The current trend in living room lighting involves strategic placement of lights to illuminate what needs lighting and to provide an ambient glow. Try out these ideas for your living room or use them for inspiration.
Clip-on Lights
Clip-on lights are similar to table lamps, but they are sturdier. Some are wireless while others can be plugged in. You can also get some that are solar powered. You can place them on shelves or any other surface. Point them at a favorite chair you like to read in or focus them on the corners of your living room.
Crown Molding Lights
To accentuate your crown molding, you can install crown molding lights. These provide a beautiful glow above your crown molding, which provides the brightest light along the ceiling. This is a wonderful way to streamline the appearance of your living room.
Solar Lights
If you have direct access to sunlight, you can forego electricity and power solar lights for your living room. Place panels in your windows or put them outside to charge them. You can still charge them when it’s cloudy outside, but your lights will be slightly dimmer. When the sun goes down, power up your lights with your stored energy. Solar hanging lanterns hung from the ceiling are beautiful to look at and provide soft lighting. Also, you’ll save a lot of money using solar energy.
Lights Underneath Furniture
A current new trend involves placing colored ropes underneath furniture to provide a glow that extends around the perimeter of furniture. You can use different colors or one color. Think of lighting your coffee table in this way.
Miniature Lights
Miniature lights can be used in a number of ways. You can place them on indoor trees and plants. For Halloween or fall, get a large stick or small branch. Wrap yellow or orange miniature lights around the stick or branch. This will provide a soft and festive glow in your living room. Purple miniature lights are also popular in October.
LED Lights
LED lights add sparkle, twinkle and a soft glow. For rustic design, consider placing wired LED lights around a piece of wood or metal. You can suspend this from the ceiling. Consider placing wire LED lights on curtain rods or a staircase banister. LED lights can be installed in the ceiling to create a night sky. Dark blue and softer blue paint can be placed on the ceiling to make it look more realistic.
Increase Lighting Without Lights
If you don’t want to add more lights to your living room, but you want more light, consider placing mirrors in your living room. This will cause light waves in the room to bounce around so that it illuminates more of the room. You can also use reflective paint on the wall to help increase light in your living room.
Lights Behind Wall Décor or Furniture
Another way to provide a pleasant glow in the living room is to put lights behind wall décor. You can provide soft lighting behind your TV, shelves or 3D wall art. Another way to have beautiful light in the living room is to use a wall sconce. You can use regular candles in these, or you can get battery operated lights.
Spotlights
Spotlights are similar to clip-on lights, but these are adhered directly to the ceiling or wall. Others can be placed on the floor to project light upwards. These are useful for placing the focus on particular paintings or pieces of art.
Recent trends in home improvement projects show that anything goes. You have full freedom and many possibilities in lighting your living room. Imagine what you can create.
