subject: Decorating your Home and the Effect of Lighting [print this page] Decorating your Home and the Effect of Lighting
If you're aiming for the wow' factor in your home, did you know that most of that comes from the kind of lighting that you choose?
The kind and quantity of lighting that you choose for your home can make a significant impact on someone who is looking to purchase a home for the first time, and it can also have a significant impact on those who are currently living in that home. For instance, at my parents house, growing up, my mother always joked (and she still does) about not wanting to go downstairs to where the family room was because my father and my brother had both effectively turned it into what she still refers to as "the dungeon". The room has plenty of windows, but every time my father and my brother are down there, they close the windows and pull down the shades so that they can watch television.
Whether you are trying to live in your home or whether you are trying to sell your home, one thing is true, the more light that you have to work with, the bigger your home will look to other people and the more inviting it will seem. If you don't have sufficient natural light in your home already, this can be remedied by adding artificial lighting. However, you want to be careful as to what kind of artificial lighting you are adding because it may appear to be too overpowering, etc. For instance, you'll want to pay attention to things such as bulb wattage, type of light fixture used and the eventual placement of that light fixture.
Lighting can make an incredibly small space look bigger or the lack of lighting can make a large space look claustrophobic and cramped. Other things that will factor into your lighting decision also include paint color and decoration. For instance, if you paint a room black, it will make the space look smaller, and any amount of lighting that you put in that space will not really have much of an impact.
If you are unsure as to what you are doing, there are plenty of references available to help you decide what sorts of lighting upgrades will be needed for a particular space. Consult with an interior decorator, or you can simply seek out the advice of someone who works in the lighting section of major home improvement stores such as Lowes or Home Depot.
