Illuminating Design

What Illuminating Design does

Illuminating Design is a privately held, founder-led outdoor lighting services company founded in 2004 by Bill Frey and headquartered in Peachtree Corners (Peachtree City), Georgia. The company designs, installs, and maintains professional LED lighting systems for residential, HOA, commercial, municipal, and event clients across Metro Atlanta and selective Southeast markets, with reported cumulative scale of 3,000+ installations and 10M+ lights installed over its 20-year history.

The company's core product portfolio comprises five service lines: Landscape Lighting (custom LED designs for architecture, pathways, and outdoor living spaces; residential $1,800-$3,000+, neighborhood $3,000-$5,000+), Permanent Trim Lighting (a higher-ticket roofline system offered in three proprietary styles — Classic, Evolution, Genesis — with smartphone app and smart-home integration at $4,000-$6,000+), Event Lighting (weddings, corporate galas, festivals), Holiday Lighting (full-service design-installation-maintenance-removal), and the Illuminating Advantage Maintenance Plan ($499/year recurring subscription). Underlying technology is commercial-grade low-voltage (12V) LED hardware sourced through preferred-installer partnerships with Haven Lighting and AMP, offering up to 90% energy reduction and 50,000-hour lifespan. A coming-soon Outdoor Sound product line signals planned expansion into integrated outdoor experience systems.

The business model is predominantly project-based one-time revenue with a growing recurring maintenance subscription layer. Go-to-market is consultative direct sales — free on-site consultations, 48-hour design renderings, and installation by W-2 employee crews (no subcontractors). Customer acquisition combines local SEO, content marketing, social media, earned media (Forbes, Southern Living, AJC), and partnerships with HOAs, chambers, and industry associations. The customer base spans individual luxury homeowners, HOAs, property managers, municipalities (Roswell, Decatur, Knoxville, Braselton), cultural attractions (Atlanta Botanical Garden, Zoo Atlanta, Stone Mountain Park), and enterprise brands (Netflix, Coca-Cola, Emory, Georgia Power, MARTA), with no disclosed external funding and no parent company.

Name

Illuminating Design

Legal name

Illuminating Design Inc.

Website

https://illuminating-design.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2004

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Illuminating Design is a privately held, 20-year-old outdoor lighting design, installation, and maintenance firm serving residential, HOA, commercial, municipal, and event clients across Metro Atlanta and the Southeast with LED landscape, permanent trim, event, and holiday lighting services.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Outdoor Lighting Design & Installation

NAICS

Landscape Architectural Services (54132)

SIC

Electrical Work (1731)

akta.pro primary industry

Outdoor & Landscape Lighting Installation (HSAOAFAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Lighting Design Services (BPAHAKAJ), Landscape Lighting Design & Layout (HSAIAHAA), Commercial Lighting Fixture Installation (HSAOAFAM)

Keywords

• Outdoor lighting design
• Landscape lighting installation
• Permanent trim lighting
• Commercial LED lighting
• Holiday lighting services

Headquarters

HQ city

Peachtree City

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain, Others

Revenue model

1. Landscape Lighting Installation: Custom LED landscape lighting design, installation, and maintenance for residential and commercial properties. Includes pathway lighting, uplighting, tree lighting, and architectural highlighting. Pricing varies: Residential $1800-$3000+, Neighborhood $3000-$5000+, Commercial job-dependent.
2. Permanent Trim Lighting: Year-round architectural LED lighting systems installed along rooflines. Homeowners can control colors, brightness, and patterns for holidays, events, and ambient lighting. Residential pricing approximately $4000-$6000+ (approx 125 linear ft).
3. Event Lighting: Professional lighting design and installation for weddings, corporate events, galas, fundraisers, and private celebrations. Services include string lighting, uplighting, pathway lighting, focal accent lighting, gobo projections, cake mapping, and pin spotting.
4. Holiday Lighting Design: Full-service holiday lighting including custom design, professional installation, in-season maintenance, and post-season removal. Residential starts at $1500 minimum (most $1500-$3000+), Neighborhood $2500-$6000+, Commercial job-dependent.
5. Illuminating Advantage Maintenance Program: Annual maintenance program at $499/year including comprehensive system inspection, fixture cleaning, lamp/LED replacement, transformer/timer inspection, voltage checks, and member discounts (10% off replacement parts, labor, light programming, and other services).

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Illuminating Design is a Metro Atlanta-based lighting design and installation company founded in 2004 that custom-designs, installs, and maintains outdoor LED lighting systems. The company delivers landscape lighting, permanent roofline trim lighting (in three engineered styles), event lighting for weddings and corporate gatherings, full-service seasonal holiday lighting, and an annual maintenance subscription for residential, commercial, HOA, and municipal clients.

