Simple Changes That Won’t Break the Bank – Lighting Your Home
If you’ve ever bought a home, especially your first home, there is this feeling of excitement, accomplishment and love. You may love:
- the neighbourhood
- the ‘bones’ of the home
- the location
- the design
What typically happens is that we work to pay for our homes and as the years go on, our homes age. Of course they do! However as our homes age (along with us aging), our needs change. Perhaps young kids are now teens? When we built our home my daughter was in Kindergarten and my son was in grade one. They are now in grade eleven and twelve! What was once a playroom is now a ‘hang out’ room. When I am looking to change things up in our home, I have this conversation with my husband (I tell it to him like this):
“Our cars need an oil change every now and then. Well, our house is in need of an oil change – and the time is now.”
When I work with clients who want to fall in love with their homes again, there are many factors that we look at to make changes. My clients may be looking at making some kitchen changes; they may be looking at bathroom changes. They may be looking at the function of a room change (like a playroom into a teen hang-out room). Whatever the change is, lighting is an important area that I always bring up.When it comes to lighting, most people think of it as electrical fixtures hanging from the ceiling. While an expensive lighting change would be to rewire and install new lighting (in the walls or on the ceiling), a cost effective change is to add lighting without hardwiring. There are three areas I consider when looking at lighting for a room. As mentioned in a previous post, the first step is to determine the function of the room. Once the function of the room is determined, there are three lighting functions to consider:
Ambient Lighting
This is lighting that brightens up an entire room. The amount of ambient lighting depends on the style of the room and the atmosphere you wish to create. Ambient lighting should be consistent throughout the entire room. A relatively simple change may be to change out your existing light(s) for a new one.
Task Lighting
Once your ambient lighting has been established, task lighting is the next step to address. Task lighting provides light to a specific area for a specific activity. Table lamps and floor lamps can be a great addition to any room. For example, a table lamp on an end table that is set beside sofa or chair is great for people who wish to read in that area. Wall scones or table lamps on a nightstand allow for reading to occur while in bed.
Accent Lighting
This is one area that many people forget about. Accent lighting adds that final touch to a room! Accent lighting highlights the strongest features in a room. This lighting is often used to showcase artwork or a particular spot in a room. Accent lighting can impact the mood and atmosphere of a room!
While these images do show accent lighting that is hard-wired, there are many options that are definitively DIY (Do It Yourself). Maria Killam wrote a great post on lighting that is worth the read.
One of the easiest ways to add mood, atmosphere and function to a room is through lighting. While there are endless possibilities when using the different forms of lighting, it’s important to remember the function of the room! Here’s to lighting up your home!
Related Posts:
Simple Changes That Won’t Break the Bank – Furniture PlacementSimple Changes That Won’t Break the Bank – Paint ColourThree Ways Your Home is Weighing You DownHow Does the Stuff You Own Let You Lead the Life You WantFall In Love With Your Home
If you would like fall in love with your home every time you walk through the front door become a client today!