Even when working with a “cheap” budget, no decorator wants their house to look “cheap.” Home is where the heart is, and when you put your heart into making a place your own, you want it to look as good as you can make it within whatever budget constraints you may have.
But just as inexpensive decor doesn’t have to look cheap, a homemaker can inadvertantly cheapen their home’s look with a few misguided choices – even by simply using the “wrong” kind of lighting. Interior designer Aoife Maria breaks down the biggest lighting mistake many homeowners make and explains how you can easily rectify it to make your home look more expensive!
Lighting plays a huge role in our homes. It has a big impact on our moods, the look and feel of a space, the way certain colors and patterns appear – it’s ephemeral, yet it has such a big impact. If you’re not actively thinking about your home’s lighting, you may not be fully aware of just what it’s doing to your space, both psychologically and aesthetically. But for Aoife, aka @stylesosimple, lighting is everything – specifically, lighting tone.
Related: 7 Principles of Interior Design
Warm vs. Cool Lighting and Its Impact in Your Space
I’ve always hated cool white lighting in a home because it always makes me feel like I’m in an office. I always thought I was weird for feeling this way, but as it turns out, there’s a tangible psychological reason for this. According to Aoife, cool white lights are designed to promote an alert, focused state of mind and thus are commonly used in commercial spaces like offices, clinics, showrooms, and shops.
Cool white lighting is perfect for keeping on track at work or staying energized while you check off your grocery list. At home, however, it comes off as harsh and stressful, and its commercial connotations tend to cheapen the space aesthetically. Even so, a lot of people end up using cooler white lightbulbs because it’s the default for their fixtures or because they just don’t think too much about color temperature when they buy their bulbs.
The good news is that this is a easy mistake to fix: just swap out cool-toned bulbs for warm-toned ones. Warm-toned and natural white lights help to promote relaxation and comfort. They’re rich, welcoming, and pleasant, especially in spaces like bedrooms and living rooms where you want to kick back and unwind. As Aoife explains, warm lighting also helps to give your home a more thoughtfully curated (and thus, a more elevated and “expensive”) appearance, even without spending more money than you already do.
Choosing Color Temperature
If you want to make a point to choose warmer lighting for your home, it’s crucial that you understand color temperature – aka, the “tone” or “appearance” of a light put out by a light bulb. With LED lighting, color temperature is measured in Kelvins. According to Westinghouse Lighting, the color temperature scale runs from 1,000 to 10,000K, but most commercial and residential applications fall somewhere between 2,000K to 6,500K.
Lighting appears warmer closer to the lower end of the spectrum, gradually becoming whiter and even slightly bluish as you move up the scale. Naturally, that means you want to stay closer to that lower end. For residential applications, Aoife recommends sticking to a range of 2,400K-4,000K, with the lower end being better for bedrooms and living rooms and the higher end being ideal for functional spaces like dining rooms, home offices, or spaces where task lighting is needed.
People’s needs and tastes are unique, and there will always be some homeowners who prefer the look of cooler white lighting to warmer tones. Still, if you feel like your home looks cheap or feels unrelaxing, and you haven’t experimented with the lighting, consider swapping out your current light bulbs for ones with a warmer color temperature. You might just transform your space in a way you didn’t expect!
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