Truth be told, one of the last things that people pay attention to when purchasing a new home or doing some upgrades is the lighting in the house. When they do pay attention to it, it is how natural light comes through windows or a sunroof. Rarely do they spend enough time considering lighting and the light fixtures in the home.

This is a huge mistake, but one that occurs far too often. What is not understood is that improper or inadequate lighting can lead to eyestrain, headaches, difficulty concentrating, and frustration. You may find that your eyes are being strained as you try to read or that the light is too bright, causing you to squint or irritate your eyes.

What you want to do is use the proper amount and type of fixtures for your home. You also want to ensure that the lighting is adequate and all your rooms and that it matches those in different parts of your home. You do not just want the proper amount of lighting but one that gives an overall theme and look to your home. This gives you an even more impressive house.

If you are looking to upgrade your light fixtures and want to match the lights in different rooms or areas within your home, here are some tips that can help you to do so while also keeping the right amount of light in mind.

What Is the Purpose of the Lighting?

The first question to ask yourself is, what is the purpose of the lighting? This seems like an obvious question, but the truth is that it is a little more complicated than you may think. For example, you likely want a lot more light in the entryway of your home. This ensures that you can see people clearly who are coming into your home and that there is plenty of illumination to find gloves, hats, and other items you need before getting out the door.

Plus, this is often a place where people hold short conversations. A mom drops her son off at your home to play with her child. Your daughter is saying good night to her boyfriend. You are chatting with a coworker who dropped you off after work. These brief conversations are performed much better when properly illuminated.

However, other areas of your home may not need a great deal of illumination. This could be true of your dining room, hallways upstairs, or out on your deck. For example, you may want something like a contemporary chandelier, or a Nordic chandelier should you have a large vaulted ceiling heading upstairs in your home. This looks great and provides an outstanding amount of illumination without being overwhelming. Determine what you need the lighting to be for the area.

Look for Similar Colors and Shapes

When choosing your fixtures, you want to consider the look and design of the lights and how well they may fit in with other rooms in your home. For bedrooms and your dad, these types of concerns are not as relevant. However, when talking about high-traffic areas – living room, dining room, kitchen – you want lighting that matches the décor of the room but also matches other rooms. You may find that living room lighting is best when you use postmodern lighting or metropolitan lighting. These are brighter, more stylish looks that would look perfect in your home.

Maybe you want something that is more of a talking point that adds a sense of luxury to your house. Pendant lighting could be the perfect one for you. You may also want to consider adding dimmer switches, where you can change the illumination in these rooms to fit your needs.

When talking about bedrooms, there are plenty of bedroom light fixtures you can find. This is less about matching the rest of your home and is, instead, about how the room looks itself. Some prefer minimalist lighting, as they may have overhead lights as part of the bed frame. They want a specific light over where they lay in bed so they can read, but do not need a large amount of light otherwise.

Use Different Brands and Colors

A common mistake that many make is that they go with a specific brand and color and believe those are the only choices for them. They walk through the home improvement store, come across a specific brand, and purchase everything from that brand. While they may have some quality things, it is likely that you want an array of different items from different manufacturers.

Choose what is best for your home and not what is the best brand. Some get stuck on the idea that only one company produces the very best type of lighting, whether it is a modern chandelier or Scandinavian lighting. While there are companies that have put themselves above many others, there are still five or six light fixture manufacturers that are fantastic.

Also, choose some different colors. For example, if you have a kitchen/dining room set up, there is nothing wrong with having gray lights over the island in your kitchen while having a great-looking brown, modern chandelier over the dining room table. What you are looking for is a sense of style, and colors that are similar in nature but not identical still look great.