Port Townsend Bay Home

Northwest Outdoor Lighting is the gold standard of exterior lighting services.

I spent more than three years searching for a company up to the challenge of artistic and dramatic lighting of our home site which is heavily forested with mature Douglas Firs -- tall skinny trees with not much foliage if any at eye level. I found Northwest Outdoor Lighting (NOL) through the network of experts in the Washington State University Extension Master Gardener program for Jefferson County. From my first email inquiry, I knew that this was a company unlike so many in the landscape and residential improvement sectors: President Mary Peterson immediately responded personally, with specific relevant and responsive information, and invited an immediate move forward. I knew even before the initial on-site consultation that this was a company I could work effectively with and from that moment until this, with our new exterior lights on, there has not been a single moment of frustration or disappointment with NOL.

And here is why this NOL client is so wholly satisfied and thrilled with this company:

1. At the initial consultation, Ms. Peterson LISTENED intently to our descriptions of the results we were after and then by herself walked our property. It was clear from the very beginning that there was no plan to offer us a cookie-cut standard collection of safety/malibu/homeowner special lights that I could have had through a big box store or the neighborhood landscape service. It is my experience that such skilled listening is a rare and wonderful skill.

2. Shortly after the initial consultation, Mary returned after dark with a proposed design and equipment that allowed her and Craig Peterson -- master of the intersection of technical know-how and artistic design -- to demonstrate every single detail of NOL's proposed design. Together my husband and I and Mary and Craig walked about an acre of our property, examining the nuances of the effects of each and every proposed light site, adjusting specific angles and intensities, customizing every detail of the design to enhance the specific features of our property. This attention to detail and complete commitment to getting it just right as we wanted was, in my experience, extraordinary. But even those qualities were surpassed by the sheer genius of the proposed design.

3. Words almost fail me in summarizing the brilliance and artistry of the design created for us by Northwest Outdoor Lighting. Somehow Mary and Craig knew just which trees to light, just which direction and angle to catch, just which structures on our site could be glorious after dark. And they knew what not to light as well -- a real hallmark of artistic integrity and experience. Our exterior lighting design is not just simply perfection, it is art.

4. I should also tell you that installation went smoothly --literally issue/problem-free. I have never before had that experience in any home project and I am an experienced home rehab/renovate veteran with six long-term projects under my belt. Even tiny details were attended to by NOL-- the color of our utility box, for example. Old lighting was collected and removed.

5. Finally, you need to know that Mary and Craig are engaging, warm, nice, interesting people who are a pleasure to work with. I wish they lived across the street from me.

In providing reviews of any service provider, I always try to offer constructive suggestions to improve the service or to give the homeowner an assist in managing the project. I can't do that here because I don't know how this company could be any better at what they do. Let me summarize with this: I live on three acres of God's country and one of those acres is now beautifully and tastefully lighted. One down, two to go. As soon as I am ready for the second phase, I will make just one phone call.

You cannot do better for exterior landscape lighting than Northwest Outdoor Lighting.

Christine M.