Let me tell you a secret…..most homes are not lit properly. The investment you make in decorating your home is all about reflection – reflecting who you are and how your family uses your space.

Remember to keep the function of the space in mind. This will dictate how you light up a room.When evaluating lighting within a room, first determine its purpose:

• Is it task lighting (lighting needed to perform a task, whether to read, knit, or cook)?
• Is it general lighting (the overall illumination in a room)?
• Is it ambient/mood lighting?

Each lighting function plays an important role in the overall design of the room. Lighting is what will spotlight your home’s beauty; not your dark corners and inadequate task lighting. LED, incandescent, fluorescent – which is right? How about lumens and wattage? Who knew lighting was so key?

Lighting is often an undervalued part of the decorating process, and yet it sets the tone—the function, the look, and the feel—for everything else.

Typically, when people start to think about making changes or even at the very beginning of creating a room, they will jump into the color, the furnishings and their placement, and then the accessories, along with other finishing touches. It is usually at the time of putting the finishing touches in place that someone will begin to think about the lighting. “Gee, is there an outlet near where I want to put that lamp?” or “How much light do I really need in this room?” Often, what is left to last is best considered first. And it is better to plan for more lighting than needed because you can always turn something off.

Plan to light the room first based on how you will utilize it. That way, you will have outlets—and enough of them—where you need them. Also, consider general or overhead lighting for every space. It’s better to not use lighting later on than not have what you need, because lighting is so important!

The fours kinds of light to consider in decorating are

• Natural
• General/Ambient
• Task
• Accent/Ambience/Mood

Ideally, you’ll find ways to include all four in every room. Remember to keep the function of the space in mind. In a family room, for instance, you might use recess lights over the sofa area and put them on a dimmer switch. This allows for sitting and watching TV when you do not want much light.