Lighting in a home has a great influence on the potential buyers of your home. Lighting has the power to add warmth, color, style, and personality to your home. There are a variety of ways you can use the different aspects of lighting to highlight areas of the room that you want to stand out. Making small changes in lighting can affect the way your home is viewed, from top to bottom. Upgrading your lighting can be a simple, inexpensive, investment that will give you a boost while staging your home.

When changing the lighting in your home make sure that you plan a general theme before buying the fixtures. Decide what color your fixtures will be and what the overall look of your home will portray as you slowly make it your own, and stick to your plan. There is an exception to keeping the same color and style of fixtures. The bedrooms are a space that people don’t subconsciously expect to follow the overarching design theme.

Layering Lighting In most modern homes, you walk into a room and you’re greeted by one weak light coming from the center of the ceiling. This infirm little bulb is trying very hard to pull the weight of several light fixtures and lamps that should be in the room. The one fixture needs a team to back it up. Most interior design experts will recommend layering light. Although your space might not need them all, there are three main components to layering light.

Ambient lighting  This is the general lighting in a room that helps provide a comfortable level of brightness to that you can see and walk safely. Having a central source of ambient lighting in all rooms is fundamental to a good lighting plan. Some examples of ambient lighting that are used throughout homes are chandeliers, ceiling and wall mounted fixtures, recessed or track lights, or even lanterns mounted outside your home.

Task lighting  You’ll see a lot of task lighting in well-lit kitchens and other work spaces. Under cabinet lighting, track lighting, and portable floor and desk lamps are good examples of task lighting. Task lighting is any lighting that helps your perform a specific task easier such as reading, grooming, preparing food, playing games, etc. Task lighting should be free of shadows and glare and be bright enough to prevent eye strain.

Accent lighting  This lighting adds drama to your room and creates visual interest. You can use accent lighting to highlight artwork, draw the eye to interesting architectural features or simply influence where visitors look around the room. To be most effective, accent lighting should shine three times brighter on the focal point than the general room light. Recesses lighting, track lighting or wall-mounted picture lights are all great example of accent lighting.