Switch Talk featured in Home & Decor Ideas Magazine

Switch Talk: Upgrade Your Lighting Without Breaking the Bank
(As Seen in Home & Décor Ideas Magazine)

Why upgrade your lighting?

Great lighting adds beauty and value to your home. And not everyone realizes that for as little as $2500, you can upgrade from basic contractor-grade lighting and really change the look and feel of the key rooms in your house. It’s a matter of picking your spots and finding just the right fixtures.

What kinds of upgrades do you suggest?

Different choices for different rooms, of course. Here are some ideas:

In the kitchen, add decorative pendants over your counter. You’ll get more direct light for dining or cooking, and the pendants give your kitchen that extra kick of style. While you’re at it, you can convert your high-energy recessed cans with green LED retrofits and save money on energy.

In the bathroom, change your whole look with a simple clean bath bar — like Tech Lighting’s Metro, or the Eureka Flare.  They come in variable lengths, and the flare has a diaphanous acrylic housing that really creates a beautiful shine. New tub fixtures are great, but fresh lighting is still the best way to get a “brand new bathroom.”

What about the living room and dining room?

If you have one signature piece in a living room, that’s where your eye will be drawn.  Instead of getting four bland floor and table lamps, we suggest you focus on one marvelous one to set the tone for the room, then build around that with your other fixtures.

We also really likes sconces and wall-mounted lamps as a way to add artistry to your home for a very good price.  Something like the Muse 80 Fuschia is like a piece of art on the wall. It changes the whole room.

In the dining room, there’s a new age of lighting.  Fixtures today are more sculptural, dramatic or clean lines, and the light is just lovely.  If your dining room is very traditional to start with, you might consider something like LZFs “Link”, which is a wood veneer and blends nicely into a traditional setting.

And when you’re done?

You’ll have rooms that show beautifully and that you’ll love living in. For a few thousand dollars, with the right choices, you can change the feel of your home and increase its value. We love helping people create those wonderful spaces.