By Dana Smith, OR Broker, Premiere Property Group, LLC
Do you see what I see? Illuminating your home can be a cost-effective way to enjoy where you live, or to help it stand out if you are looking to move. Home lighting can provide dramatic effects to make your home appear larger, brighter, and more welcoming to buyers as well as more comfortable for you. Proper lighting also helps our photographer get the exceptional photographs we use to market your home. When considering lighting, think about the type of fixture, style, location, and bulb color (Kelvin).
Layering Home Lighting
Layering these three types of lighting; ambient, task, and accent can help present a room at its best. Ambient lighting brightens the entire room; look to ceiling lights, chandeliers, pendants, and floor lamps to accomplish this. Task lighting focuses on areas where you need to work; a desk lamp, reading lamp, and under cabinet lights do this job. Accent lighting draws attention to what you want people to notice; direct can lights, track lights, picture lights, and candlelight to highlight, backlight, up-light design details. With a little planning and attention great lighting comes together to complete the ambiance of a room.
Home Lighting Strategies
Strategically placed, lighting can visually move walls and give you control over a room’s appearance. Small room? Wash a wall with light to make it appear larger. For a wide room illuminate the narrow ends. Narrow? Illuminate the wide sides. Highlight details that you want to call attention to in order to distract from something that’s not as pleasing. Placing lights wherever it best compliments your room will make it more pleasing and desirable to buyers.
Looking for that WOW factor? Buyers are looking online and design is everywhere! Trends change and one cost effective way of freshening it up is swapping that old fixture. What’s hot? We are seeing a lot of sculptural, gold, and natural material fixtures in homes. Single pendants as well as multiples grouped together. Keep in mind the style of your home and decor and make it shine!
It’s all about the Kelvin
Lights affect our moods. As a result, we often use a mix of bulbs that suit our specific needs. Bedside lamps may have a warmer bulb to help wind down before bed, 2500K bulb. Kitchens may have cooler bulbs which are brighter and helpful for food preparation, 4000K. For long, dark winters maybe a daylight bulb at 5000K will lift your spirits. Although ideal for living in a home, it is not the best for photos or showings because the different hues can look dingy and the camera may pick this up. Streamlining bulbs to the same Kelvin helps get the best photographs as well as provides the buyer a pleasant viewing experience.
Not sure what Kelvin to choose? An older, more traditional home may look great with a warmer bulb, resembling incandescent or old gas lights. A modern home with cooler, crisp colors will pop with a cooler bulb. LED bulbs have come a long way in reproducing light colors, are energy efficient, and can often be picked up for around a dollar. They are available in many warmths, with some of the more expensive ones offering adjustment between the colors. My favorite go to bulb for most homes is a 3000K which provides a nice bright light for photos without leaning too yellow or blue and is super easy to live with in the meantime.
Soft White (yellowish appearance) – 2500K-3000K
Warm White (between yellowish and white light) – 3000K-4000K
Bright White (between white/neutral and cool light) – 4000k-5000k
Daylight (blue/cool color light) – 5000K-6500K
Learn more about Home Lighting
If all this talk about lighting has got you ready to swap out some light bulbs, or even some light fixtures in your home, check out some of the classes offered by the Rebuilding Center. They have a classes on electric, plumbing, carpentry, and more: https://www.rebuildingcenter.org/classes The Rebuilding Center offers classes for everyone, and they also offer women-only classes. Their classes are a great intro to basic things we all want to know how to do in our homes.
If you are looking for a bigger change, contact us for our current favorite electrician referrals right now. Home lighting changes are exciting, and help breathe new life into your home.
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