Uplighting
Fixture at grade, aimed up
The workhorse. Cross-light a tree from two or three positions and the canopy reads as a form with depth; hit it head-on with one fixture and it flattens into a silhouette.
Portland · Oregon
Portland's Outdoor Lighting Specialists
Custom landscape and architectural lighting design, installed in solid brass and built for the Pacific Northwest — and we'll priced fixture by fixture before you spend a dollar.
Free Design ConsultationLicensed, Bonded & InsuredSolid Brass Fixtures
Start Your Project
Book Your Free Consultation
Free design consultation — no obligation.
Tonight in Portland the sun sets at dusk. A system on an astronomic timer already knows that — and adjusts itself every night of the year.
Smart scheduling
About Our Company
Lighting Designed on Your Property, After Dark
Most lighting quotes are a fixture count on a page. Ours starts with a walk of your property and ends with a plan that names every fixture and its position — so you approve a design you can actually read, not a bottom-line number.
Then we build it to outlast the weather. Solid brass and copper fixtures that patina instead of corroding, waterproof silicone-filled connectors instead of twist caps, and 12-volt cable hand-tucked below grade rather than trenched through your root zones. It's the difference between a system that survives a decade of Oregon winters and one that goes dark in three.
17+
Cities Served
9
Lighting Services
2700K
Warm White
Reviews
What Portland Homeowners Say
Reviews from homeowners and businesses across the Portland metro.
June 2026
“Other quotes were a fixture count on paper. These guys walked the yard, explained what each light was doing and why, and the plan matched what we got.”
Landscape & Garden Lighting
M
Mark R.
Lake Oswego
May 2026
“Our 1912 Craftsman vanished after dark. They lit the columns and the gable and left everything between them dark. The contrast is the whole thing.”
Architectural & Facade Lighting
J
Jennifer L.
Irvington, Portland
April 2026
“Steep lot, and the walk down was dangerous in the wet. Staggered path lights plus lights in the step risers — fewer fixtures than we were quoted elsewhere, better result.”
Path & Walkway Lighting
D
David S.
West Linn
March 2026
“Half our system had been dark for two years. They found it in twenty minutes — corroded connectors — and told me the transformer was fine. Could have sold me a new one.”
Lighting Repair & Maintenance
A
Amanda K.
Beaverton
The Craft
Six Techniques. It's All in Where the Fixture Goes
Outdoor lighting isn't about buying better fixtures — it's about knowing where to put them and why. Move the same fixture three feet and you get a completely different effect.
Downlighting / Moonlighting
Fixture up in the canopy, aimed down
Mounted high and aimed down, light filters through branches and lands as soft dappled shadow. Almost no glare, and under one of Portland's big firs it's the most natural effect there is.
Grazing
Close to the surface, raking across it
Set a fixture tight to stone or brick and light rakes across at a shallow angle, so every joint casts a shadow and the texture leaps out. Wrong for smooth stucco — it just highlights the flaws.
Washing
Set back, spreading light evenly
The opposite of grazing — a wider beam from farther back lays an even field of light with no texture. Right for smooth siding, fences, and hedges where you want calm rather than drama.
Silhouetting
Light the surface behind, not the subject
Wash the fence or wall behind a plant and it reads as a dark, intricate shape against a bright field. Superb on Japanese maples and ornamental grasses — and the most underused technique in residential lighting.
Path lighting
Shielded, staggered, pointed down
A hat over the lamp so you see the pool of light and never the source. Stagger them and let the pools meet softly — lining both sides evenly is what produces the runway look nobody wants.
What We Do
Landscape, Architectural & More
From uplit trees and layered garden beds to facade lighting, path and patio systems, security coverage, and smart controls — one local team designs it, installs it, and keeps it running.
Landscape & Garden Lighting
Custom low-voltage landscape lighting across the Portland area — uplit trees, grazed textures, and l...
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Architectural & Facade Lighting
Architectural uplighting and facade lighting for Portland-area homes and buildings — grazing stone a...
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Path & Walkway Lighting
Path, walkway, and step lighting across the Portland area — safe, glare-free guidance along entries,...
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Deck, Patio & Outdoor Living Lighting
Lighting for Portland-area decks, patios, pergolas, and outdoor kitchens — downlighting, rail and st...
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Security & Safety Lighting
Security and safety lighting for Portland-area homes and businesses — even, glare-free coverage of e...
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Commercial & HOA Lighting
Commercial and HOA outdoor lighting across the Portland metro — facade and signage lighting, parking...
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Smart Lighting & Controls
App-controlled and color-changing outdoor lighting in the Portland area — smart transformers, zoning...
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Lighting Repair & Maintenance
Outdoor lighting repair and maintenance across the Portland area — troubleshooting dark zones, repla...
Learn MoreHow It Works
From First Call to First Night Lit
A simple, no-pressure process — and you see the design lit on your own property before you commit to anything.
01
Free Design Consultation
We walk your property with you, talk through what you want the space to feel like after dark, and note the trees, architecture, and pathways worth lighting — no pressure, no obligation.
02
Your Lighting Plan
We put the design on paper fixture by fixture — what gets lit, from where, with which beam spread — and price it as a fixed proposal. Nothing is ordered and no deposit is taken until you've approved it.
