Home improvement, remodeling, and makeovers have become an ever growing trend in our current culture. With the advent of shows like Trading Spaces and Extreme Makeovers Home Edition home improvement has moved to prime-time and become ever so popular. Certainly we all want comfortable and attractive living spaces, but only a select few have the resources to put tens of thousands of dollars into a new kitchen or living room. However it is affordable and practical to give your domicile a face-lift without destroying your budget with designer furniture, stainless appliances, or the latest greatest jumbo screen plasma television.

An easy way to enhance the ambience of your home both indoors and out is to upgrade the lighting in and around your home. A lighting upgrade is also an excellent way to make your business or work place more inviting. The beautiful thing about starting with lighting to give your building an improved look; is that modern technology actually makes these upgrades more energy efficient, environmentally friendly, and well save money in the long run.

First impressions matter. Consider the first impression that your home or building gives to the casual passer-by. Is your home or office inviting? Is it eye-catching? Some simple additions like lights to draw attention to the architectural details of your home can make your home stand-out in an attractive way. This is true especially in the evening. If your house is on the market, what better way to increase your chances of selling it that lighting the way to your door literally? A few outdoor light fixtures and perhaps some walk way lights can give an elegant finish to any property. Many of today’s outdoor fixtures are even solar powered and gain all the energy they need for night during the day eliminated any energy usage cost to you. If you have some lighting in place consider how you can improve it or get the most out of what you have. Do the current fixtures date your home? Often if outdoor lighting is in disrepair it makes the entire property appear run-down.

[Back To Top]

Now that we have spruced up the outside let’s make our way up the lighted path, to the door, open it up and peek inside. As I said before first impressions matter, but people don’t live in, buy, or enter homes or business because of what is on the outside. Lighting your home properly will not only add atmosphere and elegance to your home but it can actually effect perception, mood, and productivity. Scientists and psychologists have determined that light in its intensity and amount can have a profound effect on the human body and mind. Enhancing the lighting of your home can in some cases even help fight off the ‘winter blues’ as increased exposure to light can encourage the body to regulate chemicals that can cause mild depression or irritability. It sounds strange but maintaining a healthy level of light in your home and work area might help combat some of the lethargy, weight gain, and moodiness associated with the winter months. The typical home lighting enhancements will not fight deep depression or Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)1.   Many different kinds of things can be done to improve the quality and effectiveness of the lighting in your home. These changes can be quite expensive or very inexpensive. The more expensive types of improvement include mostly ways of expanding the amount of natural light in your home. Increasing the size or number of windows in your home is one way to change lighting. Installing skylights is another way to allow more natural light into your home. Certainly this is not a viable option for many people as it is costly and requires a lot of planning and construction. 

To make simple and relatively inexpensive changes some very easy changes can be made. The easiest way to begin to improve the lighting quality in your home or office is to use new and improved light bulbs. Highly efficient fluorescent bulbs called compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) are a great way to start. These bulbs can be purchased at almost any home improvement or household goods stores. Fluorescent bulbs are rated on the Kelvin scale, and range from 2700K to 5000K. What this means to you is based on this scale the bulbs will actually cause certain color ranges to be accentuated. Bulbs rated on the low end of the scale (2700K-3000K) will enhance warm colors such as browns, oranges, and reds. Thus if you have rooms that primarily feature reds or browns and 2700K bulbs will make the room warmer and more vibrant. That old red sofa might take on a bit of new life. In rooms that are based on cooler colors such as blues and greens use an upper range bulb (4000K-5000K) to really draw attention to these colors. As these colors are enhanced your brain and the brains of visitors will actually be more stimulated with your surroundings resulting in greater production of serotonin the chemical improves mood and produces happiness. In a room that feature both warm and cool colors a mid range light bulb (mid-3000, optimum being 3700K) will work to draw out all the colors equally. The improvements created by using the proper light bulbs are great, but ultimately limited. To get the most of us each light bulb location is so important.   

[Back To Top]

New lighting fixtures and specialty fixtures make a huge difference. When creating a room make sure that areas of light are occupied by the piece of furniture or décor that you wish to feature. Or that you use light to feature these pieces. Light always draws your attention, thus is it wise to use it to your advantage. Highlighting or ‘spotlighting’ certain aspects of your home or things such as paintings, pictures, antiques, or other beautiful pieces will give your home that aesthetic edge that will make it comfortable and elegant. Your local electrician can be an excellent resource in installing the perfect fixtures in the proper locations to complete the face-life of your living space. And remember it is these types of improvements that are the most cost effective. Utilize the great hints and contract the perfect service team using ElectricianPDQ.com.

---

(1.)SAD is a condition where the lack of light in the winter causes rather serious depression. Many of us experience some change in mood during the long winter months but SAD manifests in depression, weight gain, exhaustion and other extreme symptoms. Typically the normal functions of life become very difficult for suffers of SAD. A qualified professional should be consulted for such disorders. Light therapy is an effective and common treatment for SAD but this requires special quantities and intensities of light and are administered by light boxes with appropriate bulbs and filters. For more information on SAD visit www.sltbr.org/sadfaq.htm