Make a Dramatic Home Improvement with a Small Budget

Do some of your light fixtures look like they are fugitives from another era, and are certain rooms in your home better looking with the lights off? If so, it’s time to do something about it.

Small changes with regards to lighting can make a dramatic improvement in the look and feel of your home, and they don’t cost much to do. Here are some ideas from the experts at LightingShowplace.com -- a company that over the past 13 years has helped more than one million customers with their projects -- on how to dress up your home in an instant, starting at the front door.

Front Door

When you drive up to your home at night, what do you see? If the answer is “not much,” then you should replace your front entry light with a lamp that gives off more light. A well lit front entrance says ‘Welcome,’ while at the same time enabling you to greet guests and identify visitors. Not only will updating your lighting improve the look of your home from the street, it will enhance your sense of security because the front door will be better lit.

If you have a single lantern next to the door, consider replacing it with matching wall lanterns to give the home a warm look, while assuring the safety of those who enter. For homes with a porch or overhang, you have even more options: a recessed, chain-hung or ceiling fixture.

The Dining Room

Want to dress up your dining room without spending a small fortune on new furniture? Simply painting those plain white walls and switching out the chandelier hanging over the table will make a dramatic difference.

Not sure what color to go with? Here’s a guideline from the National Kitchen and Bath Association on what some of the most popular colors can do:

Soft yellows can be cheering and make individuals feel sunny. Bright yellow can be used as an accent that attracts attention and helps to brighten a room.

Green is the ultimate pacifier. Often associated with nature, it is both relaxing and reassuring. Pale yellow-greens conjure images of growth while deep greens are associated with status and wealth.

Blue arouses feelings of freshness, coolness and relaxation. In lighter hues, blue is airy and open, while dark blues represent wealth, strength and respect, evoking the feelings of reassurance in individuals.

Red attracts attention, causes excitement, and even raises blood pressure. Intense red is stimulating; however, it can also be distracting in large amounts. Red is associated with wealth and sophistication, while high value reds (pinks) can make people feel good about the way they look.

Once you choose a paint color, move on to the task of replacing your plain, boring fixture with one that gives the room more of a “wow” factor. For a look of opulence, you may want to go with a crystal chandelier. For a more contemporary look, consider a fixture that features softened and rounded lines. If you’re going for a modern look, you’ll want something with polished surfaces, strong geometric shapes and asymmetry, while the rustic look reflects the visual patterns found in nature.

Adding a floor lamp in the corner of the room that fits the same theme will help you really dress up the room. It will make those extra chairs resting near the wall a more inviting place to hang out while people are waiting for the meal to be ready.

The Bathroom

And if your bathroom still looks like it’s circa 1970 with dark paint and globe lights around the mirror, choose a lighter paint color and swap out the fixtures for a bold new look.

An ideally lit bathroom will have a fixture above the mirror with usually two, three, four or more bulbs. This fixture will provide overhead and top of the features lighting. The next type of fixture you will need to achieve a well lit bathroom are scones. One sconce on either side of the mirror will help avoid shadows and fill in the rest of your face and neck properly. Most bathrooms will require additional flush mount ceiling lighting in the toilet area or center of the room to fill the entire room properly with light.

When it’s time to start shopping for fixtures, you don’t need to spend a lot of time running from lighting store to lighting store. To get an idea of the latest looks available, just log on to www.lightingshowplace.com, and you’ll have access to an online catalog with hundreds of fixtures to choose from. You can shop by brand, collection of style and once you find a look you like, the site makes it easy for you to pair up matching pieces.

According to Daniel Auer of LightingShowplace.com, customers come to his online store for three key reasons. “They come to us because they know they can find quality merchandise at a good price, that they can expect the products to be delivered quickly, and that they’ll have all their questions answered either in the informational articles on our Web site, or on the phone when they talk to one of our customer service representatives.”

Auer adds that unlike box stores which typically hire people who aren’t familiar with all the brands and products they sell, his customer service personnel can answer any question the customer has, and they will offer a quick response via e-mail or phone.

Whether you’re ready to shop for your lighting needs today, or just looking for ideas that will jump start your project, log on to http://www.lightingshowplace.com/.

Courtesy of ARAcontent