What is the difference between home and simple house or apartments? In a place where comfort reigns, love and prosperity always live. Therefore, every person strives to make his home cozy, comfortable and beautiful. If you are surrounded by beautiful, comfortable and practical things, you will always have great mood and a boost of energy to reach new heights.
That is why designers pay a lot of attention to creating new products for the interior of the house, decorating the garden and improving the garden plot. It can be anything: sculptures, furniture, decorative elements, design.
This time a unique material was developed for home decor. These are glowing stones. Their difference and advantage is that they can be used indoors and outdoors, to decorate swimming pools and aquariums, to decorate walls and summer cottages. This is a universal material that, regardless of environmental influences, always remains attractive.
Glowing Stone
Glowing stone is a new product that is quickly conquering consumer markets in all countries of the world. This is due to the great demand for stones as a universal decorative material that is convenient and pleasant to work with. Landscape designers have picked up this idea and are creating real masterpieces in gardens from luminous stones.
Glowing stones for landscape design They accumulate light during the day and emit it at night. They glow throughout the night, replacing lamps. Therefore, using glowing stones, you get not only beautiful decor, but also effective and economical lighting.
Glowing stones for the area are made of luminous polymer plastic, to which glow catalysts are added. This is absolutely new technology production, which allows you to obtain a luminous stone without the use of elements harmful to health, such as phosphorus.
Modern landscape design specialists do not envision the creation of any decorative structure on the site without the use of stones. You can use large granite boulders, river or sea pebbles, small marble chips and even artificial stones made from plastic. Exoticism in any form has always been, is and will be very popular in landscape design. Therefore, professional craftsmen do not stand still and try to develop more and more new ideas for owners of private houses. And if recently the representative of the exotic on the site were, for example, huge boulders located both in a chaotic order and within the framework of a Japanese garden, then today few people can be surprised by such arrangement of the site. A real breakthrough in landscape design was the appearance of glow-in-the-dark stones, which can be used as a material for decorating flower beds located on the territory, as a road surface, and as a material in the dark.
Many owners of summer cottages have recently given preference to luminous stones. After all, thanks to them, there is no need to provide electric lighting to the area.
It will be unnecessary to talk about the benefits of artificial lighting, so making your own luminous stones will not only solve a practical problem, but will also add romance, attractiveness and mystery to your area. The fairy tale and magic that appear on the territory of your home during twilight and darkness will be especially loved by your children. Yes and in holidays For example, for the New Year, you won’t need to rack your brains once again about how best to decorate the yard, since garlands together with luminous stones will create a fantastic composition.
Pros of using glowing stones in landscape design
The variety of colors of marble chips allows you to “decorate” your garden plot with all the colors of the rainbow.
The most important positive aspect of using luminous stones is that there is no need to use electric lights in those parts of the garden where there is a lack of light, and the fact that paths or garden paths, along the edges of which luminous stones are sprinkled, will be clearly visible in the dark. Here there are significant savings on electricity costs, which in this particular case, unlike lanterns, are completely unnecessary.
Yes and appearance In this way, paving slabs or paving stones used as road surfaces will look even brighter, stylish and impressive. The variety of color shades of luminous stones and the various effects of their glow can allow any summer resident to create a real masterpiece on ordinary garden paths with his own hands, by organizing his own unique pattern from a variety of stones of different sizes and colors.
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Various options for using luminous stones in landscape decoration
At night, a path of luminous stones will always indicate the path to the house.
In order to determine in which compositions luminous stones can be used, you must first pay attention to the size of the decorative and, at the same time, building material you have. Existing options, for example, in the shape of a round river boulder, treated with luminous paint, can be very organically integrated into the landscape design when arranging an area near a flower bed or near an artificial pond. The same large stones can be used to decorate some areas of garden paths. And it would be rational to decorate the remaining gaps with stones of smaller sizes. This combination of luminous stones of large and small sizes will achieve a very strong effect. After all, the path itself will be covered with small stones, like pebbles, along the edges of which large boulders are laid out.
Most often, stones are used in landscape design to make decorative fences for existing objects in the garden.
Flowerbed with glowing stones: day and night. Such stones will help to effectively decorate flower bed, both in the daytime and in the dark.
