Outdoor Lighting Design in Austin, TX
Layered outdoor lighting design for Austin homes. We plan ambient, task, and accent light together, so your property looks intentional after dark and stays kind to neighbors and the Hill Country sky.
Thrive Landscape and Design plans outdoor lighting the way an architect plans a room. We walk your property at twilight, study how you actually use the yard, then build a layered plan that balances aesthetic moments (tree silhouettes, water-feature highlights, architectural uplighting) with the everyday function of safe steps, driveways, and doorways. The result is a fixture and control spec built for Austin: warm color temperatures that flatter Texas limestone and live oaks, dark-sky friendly shielding for west Austin and Hill Country neighborhoods, and smart controls that play well with your irrigation timer, app, or voice assistant. Hand the plan to us, or take it to your own electrician. Either way, every fixture is intentional.
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- 500+ Projects Completed
- 19+ Years Experience
- 5/5 Average Rating
Full-Service Landscape Lighting
Landscape Lighting Installation
We install your approved plan with clean wire runs, properly sized transformers, and weather-rated connections built for Texas summers.
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Accent Lighting
Tree uplights, wall washes, and feature highlights that pull architecture and live oaks out of the dark.
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Path Lighting
Low, warm path and stair lights that mark the route without glare, so you can actually walk it after dark.
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All Lighting Services
See the full landscape lighting hub: design, installation, accent, path, and integration with smart controls.
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Our Process
Twilight Walk
We start at dusk, not at noon. Lighting design happens at the hour you will actually use it, so we walk your property as the sun drops. We map sight lines from the street, the front door, the back patio, and key indoor windows. This is also where we learn how you use the yard at night, where guests park, and which side gates need to feel safe.
Concept Design
Back at the desk, we draft a layered concept: ambient washes, task light for paths and steps, and accent moments on trees, water features, and architecture. The drawing identifies every fixture type and zone before any product is selected. You see the scene as a plan first, so we agree on the look and the feel before we ever talk catalog numbers.
Fixture & Control Spec
Now we spec the hardware. Beam angles, color temperature (almost always 2700K to 3000K for Austin), wattage, transformer sizing, wire gauges, and the control system, whether that is a simple Wi-Fi app, a Lutron tie-in, or coordination with your Hunter Hydrawise irrigation timer. You leave with a clean schedule that any qualified installer can build from.
Mock-Up & Install Handoff
Before final install, we stage a night mock-up with sample fixtures at key tree and wall locations. You see the actual beam, the actual color, the actual spill, and we tune from there. Then we hand off cleanly: our own install crew picks the plan up, or your electrician does. Either way, the design is the source of truth.
Outdoor Lighting Design
Travis, Luis and the crew did an amazing job on our front yard landscaping. Travis had a vision that we could've never come up with on our own. They were communicative, hard working and had incredible attention to detail. We were really impressed with our experience and will… Read more
We’ve been very impressed with Travis and his team at Thrive Landscaping. From the initial design consultation through revisions and installation, the entire process was smooth, thorough, and high quality. We needed an HOA-compliant design that improved drainage and reduced… Read more
Travis was very responsive on the pricing . Luis and the crew did an amazing job and fixed a lot of problems that the prior firm had created. Very pleasant group and seem to want to please clients.
Great people providing outstanding service. Our yard has never looked better. And best of all, they stand behind their work. If something needs attention after the job is finished, they’re right on it.
After interviewing several companies, we chose Thrive Landscape to create some hardscaping for our back yard. They installed stone paving for our patio and pool area, a gravel area for our fire ring, and a raised gravel pad for a greenhouse. Everything looks great! We had a good… Read more
Thrive replaced some dying plants in a white rock bed and left it clean and beautiful. You would never know they had been in the rock bed at all - no dirt, no disruption - they left it better than they found it!
