Strategic use of lighting can highlight the best features of your home and disguise less attractive ones. With the flick of a switch you can transform dingy, drab and boring into soothing, vibrant and dramatic! When it comes time to get your home ready for the market, consider these three types of lighting to set the tone throughout your home:
- Ambient or background lighting provides general illumination and should be part of every room. Lamps, wall sconces and valance lights are used to wash walls in softer, more flattering glows, mitigating the harshness of central ceiling lights which are essential to every room. Tone the contrast down by adding dimmers to these light.
- Task lighting helps you to concentrate areas of light on work surfaces and those areas throughout the home where you need light for specific purposes such as reading or food preparation. Pendant lighting, desk and reading lamps, and under cabinet lighting are some examples. These should be bright enough to prevent eye strain.
- Accent lighting can accentuate specific features in a room. Paintings, architectural features and ornaments can benefit from being in the spotlight. Candle and firelight also add to the drama, warmth and comfort of a room, serving to bring out great features.
Here are a few more tips on how to effectively use lighting when staging your property.