These are starting points, not prescriptions. Each lists the layers to use, where they go, and how bright and how long each should run. Adjust for your own materials using the earlier pages.
A one-story house reads mostly as a horizontal line from the street, so the roofline does most of the work. Light the front eave and any front-facing gable; the sides and back can wait.
Roofline: front eave and gables, soft warm white most evenings, on at dusk and off at bedtime.
Entry: one or two shielded wall lanterns by the door, the brightest point on the house.
Path: three or four low, capped lights staggered along the walk, plus a light at any step.
Uplighting: optional, one fixture on a brick or stone chimney if there is one.
Accent: a lit house number.
Two stories give height to show off, and the porch gives a natural center. The risk is too much light on a tall, pale wall.
Roofline: the upper eave and gables, so the outline reads from down the street.
Porch: a ceiling light, kept soft, and porch column lights only if the porch is deep.
Uplighting: one fixture at each outside corner, grazing up the wall, kept dim if the siding or paint is pale.
Path: low lights along the walk to the porch steps, with a light at the steps.
Timing: porch and path from dusk to late evening, roofline and uplights off a little earlier.
Distance changes the plan. The house may be set far back, and mature trees can be as important as the facade.
Roofline: the front-facing runs, which read from the road even through trees.
Uplighting: two or three specimen trees near the house, aimed into the canopy, plus any stone feature on the facade.
Path and drive: low lights at the turns of a long drive and the walk, not a continuous row.
Entry: a strong but shielded light at the door, since visitors arrive from farther away.
Accent: a lit number at the road, so the address can be found.
Close neighbors make glare the main concern, and small facades are easy to overlight.
Roofline: the front eave only, at a low brightness.
Entry: one shielded fixture by the door.
Accent: a lit house number, and a single uplight on a small tree or planter if there is room.
Skip side uplights that could reach the next house.
Every plan above starts with the roofline, and it is also the layer that is hardest to reach once it is up. That is why many homeowners make it permanent: low-profile track and fixtures mounted along the trim, controlled from a phone, set to a steady white most of the year and a color for occasions. The way Permanent Lighting Solutions builds a roofline system is one example of that approach. For a bigger house, permanent-lighting.solutions/permanent-lighting-large-homes-nashville/ covers how an installer plans a large roofline. Other layers in these plans, such as uplights, path lights and porch fixtures, are separate products that a landscape lighting contractor, an electrician, or a careful homeowner can handle.