Close your eyes for a moment and think about a favorite place inside your home. Maybe it’s a reading nook, your bedroom, or the dining room. Now think about how you would describe the atmosphere of that space. Is it cozy and comfortable? Maybe soft, warm, and relaxing? As home stagers, we aim to create cozy and inviting spaces that feel welcoming and comfortable to potential buyers.
One way that we do this is with lighting. The right lighting in a home is like a magic wand. It can change the atmosphere instantly, and create a space that others desire to spend time in. Our team at Rooms With Style is excited to show you why warm lighting is one of the best kept secrets in home staging.
Cozy and Inviting Atmosphere
Warm lighting makes us feel comfortable and cozy, and helps us feel “at home”. This is essential for creating a living space that is desirable to a potential buyer. It can make a room feel more lived-in and “homey”, which is a major factor in attracting buyers. Consider the warm lighting in a cozy restaurant, versus the bright, cool lighting in a big box store. Which makes you feel more at-home?
Enhanced Visual Appeal
Warm lighting can make a space appear more attractive and interesting, which leads to greater appeal as it mimics natural evening light. It also softens shadows and can be more flattering to skin tones, which makes the space more visually appealing.
Creates a Sense of Calm
The glow of warm lighting can help to relax and de-stress, which is important for potential buyers who may be feeling stressed or overwhelmed during the home-buying process. Warm lighting can also help to highlight features of a home, such as a fireplace or beautiful woodwork or a piece of artwork.
Impacts Perception
Warm lighting can change the way that buyers perceive the colors and furniture in a room. For example, furniture might appear warmer or more inviting in warm light compared to cool light. Warm light will add a soft glow to paint colors instead of being harsh and cold.
How to Create Warm Lighting
Before we get to bulbs, don’t forget to embrace all of the natural light that the space has. This might mean getting rid of those heavy, dark curtains or choosing light-filtering shades instead. To create warm lighting with bulbs, you’ll want ones with Kelvin temperatures in the range of 2000K to 3000K. A lower Kelvin rating means a more yellow, warm light, while a higher Kelvin rating (above 3000K) indicates a bluer or cooler light. We recommend using primarily soft white light bulbs (you could go warmer for specific cozy spaces like a library reading nook).
You will also want to utilize a variety of lighting in your home; ambient lighting (like ceiling and recessed lights), task lighting (like island pendants) and decorative lighting (like lamps and sconces) to give the space varying brightness and depth. Don’t forget to use dimmers. Using dimmable fixtures and LED bulbs allows for flexibility in creating the desired ambiance and ensures that the lighting is suitable for a variety of situations, such as evening showings or daytime tours.
To conclude, warm lighting is one of the best kept secrets in a home stager’s tool kit. It can transform a space instantly and make it more inviting to potential home buyers. Don’t underestimate lighting’s role in creating the cozy, inviting and welcoming space that everyone will love.
Author: Marla Carlson, Rooms With Style Blogger
