s no single universal lumen limit, but the general principle is to use the minimum light needed for safety and ambiance. As a rough guide: path and landscape lights typically work well at 100–200 lumens, entryway fixtures at 400–800 lumens, and security lighting at 700–1200 lumens. How light is distributed matters just as much as output—a fully shielded fixture always outperforms an unshielded one, regardless of lumens. Some local Colorado zoning ordinances also include specific lumen caps; our team can help you navigate those requirements.
Working with a Certified Lighting Consultant
Across Northern Colorado, more homeowners are thinking about how their lighting impacts their neighbors, local regulations, and the night sky we all get to enjoy. Dark Sky lighting is a way to be part of that—keeping your home beautifully lit while reducing unnecessary light pollution.
At The Light Center, we’re here to help you navigate what that looks like, whether you’re working within local guidelines or simply want a more thoughtful approach. The goal is simple: lighting that feels right for your home and respects the environment around it.