Let There Be Light!

I have noticed that when I watch a decorating show on TV the designers use a lot more lighting in their rooms than I tend to see in most people’s homes, and I wondered why. In the end I decided it’s because many of us don’t have enough lighting! You really should end up with more lighting than you need to just light up the room. Put lights and lamps in different locations in the room for different moods and tasks. Assume you will never have all of it on at the same time. What you are giving yourself is the flexibility to change the function and feeling of the room. Aside from paint, lighting is the quickest and easiest way to bring about a big change in the way a space looks and feels. If a room is small, lacks natural light, is in a basement, or feels cramped, add some up lighting to light and visually lift the ceiling. You can use floor lamps (torchieres), table lamps, sconces or ceiling hung fixtures that reflect light upwards. This provides even lighting that mimics natural daylight and does not add glare to computer screens and televisions. In a large room or a very open space use some lamps and fixtures that reflect light downwards to make the room feel more cozy. And this time of year you might want to add some accent lighting with candles, strings of lights, small lamps and decorative items that light up or glow. From now until spring we’ll need all the light we can get!