Shedding Some Light on Home Lighting

They say home is where the heart is. If you want your home to be an even better place for your heart to spend time, give some consideration to renewing the lighting around the house.

“Reflect” on this: how long has it been since someone really thought about, and designed your home’s lighting?

Shedding Some Light on Home Lighting

You may have to go all the way back to the company that built the house.

Few elements of your home’s design and construction have the impact on daily living your lighting has.

There’s that room that’s always just too dark, with an ornate, beautiful overhead light fixture that looks great in the daytime, but just doesn’t light the room adequately after the sun goes down.

Don’t you sometimes wish for better light in the bathroom, too, where you have to do close work in the mirror that often seems to strain your eyes (and your patience)?

You may have just about had it with that weird light switch in the middle of the wall – the one you always have to feel around for in the dark.  Who decided to put that there?

How about the garage?  Do you find yourself reaching for a shop light or a flashlight, even when the overhead lights are on?

Well, these are problems that can be solved.

It can be surprisingly easy (and affordable) to give your home a dramatic new “look” by upgrading or redesigning the lighting throughout the house.

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Read Also:

• 5 Reasons You Should Hire Professional Light Installers
• A Track Lighting Installation Puts Light Where You Want It
• How To Make the Most of Natural Light in Your Home

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Beyond The Kitchen and Bath

Not that you couldn’t use more light in either place – but the kitchen or bathroom in most homes generally has the best lighting.

These two rooms are the builder’s money-makers.  They add more value to a house than anything else. So, it’s not surprising that most home builders and designers give more thought to the kitchen and bathroom lighting than they give to the lighting elsewhere in the home.

Ever notice that people tend to gather in the kitchen?  Could it be because they can see each other more easily?

But even in the kitchen and bathroom, you might want to have a qualified electrician take a look at the lighting.  Sure, these might be the best-lit rooms in the house… but could the lighting be even better?

In the bathroom, you might have a pretty good overhead fixture… but would mirror lights make a big difference?  What about recessed can-lighting over the shower or tub?  And (now, don’t blush) how much reading do you do in the bathroom?  How’s your lighting in the “library” section of the room?

Maybe the kitchen could use a little more light, too.  Consider track-lighting with energy-efficient LEDs over those prime work areas.

And, of course, you should look beyond the kitchen and bath to the other rooms you live in, and to how better lighting might make for better living.  If you really ponder it, you’ll probably find that you’d welcome a bit more light in just about any room.

Must Read:

• 5 Wallet-Friendly Tips to Improve Your Bathroom
• Diagnose and Correct a Sewer Smell in the Bathroom
• Signs that You Need to Remodel Your Bathroom

Switch to Better Switches

These days, you have lots of options for wall switches that simply may not have been available when your home’s lighting was designed.

Dimmer switches can help set the mood in certain rooms… but it’s nice to be able to crank up the light when you’re running the vacuum sweeper or dusting in those rooms.  Your electrician can help you make the right choices about what type of switch you need, what the room needs in terms of lighting, and whether your current set-up is adequate or could use an update.

Can a switch that was installed in an inconvenient location be moved?  Sure.  That’s a project for a handyman… but you should probably run your ideas by the electrician first.  She might be able to give you the best advice on how to change the switch location to best meet your needs.

Beyond the type and location of your light switches, your electrician also might have new options for you in terms of the quality of your switches.  Like everything else, light switches have been improved over the years… and there may be something out there that would meet your needs better than what was available when the house was built.

Light up your life!  Few things can put you in the right mood faster than the right lighting.  For convenience, for comfort, and even for increased property value… new lighting can be a real turn-on.

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Author Bio

This is a guest post written by John Oxford, a master electrician, and owner of APower Electric in Denver Colorado.