How to Choose the Perfect Lighting for Your Home: A Guide

Lighting plays both essential functional and aesthetic roles in your home. Your choice of lighting can create space, enveloping your family in warm comfort. How do you know which lights work best in your home? Follow this simple guide created by the custom home design professionals at Kowalske Kitchen & Bath, a premier remodeling contractor working with Wisconsin homeowners.

Great Lighting for Your Home

Why should you care about the lighting in your home? The right lighting enhances every room. Accentuate the overall style and beauty. Balance color and décor tastefully with the right lighting choice. Bring vibrancy to your space. Lights serve a functional purpose, as well. For example, make a dark corner into a reading nook or add lights to stairs for safety. Work with a custom home design professional to create the perfect look.

What types of lights are available? Choose from a vast expanse of options from gorgeous luxury lighted mirrors in your bathroom to useful under cabinet lights in the kitchen or bathroom. Go bold with a bright chandelier or go for a more muted recessed light. Consider your home a canvas, and the lighting your paintbrush. Be expressive.

When you are planning a kitchen, bath or basement update, it’s a good time to think about lights.

Chandeliers and Ceiling Fixtures

Make a bold statement with your lighting. Whether you opt for a bold geometric Sputnik style in your dining room, Maximalist crystal in the entranceway, or a more organic globe chandelier, let your lighting genuinely showcase your unique taste. Chandeliers have a wide variety of material options like glass, paper, wood or even recycled materials.

Recessed Lighting

Also known as can lights or pot lights, recessed lights offer attractive down lighting options. Use recessed lighting to illuminate the entire space or accent a valuable painting. Achieve a warm ambient feel in your home. Your Kowalske designer will help you choose the right number and location of recessed lights to properly illuminate your space.

Pendant Lighting

Pendant lights drop down from the ceiling. They usually have a metal rod, a chain or a cord suspending them. They serve as an excellent choice for task lighting in the kitchen or can offer lighting in the dining room instead of a large chandelier. Pendant lighting comes in a wide variety of sizes and shapes. Some styles have fallen out of style. However, their useful design can bring necessary brightness to many spaces.

Under Cabinet or Under Shelf Lights

Under cabinet lights provide functional illumination in your kitchen, bathroom or home office. Choose from linear or puck (round) forms. Light strips or light bars can be the best lighting for the house, creating an elegant look. Choose from fluorescent, LED and incandescent lighting. Many homeowners have moved to more sustainable LED lights, which can last a decade or more.

When selecting the right under cabinet lights, take into account the width and style of the cabinet and room. Custom millwork may be needed to accommodate puck fixtures. You may want to consider adding angled plug molding to desk areas or under kitchen cabinets for additional USB and regular outlets.

Another popular option today is to install LED tape lighting to cabinets with glass doors to showcase favorite dishware and knickknacks.

Lighted Mirrors

Lighted mirrors are cost-effective and provide both functionality and refined luxury. You can install lighted mirrors in the bathroom, in a spacious walk-in closet, or in a bedroom. The innovative design hides unsightly cords, making them an ideal addition to any home. Contemporary illuminated mirrors have a sleek minimalist look and differ significantly from the more familiar lighted mirrors of yesterday. Choose from a wide variety of shapes and size options.

Overhead Vanity Lights

Choose overhead vanity lights for your luxury bathroom. With a sophisticated look for any taste, overhead vanity lights will both illuminate the room and provide added allure. Our talented designers can help you select the perfect lighting for your style and budget.

Wall Sconces

Create a layered lighting look by combining wall sconces with other lighting options. Well-placed sconces can help light up a bathroom beautifully. Visual variety coupled with a modern lighting aesthetic can transform your bathroom into a relaxing oasis.

Wall sconces have an expansive variety of styles. Install them in almost any room. Wherever you place your wall sconces, always keep in mind height, especially if children need to reach the sconce. Kitchens benefit from wall sconces considerably, especially for task lighting.

Toe-Kick Lighting

Adding toe-kick lighting in your kitchen or bathroom provides a budget-friendly way to add style and functionality to a room. Toe-kick lighting can be either tape lights or rope lights in a variety of colors, often added under cabinets. Add as accent lighting or as a night light for additional safety. Add toe-kick lighting to a kitchen island, stairs, a bar or a bathroom vanity.

Technology: Control the Lights

Consider the power of smart home technology and other innovations that will bring your house into the 21st century. Today’s smart technology means that you can control lighting in your home by voice, with standard dimmers, or with your smartphone. Set a romantic mood in your dining room, turn on the lights quickly at night, or even program your smart speaker to time your lights when you are on vacation. Smart bulbs allow the homeowner to control lighting using a smart speaker or phone. Use smart plugs or smart light switches, too.

A Splash of Color

While most homeowners typically think of choosing lights that mimic daylight or bright white, don’t underestimate using a little bit of color. Choose blue, green, or any color of the rainbow with a smart color bulb. Color adds ambiance and creates a great mood for your space. Manage these lights using a smart speaker or an app on your phone.

Layer the Lights

Don’t underestimate layering the lights. Combine several lighting options – recessed, pendants, chandelier, under cabinet and more. Mix and match the colors, styles and sizes of the fixtures to create the right look.

Get Started on Lighting for Your Home

Not sure what types of lights you need? Schedule an appointment with one of our talented design professionals at Kowalske Kitchen & Bath, serving homeowners in Elm Grove, Wisconsin and the surrounding areas. We can help make your home incredible with extraordinary lighting. Browse through our kitchen projects, bathroom projects  and basement projects to see how we layer lighting.

Frequently Asked Questions