A Guide to Lighting
When building your new construction home, you might envision things coming to life like your paint colors, hardwood selection, and cabinets! However, have you taken time to think about the lighting in your home?! The light fixtures bring your entire home together, like a piece of jewelry does for an outfit! Choosing the lighting in your home could seem like a daunting task, but it doesn’t have to be! Today, we’re providing our own guidance on lighting, along with the expert advice from Kara Martin, our Lighting Specialist at Fergusons! Consider this a Lighting 101 Course and class is in session!
First things first, let’s start with the big picture! Kara recommends thinking about your space overall, and not just individualizing it room by room. Most homes now have more of an open floor plan, so you will want a nice flow throughout your house. For example, if you are drawn to modern-style lighting, try incorporating that for congruency in each room of your home! We want to encourage you to think about how much light you want the fixture to provide in each room, as well.
Next up, let’s talk about ceiling height! The height of each room in your home will play a big factor in which light fixture you choose. For example, if you have 9’ ceilings in your family room, you will not want an oversized fixture that could overwhelm the space.
In the same vein, let’s talk about sizing of the room! Kara mentions that if you are thinking about a round fixture in a room, a good rule of thumb is to add the length and width, and then add about 2-3 more inches for sizing. For example, a room that’s 12×17, we recommend a fixture to be roughly about 32-33 inches minimum, and probably no more than 36-37 inches.
When it comes to size of the fixture working in your space, we recommend cutting out a piece of cardboard (or something of the sort) and holding it up towards the ceiling in the room you are thinking. This will give you a good visual of how the size will look in this space!
Something that often stumps people are the finishes of the fixtures. In our opinion, the colors of your fixtures do not have to match, they just need to complement each other! If you use a gold fixture in your primary bathroom, do not feel forced to use gold in your primary bedroom. You can absolutely use a fixture that has polished nickel or black in it.
Another thought when it comes to selecting your lighting is to think about sconces in your home. Do you desire sconces in your dining room or stairwell? Remember to discuss that during your lighting appointment! We also encourage you to think about if you would like bathroom sconces and where you want them located, whether installed inside your mirror or on the perimeter of the mirror.
At the end of the day, we want to encourage you to select lighting fixtures in your home that you love and will enjoy seeing for years to come!