Our neighbor a few houses down had Thrive do his property and we liked how it looked, so we decided to contact them to see what it would cost to do our house. Wanted to get rid of the sand burrs and decided to do stone, rock and mulch for the whole yard in front of the house. I… Read more
We have used Thrive landscape for several projects over the past two years. They have delivered outstanding service, careful attention to detail, and impeccable service and care after the project was complete. Travis Odom is outstanding, and his vision helped us transform our… Read more
We were very pleased with Thrive from the initial bid to the completion of the project. We had our front yard and backyard landscaped. Communication was excellent and when a couple issues occurred they were quickly resolved. The onsite crew was great to work with and were… Read more
Excellent service and advice. Knowledgeable, on time, communicative owner, and crew. This is the place you want to call for your landscaping needs! We are extremely satisfied with the outcome and will use the service again. Thank you Travis and crew.
I was really pleased with Thrive. Travis arrived exactly on time for the quote, had a great design, and was able to start quickly once the plans were approved by my HOA. The crew was polite and worked quickly. They left the whole worksite very neat, and my front yard now looks… Read more
Had grass that was dead, Travis and his team transformed my backyard in a few days!
I am a repeat customer of Travis's. He recently transformed my front yard. The design was perfect for what we wanted to accomplish and the crew did high quality work which included clean-up. I will keep coming back to him in the future.
Thrive is a very professional and excellent business - they did a wonderful job on my project and I couldn't be more pleased with the end results. Will definitely use them again!
I had an outstanding experience with Thrive. Quality, honesty, value and customer service were phenomenal! Exceeded my expectations!
Swapped out black stone that were killing my plants with mulch. Added a bunch of plants and sod. Also got my irrigation and stone walkway complete. I say it is all looking great.
I don't know where to begin. Travis and his team provided an amazing landscape design, strategy, and results on our backyard for my 50th birthday celebration. Travis was patient and very detailed with his quote and made sure he covered every detail with me. Once we decided to… Read more
I’ve done two projects with these guys to include a landscaping project where I added sod, metal planters, and plants. The second was a fence repair and both turned out great. They were fairly priced, scheduled quickly, executed on time, and worked through my lunch list at the… Read more
We chose Thrive Landscaping after a friend of ours used them for their own backyard and we could not be happier with our decision. Travis and team were incredibly professional, thorough and communicative the entire time. They added new grass, flowers, gravel and lights to our… Read more
Travis with Thrive Landscape & Design did an amazing job redesigning our backyard! They were hard-working, timely, responsive and appreciated their craftsmanship they put into the project. The space looks better than we imagined — highly recommend!
Wow! Travis and his team did an amazing job refreshing our back yard! They were professional, prompt, respectful and above all had an eye for detail! It was an absolute pleasure working with them to create our dream back yard! I highly recommend Thrive Landscape and DESIGN… Read more
Our project was the tear-out, re-design and rebuild of a fairly substantial deck. Great experience with Travis Odom and Thrive Landscape. Travis is congenial, professional and great to work with. The guys on site did excellent work. We’re very happy with the finished product and… Read more
Mr Travis Odom made an excellent, unique, and original cedar fence design that we ended up using.
Great design and construction for my landscaping project. Travis and his crew were very attentive and detailed. They also took on board our feedback and we’re very willing to evolve their designs.
Travis did a great job fixing the drainage along the side of my house! Was very responsive, timely, and reasonably priced. Would reach out to again for any future landscaping needs.
Travis was very responsive and did an excellent job designing our difficult yard. We LOVE the end result and can’t wait to do phase two. Can’t say enough how happy we are with the design!
Signs Your Lighting Needs a Designer
Designed, Not Just Installed
If your yard at night feels patchy, harsh, or just dark, you do not need more fixtures. You need a plan. Here are the three patterns we see most often on Austin properties before clients call us.
Request A QuoteA few bright fixtures with deep shadows between them. Usually the result of installing what was on the shelf instead of designing for the scene.
4000K and up bulbs that make Texas limestone look gray and live oaks look sickly. We re-spec to warm 2700K to 3000K for a softer, more natural feel.
Uplights that throw light across property lines or into bedrooms. Shielded fixtures, narrower beams, and smarter aiming fix this without losing the look.
Why Choose Thrive For Lighting Design?
