Show Your House in the Right Light

If you're getting ready to put your house on the market you're probably busy painting some of the dingy walls, shampooing your carpet, and clearing the clutter. But be sure you add something else to your list - strategic lighting.

With the right lighting, the look of a room can turn from mediocre to sensational, making it look bigger, airier and more desirable.

The right lighting can enhance your skin tone, allow you to see what you're doing, draw attention to focal points in your décor, and make a big difference in how you feel about your home. And best of all, it's inexpensive compared to other home decorating or remodeling options.

Lighting can also play tricks on the mind and enhance or minimize the physical size of the room. For example, Sadez Friedmann says that if a room is too tall, low luminaries that don't allow light out the top help shorten high ceilings; if a room is too small, visually push one wall open by washing it with light; and if a room is too wide, illuminate the narrow ends of the room. Conversely, if a room is too narrow, illuminate the wide sides of the room.

Some additional lighting tips are as follows:

• Any room: Use high-hats or recessed down-lights installed in ceilings with a dimmer control.
   

• Bedroom: In addition to above, add a floor lamp or table lamp and bedside lights for reading.

• Bathroom: Angle recessed lighting to bounce light off the walls and ceiling and help reduce glare and shadow. Use wall-mounted sconces or over-vanity lights beside the mirror. Light your shower's interior with uniform brightness.

• Kitchen: Task lighting is required here. Group down-lights to focus more light on particular areas.

Today's decorative lamps and fixtures do more than illuminate. You can choose from decorative sconces, chandeliers, and table and floor lamps in a variety of shapes, styles and finishes that take a room from drab to dramatic with the flick of a switch.

"Now, no matter which room a prospective buyer walks into, it will be lit brightly," he says. "And the lighting fixture itself will be modern and attractive."

(Michelle Dawson, Realty Times, 3/5/03)