Lighting is one of the most important design elements in a room but it is rarely addressed by do-it-yourselfers.
Here, Chayse Dacoda, expert designer and host of HGTV’s new series “Get It Together,” explains why she’s willing to fight for a budget increase during her televised projects to insure each space highlights appropriate lighting.
Why is lighting so important?
Paint (makes) an impact, but lighting is more subtle. Overtime, lighting will affect your room as much or more than changing out white walls to red. Lighting will beautify a space, make it more aesthetically appealing and enhance its function. Lighting affects every single level of changing your space, no matter what degree of renovating you choose. That, along with electrical work, can be your best money spent. If you spend money on your house, the best professional labor to invest in is electrical work. The rest you can do yourself.
What is a common lighting mistake?
People usually buy a “torchier” lamp, throw it in the corner and think that’s good. Or someone will live with that existing fixture in the room, that single center-flush light mounted on the ceiling. That is the worst because it doesn’t give you light where you need it. You can’t work in the space, you can’t read from the light and it doesn’t make anybody or anything look good. The only reason to do a center light in a room is if it’s a lower fixture hanging over a table — a chandelier or some kind of ceiling fan.
What kind of lighting should do-it-yourselfers focus on?
Task and accent lighting can really add drama to a space. Put a pendant light over a counter or workspace, or illuminate a small space with a desk lamp.
Depending on the size of the space, that’s where you want to get creative in your design. Avoid table lamps. You want to save room for usable surface space, so sometimes consider the ceilings and floors as an option (for lighting) as opposed to a table top.
Have light placed throughout the room and coming from different sources. Floor lamps and table lamps can be one source of light as a centerpoint, while a ceiling light that shoots down is another. Use lighting to accent things on the floor and shoot light up into a plant, curtain, mirror or piece of art… Add candles for ambience.
Do television home improvement shows put enough focus on lighting?
TV shows don’t like to focus on lighting. The show I work on has a very small budget and electrical concerns in a room can be costly. It requires hiring an electrician, and it can be very technical, which doesn’t always make for good TV.
I have a big battle all the time where I say, “We have to take $700 of our $3,500 budget and use for ceiling cans.” Usually, if the show can’t afford it, it won’t be happening, so I play a case for it with the owners. I tell them that if they can help us with lighting, their design will be great.
Staff Writer Sheba R. Wheeler can be reached at 303-954-1283 or swheeler@denverpost.com.
