If you’re someone who likes to get a lot from a little (who doesn’t?), one area you can make that happen is your home’s lighting. There are several ways to make sure your home is well-lit without having all the lights on. Below are five ways to accomplish this. Enjoy!
- Pendant Lighting
These lights are those that hang, like a chandelier (but not always as fancy). Since they aren’t fixed in the ceiling like most overhead lights, hanging pendant lights are closer to the rooms center and therefore project more light horizontally. Rooms with pendant lights installed are more evenly lit, leaving fewer shadows. One good pendant light in a room can illuminate it just as well as your overhead lights, but often require less bulbs and energy.
- Natural Lighting
The sun is your friend. This might seem pretty obvious, but using natural light over electrical fixtures is much easier and much cheaper. By drawing the curtains and pulling up your blinds, you can let the sun do the work and light your home for you. In the winter months, you can even use this tactic to get a little free heat for your home as well. Those fortunate enough to have a skylight can enjoy natural overhead lighting year-round.
- Lamps
Using a few lamps instead of your overhead light is another way to get the most from the lighting in your home. By using lamps to brighten dark corners, you can keep your home bright and accentuate various features of your home as well.
- Use Reflection/Diffusion
This is one of the more creative solutions on this list, but it can work wonders. Placing a mirror behind a lamp in your home can nearly double the illumination it provides by way of reflection. Similarly, a directional light from a lamp, when aimed at a bright surface like a white wall or a white sheet, can diffuse the light throughout the room instead of only lighting a small area.
- Energy Efficient Lighting
Anyone who subscribes to the less-is-more mentality is likely aware of energy efficiency. A great way to accomplish this efficiency is through the use of energy efficient lighting, such as fixtures that use LED or CFL bulbs. Incandescent bulbs emit a great deal of heat which is a sure sign that energy is being wasted (expelled as heat rather than light). Switching out your bulbs for more efficient models won’t necessarily make your home brighter, but it will ensure that you get more lighting for less electricity.