Product overview

Illuminating Design offers a portfolio of outdoor lighting services rather than a single software platform. The core offerings include Landscape Lighting (custom LED designs for architecture and outdoor spaces), Permanent Trim Lighting (three distinct styles—Classic, Evolution, and Genesis—with smart color-changing controls), Event Lighting (weddings, corporate events, galas), Holiday Lighting (design, installation, removal), and an Illuminating Advantage Maintenance Plan ($499/year add-on). The company also plans to launch Outdoor Sound systems. All services are delivered as professional installations across Metro Atlanta for residential, commercial, HOA, and municipal clients.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Landscape Lighting Custom LED landscape lighting design, installation, and maintenance for residential and commercial properties; highlights architecture, pathways, trees, gardens, and outdoor living spaces to enhance curb appeal, safety, and security. Residential pricing $1,800-$3,000+; Neighborhood/HOA pricing $3,000-$5,000+; Commercial pricing job-dependent.
• Permanent Trim Lighting Year-round LED lighting systems installed along rooflines with smartphone-controlled color, brightness, and scheduling for holidays, events, and ambient architectural lighting. Three proprietary styles are offered: Classic (individually spaced points), Evolution (continuous bar with denser LED placement and full RGBW spectrum), and Genesis (evenly spaced nodes on a clean track). Residential pricing approximately $4,000-$6,000+ per ~125 linear feet; commercial pricing job-dependent.
• Event Lighting Custom lighting design and installation for weddings, corporate events, galas, fundraisers, and private celebrations. Services include string lighting, uplighting, pathway lighting, focal accent lighting, gobo projections, cake mapping, bistro lighting, and pin spotting.
• Holiday Lighting Design Full-service seasonal holiday lighting program covering custom design, professional installation, in-season maintenance, and post-season removal for residential, neighborhood/HOA, and commercial properties. Residential starts at $1,500 minimum (most installations $1,500-$3,000+); Neighborhood $2,500-$6,000+; Commercial pricing job-dependent.
• Illuminating Advantage Maintenance Program Annual subscription maintenance program at $499 per year covering comprehensive system inspection, fixture damage and wear inspection, lens cleaning, aim adjustment, lamp/LED replacement as needed, transformer and timer inspection, voltage checks, timer/smart-control verification, and a fixture map with zone list. Members receive 10% off replacement parts, labor, light programming, and any other lighting service.

Quantifiable outcome

• 3000+ installations completed successfully
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers24 records

Segments10 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Haven LightingcoreTechnology or IntegrationHaven Lighting is displayed as a product partner logo on the Illuminating Design website. As a preferred installer for national manufacturers, Illuminating Design partners with Haven Lighting for their permanent trim lighting systems, offering customers smart, color-changing LED systems with full app control.
• AMP (Lighting)coreTechnology or IntegrationAMP is displayed as a product partner logo on the Illuminating Design website. Illuminating Design works with AMP as a preferred installer for professional-grade lighting products and systems.
• Georgia Downtown AssociationminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMember of Georgia Downtown Association, participating in initiatives to enhance downtown areas and commercial districts through professional lighting services and community partnerships.
• Southeast Festivals & Events AssociationminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMember of Southeast Festivals & Events Association, supporting festival and event lighting across the southeastern United States.
• CAI - Georgia ChapterminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCommunity Associations Institute Georgia Chapter membership, positioning Illuminating Design as a preferred vendor for HOA lighting projects and community lighting solutions.
• Southwest Gwinnett Chamber of CommerceminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMember of local chamber of commerce supporting business community in Southwest Gwinnett area where headquarters is located.
• Peachtree Corners Business AssociationminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMember of local business association in Peachtree Corners, GA supporting local business community and networking.
• Alpharetta Chamber of CommerceminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMember of Alpharetta Chamber of Commerce, participating in local business community and networking opportunities.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• EverLights: Permanent outdoor LED lighting installer serving residential and commercial customers in multiple U.S. markets, competing head-to-head with Illuminating Design's trim lighting and landscape lighting services.
• Gemstone Lights: Manufacturer and franchise network of permanent outdoor LED track lighting, the closest direct competitor to Illuminating Design's Permanent Trim Lighting offering across the U.S. and Canada.
• Trimlight: National permanent LED soffit/eave lighting brand with a dealer/installer model, competing for the same year-round programmable lighting buyer as Illuminating Design.
• Jellyfish Lighting: National provider of permanent color-changing LED trim lighting for rooflines, directly competing with Illuminating Design's Classic/Evolution/Genesis three-style offering.
• Blingle Premier Lighting: National franchise focused on landscape, holiday, and event lighting design and installation, competing with Illuminating Design across nearly all of its core service lines outside of Metro Atlanta.
• Christmas Decor, Inc. Long-running national holiday and event lighting franchise; overlaps directly with Illuminating Design's Holiday Lighting and event lighting service lines via a franchise model in shared geographies.

Broad incumbents

• Vista Professional Outdoor Lighting: Established U.S. manufacturer of architectural and landscape lighting fixtures with a network of installing contractors; comparable to Illuminating Design as a fixture supplier/brand in the same outdoor lighting category.

Others

• CAST Lighting: Specialty landscape lighting fixture and low-voltage system supplier serving the same installer ecosystem as Illuminating Design, used by many professional outdoor lighting contractors nationwide.
• Haven Lighting: Manufacturer of smart, app-controlled permanent outdoor LED lighting that Illuminating Design installs as a preferred installer; comparable channel partner / supplier in the same category.
• AMP Lighting: Manufacturer of professional-grade landscape and architectural LED lighting specified by Illuminating Design as a preferred product partner; comparable supplier in the same outdoor lighting category.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/IlluminatingDesign
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/illuminating-design
• Instagraminstagram.com/illuminating_design
• Xx.com/idatlanta

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Illuminating Design