Electrical Tip of the Day: Updating your lighting, 5 things you must know
In many of the homes built in the late 80’s and 90’s little attention was paid to the lighting. Likewise, historic homes and one-of-a-kind custom homes often share a common problem… bad lighting design and layout. So here are 5 tips to help you out with some potential lighting updates.
#1 – There are no rules! You can do whatever you want… like anything else the lighting in your home
can and should
be a statement about you. Some folks prefer lighting that stands out and is a point of interest in a room, others prefer lighting that is ambient and becomes “part of the space”. Either way is fine – but do not be afraid to be daring. Chandelier in the bathroom? Why not! Really like that historic fixture? Get it restored!
#2 – Sconce Lights and table lamps can be your friend! Lighting in a room tends to look better and more interesting when it comes from
multiple sources
. A combination of ceiling lights, wall mounted sconces, and table lamps can really help get the look and feel of a home dialed in. I am a big fan of adding sconce lights to living rooms and dining rooms. This can be a very cost effective way to spruce up a space and really change the look of a room, both with the fixtures themselves and the
layering of the light
.
#3 – Kitchen lights can be cool too! As I said earlier, there are no rules. Nothing says that you have to keep that old fluorescent surface mount light in the center of the kitchen anymore… and those old can lights over the bar with the yellow stained “eye ball” trims, maybe it’s time to retire them.
A combination
of under cabinet lights, pendant lights, reseeded can lights, and hidden “nook” ambient lighting can make a huge difference in a kitchen. Many of these changes can be done on a tight budget, and in most cases can be done in several phases to spread the cost out into affordable bites.
#4 – Outside lighting sets the mood! No matter what time of year it is the exterior lighting on your home is the mood setter. At night when you come and go it is the most striking visual feature of your home, embrace it. There are a lot of considerations for exterior lighting… be it security, landscape lighting, architectural feature lighting, lot lighting, path and drive way lighting, and so on. As with lighting in the interior of the home
“layering” your exterior lighting is the secret
. Using the structure of the home, the landscape, the decks and garages, and any other building feature to get varied elevations of light really brings things to life. Here is another quick tip – landscape lighting always looks better when done in non-symmetrical layouts, with several different types of fixtures and lamp types. If you are sporting the “runway” landing strip lights down your front sidewalk let’s talk.
#5 – Dimmers, Dimmers, Dimmers! The amount of ambient light that comes in a home changes with the seasons, the weather, the time of day… and so too does all of our moods. Being able to dim the lights in a given space is one of the quickest affordable changes that can be made to dramatically affect the lighting in a space. The light level needed in a room to play a quality game of RISK with the family is certainly not the ideal amount of light needed for movie night (especially if it is scary move night) –
dimmers to the rescue
. I also find that installing dimmers for your exterior lighting is a very cool and helpful way to dial in the look of a patio or outdoor living space.