Home Lighting Hacks That Will Change Your Life

Not a lot of people realize that proper lighting is one of the key factors in creating a pleasant and comfortable feel in a home. Smart decorators know that a home can be transformed from a boring, unappealing and sometimes even repulsive place into a warming and comforting haven with nothing but smart lighting tricks. Simply put, there are an awful lot home lighting hacks that will change your life but that may not have even heard of or considered.

When we say light hacks all we mean is clever ways to use your house lights in order to accent certain parts of your home, dim others, and make your day-to-day life both more practical and more enjoyable. So, what are these hacks we are talking about?

Put lights in your closet, wardrobe, and cabinets

Have you ever had to open your bathroom’s door and use the bathroom’s light to more easily look into your closet? Well, why not just install a light fixture inside the closet itself? It doesn’t need to be anything complicated, fancy or expensive – a simple battery-powered LED light can make a world of difference by helping you better see inside your own closet. The same goes for wardrobes, large cabinets and other such places – why squint your eyes or use your phone’s flashlight when you can just have a small string light bulb that you just pull and light up the whole thing with? For wardrobes and food cabinets, in particular, such a light source can even have the added benefit of repelling clothes moths as they tend to avoid places that are well-lit even if it’s just occasionally.

Use light dimmers for your ambient lighting

Especially when it comes to overhead ceiling lights, a dimmer can make a huge difference by helping you customize your lighting experience. Having a really bright ceiling light can be nice in some situations but it’s impractical to use all the time. At the same time, if your lights are always weak and dimmed you won’t be too happy either. Getting a dimmer for your ambient lights is a great way to have the best of both worlds. As lighting designer Joseph A. Rey-Barreau is known to say “Not using a dimmer is like buying a radio with no volume knob.” Of course, not all types of lights can be used with dimmers but things like overhead fluorescent lights are generally not recommended for residential use anyway.

Bed lamps will be your friend

Most people are under the impression that bed lamps or reading lights are useful only for reading in bed. This is far from true, however, since a nice bed lamp can be used in a myriad of situations. For one, if it’s pretty it can be a decoration in and of itself. Much more importantly, however, you can use it at all times instead of getting up and turning on your bedroom’s main ceiling light. If you want to watch something on your phone without tiring your eyes, if you want to check out something on your nightstand, if you need to take medicine during the night, if you want to turn on a light to look at something in your room without getting up, and so on – the possible uses of a nice bed lamp are endless.

Add more lights to your bathroom and make-up station

Any woman would agree that trying to apply make-up with insufficient light around is a huge bother. Yet, most women would rather go into a different room every time they are applying make-up rather than going through the trouble of adding a couple of extra lights to your bathroom or make-up station. Sure, most people prefer to avoid home renovations, but adding extra light to your preferred make-up place can be as simple as hanging several string LED lights around your mirror – hardly a great deal of effort is needed for something like that. By adding a fair bit of lighting in your bathroom or make-up station you can drastically cut your preparation time and also improve the ambiance there.

In fact, some might say that having plenty of light is important for your health – there are countless health conditions that can be noticed sooner under the right light – a change of skin coloration, skin spots the color of your nails or eyes, and so on, can all be symptoms of different internal health problems. Using a light dimmer in your bathroom is also a great idea as this way you’ll be able to choose between brighter or dimmer lighting in your bathroom depending on your needs.

Add mirrors  on the wall that’s opposite your windows

Mirrors can do much more than just help you look at your own reflection. A well-placed mirror can significantly improve the natural light in your home by reflecting the light that comes through the windows. With an extra mirror, you can make sure that your entire living room or bedroom will be well-lit during the day instead of just one half of it being lit by the window and the other remaining dark. Clever mirror use can also be used for decorative purposes by adding string lights, flowers or other such decorations around the mirror.

Always keep a set of candles in your home

Candles are not just for the rare occasions when the electrical power shuts down. Instead, candles can make for a great way to decorate your home and create an atmosphere of peace and relaxation. You don’t need to be a Feng Shui expert to realize that the soft candlelight can be very pleasant when you want to just lay down and relax for a bit.

Power up your imagination and create your own DIY light fixtures

DIY isn’t just for saving money – it can also be done to create personal and heart-warming fixtures and decorations. Sure, a big and shiny commercial chandelier is something very beautiful that you may not be able to recreate, but using glass jars and LED lights or wine bottles and string lights can give your home lighting a much more personal and endearing touch.

ledwatcher

Blogger, editor, developer who loves green living. Interested in photovoltaics and solar lighting. Reviewing solar products since 2013.

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