For example, use luminous stone when decorating flower beds and flower beds, artificial ponds, waterfalls and swimming pools. Moreover, in the latter case, the stones can be placed not only on the shore of the reservoir, but also on its bottom, which can be decorated with small stones, and it is better to place large boulders along the edge of the pool. It also happens that the density of artificial glow-in-the-dark stones is less than the density of water. Therefore, they will float to the surface, thereby giving the object and the entire site an even more unique look, and the drowned heavy exhibits will shine from the depths of the reservoir, like stars falling into it from the night sky. There are, of course, a huge variety of options for attaching luminous stones to the design of the area, which allows you to use your imagination when creating your own personal fairy-tale atmosphere on the site. Therefore, you can create a landscape design project and implement it with your own hands, even if it includes glow-in-the-dark stones.
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How to make glowing stones?
During the day, the luminous stones look like ordinary pebbles near the path, but at night they are greatly transformed and completely illuminate the path.
In order to make luminous stones, most often they take artificial stones of different sizes, made of heavy-duty plastic. And at the production stage, glow-in-the-dark powder is added to it. The stones created in this way are able to withstand any load and steadfastly respond to changing weather conditions. Moreover, they do not react to the destructive effects of alkaline and chemical reagents. And, as already noted, finished stones can have different colors, shapes and surface types, glossy or matte. The principle of glowing stones is quite simple: throughout the daylight hours, these elements of garden decoration accumulate light, which, with the arrival of darkness, they themselves begin to emit. The charge that the stones received during the day will be enough to shine all night. Moreover, the stone will be maximally charged after just ten minutes of constant exposure to light. Moreover, both natural solar and obtained from artificial sources. The charge acquired in this way will give the glow a brightness that eliminates the use of additional artificial lighting.
Factory-made plastic products are charged from all sides, and at the same time the radiation occurs comprehensively. The shape of such stones is similar to sea pebbles of any size. The range of colors offered is completely unlimited: stones can be green, blue, lemon, coral, pink, beige, red, etc. There cannot be any dangerous radiation from such elements of landscape design, and their shelf life is unlimited.
No matter how beautiful and high-quality the renovation in a suburban area is, you always want to add some kind of decorative element, and even created with your own hands. This is especially true for the design of the surrounding area. How to diversify it?
Great idea - glowing stones. This decorative element, which can give a truly fabulous look to any home, is especially good at night.
Recently, luminous stones have simply become an irreplaceable thing for original and inexpensive landscape design.
A fresh trend in landscape design
Glowing stones are great for effectively decorating your garden.
Not much time has passed since the appearance of luminous stones on the market. Despite the fact that this very unusual decorative element was invented a long time ago, they began to actively use it just now. Surprisingly, this one natural material are an excellent alternative to electric lighting. Judge for yourself, the lantern consumes a lot of energy, other lighting devices provide light that is too local for the local area. At the same time, glowing stones do not require any costs other than the initial ones when creating them. Another advantage lies in the ability to play with the color of the glow. The same cannot be said about standard devices that produce monotonous yellow or white light.
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Making glowing stones
There is nothing complicated about creating a luminous path or platform on your site with your own hands. For this you will need:
- stones (natural or artificial);
- light accumulative (luminous) paint TAT-33;
- brush.
Light accumulative paint can be applied to any stone.
Luminescent paint is capable of accumulating solar energy, which will later be released in the form of a glow in the dark. At night this process can continue for 10 hours. It all depends on how much energy from the sun the stones managed to absorb. By the way, this paint does not wash off and will not peel off. It has very good wear resistance, and therefore luminous stones can last a long time. This paint can be applied to any stone, although many professionals advise using artificial material. This is due to the fact that artificial stones are cleaner than natural ones. IN in this case Cleanliness is of great importance in terms of the life of the luminous elements. Then the decorative effect will please the eye longer.
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We create miracles with our own hands: painting blanks
Glowing stones will serve you well long years, since light-accumulating paint is not afraid of water.
Before applying paint, be sure to manually clean, wash and dry the stones. This should be done especially carefully with natural ones, since bacteria and dirt accumulate on them, which can negatively affect the quality in the future. This must be done manually, with your own hands. The stones must first be painted and then laid out on the desired surface. Place a cloth or paper on a flat surface and place clean, dried stones on top. It is not advisable to paint the entire future luminous stone, because the side lying on the ground will not be visible. It is better to apply paint on the flatter side. Walking on too convex and rocky surfaces will be extremely inconvenient and even dangerous. After painting, the stones should be allowed to dry thoroughly. This will significantly extend their service life, and you and your loved ones will not risk getting dirty.
