Wall washing is a landscape lighting technique for evenly illuminating a wall or large vertical surface. The broad, uniform illumination hides imperfections and flattens the appearance of the illuminated area. Wall washing is accomplished by placing light fixtures with a setback that is distant enough to avoid bright spots while allowing the lights to evenly illuminating a wall from top to bottom in a smooth, graded wash of light.
Image courtesy of Kichler
People are apt to confuse wall washing with grazing. Grazing is used to heighten shadows and emphasize a textured surface. The object being grazed can be a hardscape element (a stone or brick wall, fences, chimneys, for example), or a softscape feature (e.g. a tree trunk, climbing ivy). Grazing is accomplished by projecting a steeply angled beam (that is virtually parallel to the surface). The light fixture is placed very close the vertical surface.
Image courtesy of Kichler
Image courtesy of Kichler
People are apt to confuse wall washing with grazing. Grazing is used to heighten shadows and emphasize a textured surface. The object being grazed can be a hardscape element (a stone or brick wall, fences, chimneys, for example), or a softscape feature (e.g. a tree trunk, climbing ivy). Grazing is accomplished by projecting a steeply angled beam (that is virtually parallel to the surface). The light fixture is placed very close the vertical surface.
Image courtesy of Kichler
