How to Use Lighting to Enhance Your Home Decor

When is a light fixture more than just a light fixture? In our opinion, always! Lighting has such a massive impact on a room’s style, but it doesn’t always get the attention it deserves. Consider how different a room would look when lit by harsh florescent lighting versus the warm glow of a sunset and some carefully placed wall sconces. Or think about the difference between the look of a regular old “boob light” versus a cool chandelier. Lighting and light fixtures can have a drastic effect on a room, so in today’s blog post, we’re showing you how to make the most of your lighting and use it to enhance your home decor.

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Let in the natural light

While we love a good light fixture, there’s really nothing that beats natural lighting. Even the most impeccably decorated room doesn’t have them same appeal if it has little to no natural light when compared with a room flooded with daylight. While controlling the amount of daylight you get is tricky, you can do some things to help let in as much light as possible. First of all, avoid anything that blocks the windows, including curtains and blinds. If you do want to use curtains, make sure you hang them so that the rod extends past the frame so you don’t block any part of the window when they’re open.

Hanging mirrors around the room can also help to enhance the light in the room as it can bounce the light from the windows into the rest of the space. And finally, painting and decorating a room in light colours will help it to feel brighter and enhance the natural light.

Match your fixtures to your decor

A light fixture can have a major impact on the look of a room, and while they are primarily for function, the style of the fixture you choose is also hugely important. Whether you’re going for a mid-century modern style, coastal feel, or minimal decor, choosing a light fixture that matches your space will take your room decor to a whole new level. You can see in the above photos how much a light fixture can change the look of a space! Designer Cait Pappas of @nest.out.west used both the Hendrix and the Breuer fixtures from Troy Lighting in her home. Both are gorgeous, but each give the room their own distinct style.

Get the placement right

Where you place your light sources in your room also has a big impact on the look and feel of your space. Overhead lighting, for example, illuminates an entire space and brings the room together, but it can feel too harsh if you’re trying to create a warm and cozy space or mood. Lamps and wall fixtures, on the other hand, can really help to create a warm glow in a room, but they may not be bright enough to be used on their own during the day. If you want to make a space feel larger, you can use wall sconces pointed towards a wall, or track lighting above cupboards.

Lighting a room properly takes more than just flicking on a light switch. You want to consider the look and feel you’re going for, as well as what functionality you’ll want from your lighting.

Choose the right light bulbs

There is a surprising amount of variety in light bulbs, and choosing the right brightness and temperature can have a big impact on the vibe of your room. First off, you want the brightness to suit the look and function of your room, and brighter isn’t always better. Light fixtures that are meant to light a full room or large area, like your overhead lights or main floor lamps, should typically be brighter, while smaller lights, like sconces and table lamps, should typically be a little less bright to keep from overpowering a space. If possible, get your lights on a dimmer, so you can adjust them when you want.

The next thing to consider is the temperature of your bulb- some light bulbs are warm and give off more of a glow, while others are much cooler and are more similar to daylight. A warm and cool bulb can look very different in your home, so you want to choose the temperature that fits your space. You can also try a bulb like the DALS Smart Bulb, which allows you to switch back and forth between warm and cool lighting. This lets you go with warm lighting (great during the evening, when you’re entertaining, to create a cozy mood, etc.) and cool lighting (perfect during the day).

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