After the glowing stones have dried, you can begin laying them on the future path. with your own hands on the road. A pre-invented (and possibly drawn) pattern will look very beautiful. The use of luminous stones in decoration does not limit the imagination of the owner of the site. They can even be placed near water, as they have good water-repellent properties. In addition, decorative luminous stones are completely safe for both humans and animals. In addition, when creating this decorative element with your own hands, you can use special paint with phosphorescent additives. It contains a special pigment that has the property of a so-called residual glow. Glowing stones are made using this paint in the same way as using light-accumulating paint.
The only caveat: phosphorescent paint should dry only under the influence of sunlight. Particularly interesting are various experiments with color for luminous stones, and it can be anything: yellow, blue, red, green, purple, orange, pink and any other. Working with such material, you can feel like a real artist. Create a mosaic of luminous stones with your own hands, and it will certainly delight your family and guests.
There is nothing complicated about making glowing stones. But how much joy, goodness and beauty they can bring to any country house. This magical beauty is truly mesmerizing! Such luminous elements will decorate any area, and you can make them today, radically transforming your home with your own hands.
The issue of territory design has always been the main one for a real gardener. The main goal is to make the site not only original, not like the others, but also functional. An important issue is the illumination of the area. Modern technologies allow you to forget about standard lamps and classic lanterns, because a new, innovative solution has appeared -.
Why do stones glow in the dark?
There are two types of stones that reflect light. Stones of the first type are made of special polymer plastic with the addition of a catalyst, which accumulates light from various sources, be it natural luminaries or ordinary light bulbs. The glow time of such lamps is proportional to the time the source is exposed to light. If such a stone lay, recharging, under the sun all day, then it will glow for 10 hours in the evening and at night. A positive feature of the new product is its unlimited period of use. Buy glowing stones for landscape design can be of various sizes - both small, resembling small crushed stone in size, and impressive-sized cobblestones.
Installing this decor will not take you any time or effort. It is enough to place such stones in the desired places on your site and enjoy their glow. Usually the decor is placed along garden paths. When placing boulders, experts recommend applying light pressure on them from above so that they go slightly into the ground. Since these are decorative cobblestones, and their weight is much less than natural ones, such an action during installation is necessary so that they are not blown away from the desired location by a strong wind.
The second type is LED stones. It’s easy to guess that this decorative item emits light thanks to the LEDs built inside.
Therefore, if you want to install such glowing stones for landscape design on your site, you need to take care of an accessible power source. When darkness falls, you just need to turn on the switch - and the stones glow.
The lifespan of LED stones is amazing - they can last for 30 years with ten hours of daily use. The difficulty lies in the fact that an LED that has served its purpose cannot be replaced, because the product is completely sealed. A huge positive feature artificial stone This type is the ability to withstand significant loads. It is advisable to install such decor on your site with the help of specialists, but if you have the necessary skills in laying cables and wires, then it is possible to do this yourself.
As an option, you can decorate your summer cottage at night with ready-made lawn lamps.
Design ideas using glowing stones
They will become a worthy decoration of your site, because even during daylight hours they do not lose their aesthetic appearance and are practically indistinguishable from the real ones. This is what makes them so popular when creating unique landscapes. A classic composition during the day will turn into a fabulous work of art at night.
A great idea for decoration would be a chaotic scattering of polymer stone chips - after all, when it gets dark, it will resemble the universe under your feet. The same technique is ideal for decorating the bottom of garden ponds. Large cobblestones will fit perfectly into the landscape if they are placed along the edges of alleys and paths
Advantages
have a number of positive properties:
- they are able to perfectly illuminate the area you need;
- eliminate additional energy costs;
- They tolerate low and high temperatures well.
If it is not luminous paint, but stone, it is easy to care for - if it gets dirty, just wipe the surface with a damp cloth using ordinary detergent. The period of use of such decor is unlimited.
DIY glowing stones for landscape design
Seeing this wonder for the first time, many ask the question: “Is it possible to create such decor for a site with your own hands?” And although manufacturers will never reveal the secret of making a coating for such stones, there is a very easy way creating such beauty yourself. True, “homemade” luminous stones will be functionally very different from factory products, and will only be suitable for decorative purposes, because they will not be able to intensively illuminate large areas.
To create a fairy tale under your feet, you just need to purchase luminescent (luminous) paint and cover ordinary small stones with it. They will work on the principle of polymer products, accumulating light during the day and emitting it at night. Do-it-yourself stones will glow for more than 10 hours.
Glowing unsteadily in the dark, your site will always look romantic and mysterious.
