There’s something about bright lights that makes us go “ooh” and “ahh”. Paris is known as the City of Lights; whole streets come alive at Christmas time with twinkling displays and don’t forget the Sydney light show ‘Vivid’ that has evolved into a luminescent annual phenomenon!

So how do we take a sprinkle of these examples and use them as inspiration to illuminate our family home? Here are a few Do’s and Don’ts to ensure you get the balance just right.

Say goodbye to dead lights

While some celebrate Christmas in July, there is absolutely no excuse to have the sad, tired strings of lights you stapled on your eaves in December to be hanging around. Remove them now! While you’re at it, look around the front and the back of your home and discard any broken, unused or worn out light fixtures. It’s always great to start from a blank slate. If you have lights that are still in working order, check the bulbs are working and the electricals are still up to scratch.

Light the way

We all know how important security lighting is, but that doesn’t mean it has to be harsh, sterile and lacking any style. The trick is to use a number of different types of lights for security purposes. By layering strip lights, sensor lights, spotlights and path lights, you can create a welcoming ambience while providing added security to your home, killing two birds with one stone! Win-win.

Under a purple spotlight…

It doesn’t have to be purple, but a spotlight is the perfect way to add pizzazz to your night garden. By focussing a spotlight on a feature of your garden – a tree, sculpture or other beautiful plant – you will add drama and texture to your front or back yards. Upwards facing spotlights are best but ensure the beams are NOT directed to any of your neighbour’s windows!

Strings and things

Now, I know I said to discard the Christmas string lights, but this is a little different. Rope lighting is a fabulous way to outline shapes in your yard and will add a wonderful element to your garden beds and other landscaping features. The trick here is to keep it soft and create a glow rather than a harsh fluorescence.

Solar flair

It might seem a little passé, but solar lights have come a long way in recent years. Many people use solar lights for pathways, but they aren’t really effective due to their low intensity. Think outside the square and use solar light near water features, gates, around doorways and even in garden beds. There are so many shapes and styles now and they are generally quite affordable. Things to look out for include battery life and whether you might need to install a separate solar panel, which will make it easier to use the lights in shady spots.

Project your style

If you have a special event that you’ll be hosting in your garden, why not take a leaf out of the Vivid handbook and hire a projector? Outdoor light projectors are fun, can be purchased or hired easily and will certainly be a talking point. Just watch out for those laser beams!

Retaining a traditional Australian beachside ambience, the suburb of Coogee is one suburb to the south of Bronte and just 7km from the CBD.

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Coogee’s vast stretch of beachfront is presided over by the usual beachfront strip of eclectic restaurants and takeaway places, extending up the main waterfront drag of Arden Street and onto Carr Street. Many more discrete and charming cafes are also tucked away at the northern and southern tips of the beach.

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Protected sea baths are located at either end of the beach, including Wylies Baths and the women and children’s only McIver Baths. A dramatic coastal walk will take you past Clovelly, Bronte and Tamarama beaches all the way to Bondi.

Reserve land is found all along with waterfront, providing the ideal setting for good old fish and chips by the beach. Its two main venues are the Coogee Pavilion, with its iconic domed roof, and the Coogee Bay Hotel, with its huge beer garden and live music venue which has played host to countless local and international bands.

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A desirable address for families and young beach-lovers, Coogee’s architecture is eclectic. Many grand Victorian mansions, terraces, freestanding Federation homes and Californian bungalows remain, while apartments from all eras are also prevalent.

Along with the Opera House and Harbour Bridge, Bondi is undoubtedly one of Sydney’s most internationally recognised icons, and there’s unlikely to be a tourist in town who hasn’t set out to see its golden shores and rolling surf.

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The famed Bondi to Bronte walk takes you along with beachfront promenade, past the Bondi Pavilion, the site for numerous cultural and entertainment events, along the dramatic clifftops of South Head and on to Tamarama and Bronte beaches.

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Markedly gentrified over the years, it has become super trendy, with prices reflecting the influx of the young and the fashionable. The Campbell Parade strip is the main beachfront boulevard, containing an eclectic selection of restaurants and cafes, all with magnificent views.

At the southern end of the beach, the revamped Bondi Icebergs still retains its historic sea pool and swimming club, albeit with the addition of Bondi’s most exclusive restaurant, Icebergs Dining Room, set high above them. Ben Buckler peninsula frames the northern end of the beach, with a number of apartment buildings set dramatically on a rocky outcrop which is all that lies between them and the ocean.

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Young, vibrant and quintessentially Australian, Bondi consists primarily of apartments from all eras, most notably Art Deco, which are found all along its coastline. Further away from the beach, you’ll find more character semis and freestanding homes.

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Located around 9km from the CBD and very much a family oriented suburb, exclusive Vaucluse is all about large blocks of land, lush gardens, swimming pools and sweeping views, either back across Sydney harbour or out to sea.

One notable landmark is Vaucluse House and Tea Rooms, an historic property which formed an integral part of the area’s former Wentworth Estate, to which many of the suburb’s earliest homes once belonged.

Vaucluse House

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A number of boutique beaches, gorgeous reserves and harbourside attractions make the suburb both picturesque and popular with families and visitors, with Neilsen Park and Parsley Bay being two of the best known. Wonderfully peaceful and picturesque.

Macquarie Lighthouse – Australia’s oldest lighthouse

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Vaucluse’s architecture reflects a range of eras. The area is noted for its long established sprawling estates, some running down to the harbour’s edge and boasting superb waterfront facilities.

On the ocean side of the suburb, in an area known as Diamond Bay, a number of apartment buildings from varying eras provide a more affordable entry into this prestigious address.