If you've ever marveled at the cozy ambiance of a room, chances are a great lighting scheme was at work.
The truth is that most rooms don't rely on a single source of light but instead utilize a thoughtful mix of recessed lighting, overhead fixtures, and eye-level lamps or sconces. Interior designers are pros at whipping up these brilliant lighting schemes, but for DIY decorators, it's easy to feel lost in the dark.
To help, we asked a group of design pros to share their brightest lighting hacks—one-step fixes that can upgrade your lighting game in a flash. Follow these five time-saving shortcuts to take your home's lighting scheme from basic to radiant.
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Candace Plotz Design
We often put a lot of effort into choosing a light fixture, while giving relatively little thought to the bulbs we place inside it.
“Remember to consider the color temperature, also known as kelvin, as well as the brightness, also known as lumens, of your bulbs,” says designer Candace Plotz of Candace Plotz Design.
A good portion of light fixtures offer 2700 kelvins, which many designers find to give off a light that is too yellow, making a room look outdated rather than cozy. To achieve a warm-feeling glow, try aiming for around 3000 kelvins for all of your bulbs.
Additionally, be consistent with the color and kelvin of bulbs you choose. For instance, don’t mix warm and cool color temperature lightbulbs.
Studio Q Designs / Photo by Maryland Photography Inc.
One secret of a beautifully lit room is that not all lighting needs to exist to be purely functional.
Designer Quintece Hill-Mattauszek of the design firm Studio Q,
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