We spend a lot of time perfecting our homes to make them a safe, comfortable zone to relax in after the hustle and bustle of our daily lives. While furniture and paint play a huge part in making that happen, many underestimate the importance of lighting and the role it plays in making the house feel more like home. If you’re looking to improve the lighting in your house, here are some tips to help you out.
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Consider Size and Space
Before you go buying all kinds of lighting fixtures, you need to first consider the size of the areas you want to improve lighting in. You can’t choose a huge lamp, for example, if you have a small living room or bedroom. It would only overpower the space and make it feel even smaller. You also want to make sure you have the right amount of light according to each room’s size to give it balance. Having an overlit space can ruin the entire house, especially with a dimly lit area close by.
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Choose A Focal Point
Now that you have an overview of the space you have to add lighting fixtures too, you need to choose a focal point to give eyes something to focus on. The eyes always search for visual clarity, so you need to give it somewhere to land on. To do that, choose different sized lamps because, with similar lighting, the eyes don’t know what to focus on. An example of doing this would be choosing large, dramatic lighting fixtures for large spaces like a chandelier while going for a basic floor lamp in smaller areas or scones if you want to highlight a piece of art or a fireplace.
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Switch to LED Lighting
The type of light bulbs you choose to install in your home will go a long way in improving the overall lighting. Since there are endless types of light bulbs out there, we’ll cut it short for you and tell you that LED lighting is the best one you can choose. They come in many shapes to suit the space you have; from LED tubes, LED high bays, LED shoeboxes, LED panels, to the normal LED bulbs, the options are limitless. Not only do some of them allow you to tune color temperature, but they also save a ton of energy and money on electrical bills. There are differences in quality, so make sure you choose one with a large lifespan.
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Add Dimmer Functions
There are certain times where you need bright colors in the house. Other times, however, you just need a low-key atmosphere with minimum lighting. For that reason, you should consider adding dimmer functions to your home’s lighting system. These would be particularly functional in the living room as well as bedrooms to be able to set a relaxing mood. To make sure you choose the right dimmer, you’ll have to take into consideration the bulb type and wattage, or else you’ll have to install the plate with paddles, a knob or buttons, and a toggle. The best thing about dimmers is that they also cut down electrical usage by 25%.
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Incorporate Multiple Light Sources
Each room should have at least three light sources; general lighting, specific lighting, and ambient lighting. General lighting is the one that’s overhead or the pendant lighting, while the specific lighting could be a task or table lighting and ambient lights could be candles or scones. This is a general rule for any sized room, and you can use lower wattage lamp bulbs in small rooms to have multiple sources without having them overlit. Consider having an accent light as one of these sources to highlight an attractive feature in the area.
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Make It Smart
Technology has made everything better nowadays, including home lighting. So, why not take advantage and make your lighting system smart. These smart lights can be controlled by voice or through an app, making it easy to change lighting settings whenever you want. Some can even change their light strength and color just by using your phone. Another perk of smart lights is that, like LED lights, they save a lot of energy and money.
There you have it, these simple tips can go a long way in how the lighting in your house looks and feels. Just remember that when it comes to lighting in a household, it’s all about balance. Balancing space size and furniture with the type of light fixtures you choose is extremely important. You also have the option to be eco-friendly with LED lights and achieve that balance or go smart for more accessibility as well as cost-efficiency.