The ideas of modern landscape designers truly turn out to be limitless - they come up with more and more new ways to decorate the local area, and sometimes their ideas amaze the imagination. One of these ideas includes the so-called luminous stones - their possibilities are truly limitless. This is both decor and a kind of lighting that does not require power supply. This is what we will talk about in this article, in which, together with the site, we will look at the scope of application of luminous stones and consider the issue of their self-production at home.
DIY glowing stones for landscape design photo
Glowing stones: their capabilities and scope
As mentioned above, the possibilities that luminous stones have for the garden are quite extensive, and this man-made miracle can be used to decorate anything. Imagine - and you will create a garden that can really be compared to a work of art. To make it easier to understand the possibilities of such decor, we will give some examples - so to speak, the most commonly used options by designers.
- Glowing paths. By and large, they won’t even need additional lighting - if you place the stones correctly, then this will be enough to safely walk along the path without fear of tripping over something. There are two options here - you can sprinkle the fine fraction with a luminous stone on both itself and its edges. It all depends on what this track is made of - if paving slabs, then it is advisable to emphasize its outlines. Basically, this is the most best option– if we talk about filling the path itself, then winter time years, some problems may arise. Along with the snow, the luminous stones themselves will be cleared from the path.
- Flowerbeds. , tastefully decorated with large and small luminous stones, will in some way resemble a fairy-tale garden inhabited by fairies, elves and similar folk art characters. From the outside in the dark they look amazing.
- Glow-in-the-dark stones can be used not only on land - they are also an excellent decoration for shallow ones. During the day they accumulate solar energy, and in the dark they release it back - if the rays of the sun are able to penetrate through the water column in sufficient quantities, then such decoration of the reservoir will be quite possible to work.
- Garden – meaning its entire territory. This decor is often called the starry sky on the ground or the “milky way”. The luminous decor is scattered chaotically and at the same time orderly throughout the entire area - in the darkness it creates the impression of a world turned upside down.
To learn how to make luminous stones with your own hands, watch this video.
By and large, this list can be continued endlessly - as many garden decors as there are ideas. In this way, you can illuminate both buildings and any elements of landscape design. Even trees and bushes are no exception - for that matter, you can even decorate them with luminous stones. In general, everything is in your hands - highlight what you like, just don’t forget about the harmony and integrity of the picture. It is when the night garden has a completed composition that it will look truly magnificent.
Decorative glowing stones: what the industry offers
Oddly enough, modern industry quickly grasped the advantages and capabilities of this decorative material and in the most short time established the production of luminous stones. Moreover, she makes not one, but three varieties of this material, which you need to get acquainted with at least for general development.
In principle, there are other types of decor of this type. It just so happens that manufacturers also classify it by size. In this regard, there are crumbs (pebbles with a diameter of up to 5 mm), pebbles, the fraction of which is 1-2 cm, as well as boulders (these are stones measuring 27 by 17 cm). I don’t know why, but the manufacturers decided that this was the best option. You understand that making a luminous stone with your own hands should not be carried out taking into account these standards - here it’s just the opposite. No standards are the best standard.
How to make glowing stones with your own hands
How to make glowing stones: manufacturing features
By and large, making luminous stones for landscape design with your own hands is quite simple, if not elementary - you can apply paint with a phosphor, like TAT33, to the stones with anything and in any way you like. If it’s up to you, you can even paint them with a watercolor brush. You yourself understand that to make crumbs or pebbles (even in small quantity) this is not a very good solution - boulders can still be made in this way, but stones with a fine fraction are by no means. Here you need to come up with something and use tricks. Alternatively, you can use the following technologies for painting small stones.
As for any special subtleties of making a glowing stone yourself using paint, there are none as such - the only thing that can be noted here is drying. In principle, here as with any other paint - until it is completely dry, you should not use pebbles for decoration. And, naturally, during the work it is necessary to monitor the uniform application of paint - in the dark, when the stones glow, this, in principle, does not matter, but during the day, if the paint is uneven, they may not look very good.
To conclude the topic about luminous stones, I will say a few words about working with luminous stones. Surely many of you have already realized that this is a wonderful decor not only for the garden and local area, but also for rooms inside the house. Quite often they are used to decorate aquariums, green corners with vegetation, and even to decorate some design elements - for example, niches and so on. Moreover, panels are even made from luminous stones - a reinforcing mesh is first glued to the wall, which is the basis for attaching the stone.
