Five Ways to Light Your Home on a Budget

Home upgrades are one of the best ways to increase home value and equity. However, most homeowners can't just fork out hundreds of thousands of dollars on upgrades and remodels. Lighting can easily transform a space. Here are five ways to upgrade your home lighting on a budget. 

1. Shop sales. This may seem like an obvious suggestion, but don't forget this important tip! Don't be afraid to wait for sales. Home projects happen over months and years of living in a home. There's no need to renovate every room at once or in this case, get every light you need all simultaneously. Sales on lighting happen often enough that it is practical to try lighting one room at a time. For example, you can start by replacing your kitchen ceiling lights or island pendants. Or maybe you want to start with exterior and landscape lighting first. We recommend upgrading your light fixtures first where you tend to get the most traffic. This depends on how you use your home and can either be the kitchen, outdoor space, or bedroom spaces. Upgrading your lighting room-by-room offers you an opportunity to stay on budget and wait for sales. Speaking of, here are the most common lighting sales throughout the year. Presidents' Day in February, Lighting Design's Anniversary Sale in May, Memorial Day Sales in May, Labor Day Sales in September, and Black Friday sales in November. Be sure to browse lighting and any home upgrades you may need during these popular promotional times. And finally, shop Open Box options. Usually, these are items that have been returned but are in new condition. You're sure to find a great deal on many of your home needs. 
2. Visit a showroom. Lighting showrooms are one of the best places to find good deals on lighting. More often than not, a showroom can match or beat the price of a light fixture you may find online. Additionally, many showrooms will have open box items, floor models, or pallet sales where you are sure to score a great deal.  Plus you'll work with a lighting expert who will make sure the lights you're purchasing fit perfectly in your home. Just like our lighting staff who think of all the things you don't. Bulbs? Don't forget to get those because most lights don't come with bulbs. Vaulted ceiling? You'll need to check that every fixture you get is compatible. Tall ceiling? Order extra down rods. When you're shopping at a lighting showroom, it's a hassle-free way to get the right lighting for your home. You can find all our Lighting Design showroom locations here. 
3. Look for designer dupes. In every industry, there are designer originals and dupe products. While it may be nice to have one designer lighting item for say a dining room, it's not practical to have a designer light in every single space of your home. Especially when you're trying to stick to a budget. One way to work around this is to look for dupes! There are so many lighting options available you can almost guarantee you will find whatever lighting dupe you are looking for. Shop our Designers vs Dupes Lighting Collection to find the perfect fixture for you. You can also always bring a designer item to your lighting salesperson and ask them to find you similar options. Doing so alleviates work for you and your lighting expert will most likely be able to show you several different options from which to choose. 
4. Buy bulbs in bulk. Something a lot of lighting customers don't realize is that most light fixtures don't come with bulbs included. Due to incandescent regulations and other factors, it's easier for lighting manufacturers to exclude the bulbs. The best way to get a deal on bulbs is to buy them in bulk. A good light bulb will last you for years and you won't have to replace them anytime soon. The most common bulbs to stock up on are E26 medium bulbs and E12 candelabra bulbs. Most residential light fixtures will use one of these types of bulbs. And when buying in bulk, you can usually save money per bulb and/or receive a bulk discount. 
5. Use builder-grade lights for smaller spaces. Chances are your home came with builder-grade lighting.  For rooms such as closets or hallways, builder-grade options are perfectly fine. Focus on updating and upgrading light fixtures in your home that have more visibility. This way you can save money on the smaller spaces and curate a certain look in more high-traffic areas. You can always revisit upgrading your builder-grade lights when your budget refreshes or increases. 

Are you upgrading your home on a budget right now? Tell us how you used any of these tips!