With regard to light pollution, clutter is grouping of lights that appear to collectively generate too much light at night.

This type of lighting pertains mostly to municipal lighting, especially street lights. However, the issue applies to individual homes as well. When lights are placed too close together, or are excessively bright together, the effect tends to be distracting. City lights, such as street lights, are commonly guilty of creating a lighting scheme or effect that distracts the eyes of onlookers. In the case of street lights, the distraction of drivers can be a particularly dangerous situation. In many locales there are rules regulating the arrangement of municipal lighting. Urban areas that surround airports often must obey light arrangement patterns designed not to confuse pilots on night approach. Large roadways and curves in highways also follow specially designed lighting patterns as not to distract or con-fuse drivers. The arrangement of outdoor lighting can have a significant impact on the aesthetic value of a given home. Conventional wisdom holds that too much of something is a bad thing, this is certainly true of something as simple as outdoor lighting schemes. Cluttering exterior lighting together can distract from the design value of one's home or from the value of the light fixtures themselves. Just like the use of municipal lighting, one must take into account what they want onlookers to focus on when looking at their home. The purpose of exterior lighting fixtures is to compliment and accent the design of one's home, not distract from it. It is not necessary to take a minimalist approach to exterior lighting, but will greatly benefit a home owner to take careful consideration of where or not they're over-doing their lighting scheme. Its important to have an outsider's perspective when considering a given lighting scheme. Try to imagine what a complete stranger would think of the home illuminated by various configurations of light. If one approach seems to be a little on the excessive side it's probably guilty of clutter. As with most aspects of home design, lighting and exterior lighting are important elements of the aesthetic value, and indeed the monetary value of a home. Al-though clutter with regard to a home won't cause an accident or crash, it will have effects on these values. Incongruent or just plain wrong styling choices can take a hefty chuck out of a home's cash value. Not to mention its effects on pure aesthetics. Buyers should take into careful consideration fixtures from manufactures that have already addressed the issue of clutter. Many fixture producers have made a very proactive effort to address the issue of light pollution. Products from Troy Lighting are well suited to reducing clutter. Individual buyers will need to make note of their own needs when selecting fixtures. Following the manufacture's suggested use and arrangement is a good start, but one will have to address the uniqueness of their own home and plan their lighting scheme accordingly.