You’d think windows would be the best way to add lighting to a room. But knocking out walls is expensive and the sun doesn’t always cooperate anyway. The most reliable and effective way to add lighting to a room is to do it yourself.
4 Ways to Add Lighting to a Room
With every room in your home or apartment, ask yourself what you want to achieve. Do you want a comfortable setting for watching television? Do you want a room that is inviting and impresses visitors? Do you want to add accent lighting to a room or do you want the lighting itself to be the focal point?
- Choose colors and tones wisely. Whites accentuate light but appear “cold.” Colors give lighting warmer, more inviting hues.
- Every room should have at least 3 sources of light. Rooms should offer general (overhead), specific (table or floor lamps), and ambient (wall sconces, candles) lighting.
- If you have natural light, the best way to maximize it is to keep your windows clean! Sounds simple, but it’s one of the things homeowners tend to neglect.
- Mirrors and metallic accent pieces reflect light and add much to maximize ways you add lighting to a room.
Room-By-Room Light Additions
Kitchens can represent form and function if you have the right lighting.
If you love working in the kitchen, you know how under-cabinet lighting is an amazing tool for food prep. Pendant lamps are fun and versatile, and they work well above sinks, islands, and tables.
“Consider uplighting your kitchen for a luxe touch that’s worth every penny,” says home interior writer Melissa Epifano. It offers a soft glow to the room. It also highlights designer cabinetry and other attractive areas.
Whether it’s a formal or casual livingroom, when you add lighting to a room it becomes your own statement. “Table lamps are great, but…a large lantern, oversized pendant, or sculptural floor lamp” can add a focal point, says Epifano. Definitely consider dimmer switches for kitchen, bedrooms, and living room. Dimmer lighting sets the mood perfectly.
Nothing is more fun than a chandelier. The designs today are so exciting. You can choose from understated elegance or light-sculpture chandeliers for livingrooms.
Don’t forget the bathrooms. If your bathroom is where you partially dress or apply makeup, vanity lighting or adding mirror lights are best.
Bathroom overhead lighting, with its harshness and odd shadows, are detriments to your daily preparations. Ask about daylight-simulating light bulbs. This offers the best possible way to add lighting to a room in which you apply makeup.
TIO: The Best Way To Add Lighting To a Room
Plugging a lamp into a socket is safe enough (unless that socket has too many power strips and extenders attached). But for beautiful, professional ways to add lighting to a room, you should partner with your local electrical services company.
If you live in an older, historical home, the behind-the-scenes wiring can be tricky. And with today’s technologies, lighting additions can be more – and do more – than turn on and off. Turn It On Electric lighting pros are safety-minded, licensed, and bonded electricians.
We’ll work with your new-home or renovation contractors and interior designers to deliver the look you want. We can also team with you and your ideas. Let’s look at the possibilities! We can add lighting to a room, several rooms, and make plans for external lighting upgrades in the new year.
Contact TIO Electric and share your lighting ideas with us.
