Accent Your Rooms with Strategic Use of Lighting

With the flick of a switch you can transform dingy, drab and boring into soothing, vibrant and dramatic.

“Strategic use of lighting can highlight the best features of your home and disguise less attractive ones,” says Peter Hoffman, broker-owner with Royal LePage Triland Realty in London, Ontario. “Look for these three types of lighting to set the tone throughout the house:

Ambient or background lighting should be part of every room. Table lights, standard lamps and wall and valance lights are used to wash walls in softer, more flattering glows, mitigating the harshness of central ceiling or pendant lights.

Task lighting helps you to concentrate areas of light on work surfaces and those areas where you need light for specific purposes. Angled lighting, halogen spotlights and reading lamps are some examples of task lighting.

Dramatic lighting can accentuate specific features in a room. Paintings, architectural features and ornaments can benefit from being in the spotlight. Candles and firelight also add to the drama, warmth and comfort of a room, serving to bring out great features.

Consider adding dimmer switches to provide added flexibility.

More information can be found at www.royallepage.ca.

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