03
Clean, Low-Voltage Install
Our crews hand-dig and tuck 12-volt cable below grade, set transformers discreetly, and mount solid brass and copper fixtures — with your lawn and beds left the way we found them.
04
Night Aiming & Ongoing Care
We return after dark to aim every fixture by eye, set your timer or app schedule, and walk the finished system with you — then keep it dialed in with optional annual maintenance.
Our Signature Work
Portland's Trees Are Its Best Lighting Asset
A well-lit Douglas fir, big-leaf maple, or Japanese maple is the most dramatic thing you can do with outdoor lighting — it adds height, depth, and a sense of enclosure that no amount of ground-level fixtures can produce. Most Portland yards have the trees already and do nothing with them.
We cross-light from two or three positions so the canopy reads as a three-dimensional form instead of a flat silhouette, match beam spread to the species, and mount in-canopy fixtures with arborist-friendly hardware and slack for growth.
Explore Tree Uplighting
Commercial & HOA
Lighting for Businesses & Communities
Businesses, HOAs, and property managers across the Portland area rely on us for facade and signage lighting, parking and walkway coverage, common-area and entry-monument lighting, and LED retrofits — plus scheduled maintenance that keeps a property consistently lit instead of degrading between complaints.
BusinessesHOAsProperty ManagersMaintenance ContractsCOIs Provided
Commercial & HOA LightingOur Work
Featured Projects
Architectural & Facade Lighting
Architectural Facade Lighting
Front-elevation uplighting across the Portland area — grazed stone and siding, accented gables and columns, and warmly lit entries that give a home real presence after dark.
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Landscape & Garden Lighting
Landscape & Garden Lighting
Layered low-voltage lighting through planting beds and specimen shrubs, designed on site at night so the garden reads with depth instead of washing out flat.
View serviceLandscape & Garden Lighting
Tree Uplighting & Moonlighting
Cross-aimed uplighting on Douglas firs and big-leaf maples, plus in-canopy moonlighting that drops soft dappled shadow across the ground below.
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Path & Walkway Lighting
Path & Walkway Lighting
Staggered, shielded path fixtures guiding entries, garden paths, and steps — glare-free light on the ground, no runway effect, built in solid brass.
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Deck, Patio & Outdoor Living Lighting
Decks, Patios & Outdoor Living
Pergola downlighting, rail and step fixtures, and dimmable zones that keep Portland patios and outdoor kitchens usable well past sunset.
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FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
What areas do you serve?
We design and install outdoor lighting across Portland and the greater metro — including Beaverton, Tigard, Lake Oswego, West Linn, Tualatin, Happy Valley, Oregon City, Sherwood, Wilsonville, Milwaukie, Hillsboro, Gresham, Aloha, and Newberg — throughout Multnomah, Washington, and Clackamas counties. If you're near Portland, reach out and we'll confirm.
Do you offer a free design consultation?
Yes. Every project starts with a free walk-through of your property at no cost and no obligation. We look at the trees, architecture, and pathways worth lighting, talk through how you want the space to feel after dark, and follow up with a fixture-by-fixture plan and a fixed-price proposal before anything is ordered.
How much does outdoor lighting cost in the Portland area?
Cost depends on how many fixtures the design calls for, the size of the transformer, cable runs, and fixture material. Most residential projects start in the low thousands for a focused front-of-home design and scale from there. We give you a detailed written proposal with fixture counts and per-fixture pricing, so you can add or remove zones and see exactly what changes.
What kinds of outdoor lighting do you install?
Landscape and garden lighting, architectural and facade uplighting, path and walkway lighting, deck, patio and outdoor-living lighting, security and safety lighting, pool and water-feature lighting, smart app-controlled and color-changing systems, and repair and maintenance on systems we didn't install.
How does outdoor lighting hold up in Oregon's rain?
Well — if the hardware is right. We specify solid brass and copper fixtures that are rated for wet locations and that patina rather than corrode, waterproof silicone-filled connectors instead of twist caps, and transformers with proper drainage. The cheap composite fixtures sold at big-box stores fill with water and fail in a couple of Portland winters. Ours are built to outlast that by decades.
How soon can you start, and how long does installation take?
Most residential systems are installed in one to two days once your design is approved. Scheduling depends on the season — late summer through fall is our busiest stretch, when everyone wants their system in before the clocks change. Get in touch and we'll get you on the calendar for a consultation, typically within 24 hours.
Still have questions? Get in touch — we're happy to help.
Portland, OR · Metro Area
© OpenStreetMap
Service Area
Serving the Greater Portland Area
PDX Outdoor Lighting serves the entire Portland metro across Multnomah, Washington, and Clackamas counties. From landscape and tree lighting to architectural uplighting, path and patio systems, security coverage, and smart controls, we bring design judgment and hardware built for the Pacific Northwest to homeowners and businesses across the region.
- Portland
- Beaverton
- Lake Oswego
- Tigard
- West Linn
- Tualatin
- Happy Valley
- Oregon City
- Hillsboro
- Milwaukie
- Multnomah County
- Clackamas County
Start Your Project
Ready to Light Your Property?
Tell us about your property and we'll get back to you within 24 hours to book a free design consultation on your own home. No pressure, no obligations.
Phone: (971) 286-4813
Email: info@westernpaverdesign.com
Area: Portland, OR & the surrounding metro
Hours: Mon–Fri 8am–6pm, Sat 9am–3pm