Designed For Austin Light
Warm 2700K to 3000K color temperatures, fixture choices that flatter limestone and live oaks, and beam angles tuned for Hill Country lots.
Dark-Sky Friendly By Default
Shielded, full-cutoff fixtures and only the lumens you need. Comfortable for Lakeway, Westlake, Dripping Springs, and River Place homes.
Layered, Not Lined Up
Ambient, task, and accent layers blended into one plan so the scene feels designed, not like a row of spots stuck along the bed line.
Smart Control Integration
Wi-Fi apps, Lutron, voice assistants, and Hunter Hydrawise irrigation tie-ins all coordinated up front so your yard runs on one clean control story.
Austin’s Go-To For Outdoor Lighting Design
We design outdoor lighting for homes across the greater Austin area, with a soft spot for Hill Country properties where dark-sky principles, mature live oaks, and limestone elevations all factor into the plan. For background on the principles we design to, see DarkSky International, the Illuminating Engineering Society, and DOE Energy Saver outdoor lighting.
- Lakeway
- Driftwood
- Westlake Hills
- Round Rock
- Dripping Springs
- Bee Cave
- Shoal Creek
- River Place
- Cedar Park
- Steiner Ranch
- Pflugerville
- & more
Dripping Springs Hill Country Xeriscape
Spicewood Front Xeriscape
Smithville Ranch
Lakeway Trellis & Patio
Fayetteville Garden District Style
Driftwood Garden Estate
Bastrop Lost-Pines Courtyard Design
Westlake Hills Modern Terrace
Round Rock Turf Checkered Garden
Steiner Ranch Outdoor Kitchen & Pool Retreat
Shoal Creek Terrace Revival
Bee Cave Backyard Under the Oaks
Riverplace Shaded Garden Escape
Frequently Asked Questions
A lighting designer plans your entire outdoor scene before a single fixture goes in the ground. We walk the property at twilight, study sight lines, then build a layered plan that calls out fixture type, beam angle, color temperature, mounting location, wattage, transformer sizing, and control zones. The output is a drawing and spec list your installer (us or another crew) can build from with zero guesswork.
Layered lighting blends three jobs in one plan: ambient (soft fill on walls and canopies), task (path, stair, and doorway light you actually need to walk safely), and accent (the drama, like uplit live oaks or grazed limestone). Stacking those three layers is what separates a designed yard from a yard with a few spotlights stuck in the beds.
Glare control starts on paper. We aim fixtures away from property lines, use shielded or hooded heads, pick narrow beam angles for tree uplights, and lower wattage where a softer wash will do. On Hill Country lots that back up to greenbelts or other homes, we also stage a night mock-up so you can confirm no hot spots are bleeding into a neighbor’s bedroom window.
Yes, by default. Most west Austin communities (Lakeway, Westlake, Dripping Springs, River Place) lean dark-sky for a reason, and our designs reflect that. We use full-cutoff or shielded fixtures, warm color temperatures, and only the lumens needed for the task. If your HOA or neighborhood follows DarkSky International guidance, we will design to those specs.
Yes. Our design deliverable is a standalone document: fixture schedule, wire runs, transformer locations, and control wiring. You can take that plan to your own electrician or DIY it as budget allows. Most clients have us handle the install too, because we already know the plan, but the design itself is yours to use.
For Austin properties we land between 2700K and 3000K almost every time. Warm white reads beautifully on Texas limestone, stucco, and live oak bark, and it flatters skin tones on the patio. Cooler temps (4000K and up) can look sterile or hospital-blue against natural stone, so we save those for very specific accents, never for the whole scene.
It can, and most of ours do. We spec transformers and controllers that work with Wi-Fi apps, Lutron, and voice assistants like Alexa and Google Home. We also coordinate with Hunter Hydrawise and similar irrigation timers so your lighting and watering schedules share a clean control story instead of fighting for outlets and Wi-Fi bandwidth.
Call (512) 503-1935 or fill out the contact form. We schedule a twilight walk at your property, talk through how you actually use the yard at night, and follow up with a concept plan. From there we refine fixtures, controls, and budget before anything is ordered or installed.
