How to Pick the Right Colors and Zones for Your Gemstone Lights Display

Most people who get permanent lights spend the first week trying every color in the app, then settle on something that looks a little off from the street. The fix is planning before you play. Gemstone lights colors are almost unlimited, so the decisions that matter are which parts of the house act as separate zones, which colors those zones carry on a normal night, and how the display changes for holidays and game days.

• Start With Zones, Not Colors
• Everyday Gemstone Lights Colors That Suit the House
• Holiday and Team Color Palettes That Read From the Street
• Brightness, Timers and Patterns
• Test Your Colors at Night Before You Settle
• Frequently Asked Questions

Start With Zones, Not Colors

A zone is a section of lights you control as one group. The Gemstone Lights app lets you set up sections or zones across your property, and the lights are individually addressable, so a single run along the roofline can be split however you like. That is the reason to plan zones first: a color choice only works if it lands on the right part of the house.

Good zone boundaries follow the shape of the home. Typical splits on Iowa houses:

• The front-facing roofline, which carries the main display
• Roof peaks and gables, so they can be picked out in an accent color
• The garage, which often gets a brighter white for practical light
• The entry and porch, where a softer tone welcomes guests
• Side and back rooflines, which you may want dim or off on ordinary nights

Because the lights mount in a track along the eaves, zones depend on where the runs go. Our soffit lighting installation page explains how the mounting line is planned.

Everyday Gemstone Lights Colors That Suit the House

Most nights of the year are not holidays, so your everyday setting matters more than your Christmas one. Gemstone builds a dedicated warm white diode into its lights, which means an everyday white does not have to be mixed from red, green and blue. Warm white suits brick, stone, cedar and darker siding, and it works as a setting to leave on through spring and summer.

For a little more character, keep the main roofline warm white and give one zone a quiet accent. A soft amber on the peaks or a pale blue over the entry reads as architectural lighting from the street. Strong saturated colors across the whole house tend to look like a party, so save those for occasions.

Siding color affects the result. Light reflects off the soffit and fascia below it, so white or gray siding shows colors true, while red brick or tan siding pulls them warmer. If you are thinking of year-round accent lighting beyond the roofline, our permanent outdoor lighting page covers what else the system can light.

Holiday and Team Color Palettes That Read From the Street

Gemstone lists more than 16 million colors, which is more choice than any display needs. The palettes that work best from the curb use two or three colors at most, spaced in a repeating pattern so the eye can follow the roofline.

• Christmas: red and green alternating, or warm white with red accents on the peaks
• Halloween: orange and purple, kept a little dimmer than usual
• Fourth of July: red, white and blue in equal blocks
• Iowa State: cardinal and gold
• Hawkeyes: black and gold, and since black is an unlit light, gold groups with dark gaps between them read best

The app offers folders of ready-made patterns for holidays, seasons and special occasions, and you can also build your own. For team colors, our game day lighting page shows how homeowners switch the house over for a big game. For the season itself, see our permanent holiday lights page.

Brightness, Timers and Patterns

Color is only half the look. The app dims the lights anywhere from 0% to 100%, and a display at around half brightness often looks richer than one at full power, especially on a quiet street. Saturated colors such as deep blue or purple usually need more brightness than warm white to read the same from the road.

Timers keep the display from depending on anyone remembering to switch it. The app supports sunset and sunrise timers and multiple timers, including ones that repeat every year, which is handy for birthdays and anniversaries. With the Hub2 controller, Autopilot can subscribe to event calendars and change your lights for holidays and special occasions on its own.

Gemstone also offers a range of animations, from slow fades to chases. Keep motion slow on the front of the house, because a fast chase looks busy from a passing car. With the Hub2 controller, Music Mode lets the lights move with a song when you place your phone near the music source, and patterns and folders can be shared with friends and family.

Test Your Colors at Night Before You Settle

A color that looks right on a phone screen can look different on the house. Test after dark, from the street, and from the direction most people approach. Walk to the end of the driveway, then to the neighbor’s sidewalk, and adjust each zone in turn.

A few habits help. Change one zone at a time so you can see what each change does. Save a combination you like as your own pattern before experimenting further, so you can return to it. Check the display again on a snowy night, because snow on the roof and lawn bounces light back and makes colors look brighter.

Nothing you choose is fixed. Colors, zones and patterns live in the app, so a palette that stops feeling right in February can change in a minute. The lights are rated waterproof to IP67 and to work from -22°F to 113°F, so the display keeps running through an Iowa winter while you fine-tune it.

Want help planning zones and colors for your home? Innovative Lights Iowa installs Gemstone permanent lighting for homeowners across the Des Moines metro, including Grimes, Ankeny, Waukee and West Des Moines. Call us at (515) 219-7494 for a free quote, or fill out the form and our team will get back to you within 24 hours. You can also read how a system comes together in our guide to Gemstone Lights installation.

Frequently Asked Questions