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Condo Lighting - Setting your Condo Apart with Unique Lighting (part 3)

Create an Inviting Space
Beyond focal points, perhaps you simply need to change the feel or mood of a room. The lighting that was pre-installed in your dining room may just be uninspired. Or, you may like your existing fixtures but feel the room just needs something else. Recessed lights are a great tool for providing accent and shifting mood. Many recessed lights can be aimed or adjusted. They are good choices for lighting artwork in fixed placements, accenting walls or spotlighting a plant in the corner. Track lights are extremely versatile choices and can often add a lot of accent light to a space using a single existing power source in the ceiling. Track lights and recessed lights can be very stylish additions to your dining room.

Fix Poor Initial Lighting Design
Initial lighting design is usually not a priority when new condos are developed. You may need to fix a few lighting ‘problem areas’ that can turn off potential buyers. Look for any particularly dark areas that can be easily fixed.

If the kitchen lighting is dark or uses fluorescent fixtures, consider track lighting. Track lighting is an easy way to warm up cold, uninviting kitchens and bring out the color of higher-end countertops. Even in well-illuminated kitchens, under cabinet lighting in the kitchen is a wise addition. Under cabinet lighting essentially eliminates shadows in the kitchen and makes the entire space look larger by showing the full depth of the countertops.

Although they would typically be removed when a unit was being shown, ambient uplights create a sense of space in dark corners. Recessed spotlights on corner plants can take the place of ideal floor spots to add a touch of warmth.

Remember your walls. On a longer wall, a hallway or a staircase wall, a pair of sconces lends a dramatic touch. Some sconces cast illumination both above and below, so it gives the wall a sense of height as well. Sconces are available in numerous styles and designs, so you can really make a decorating statement with the fixture along with its lighting effect.

Wherever possible, lights should be used with dimmers. Dimming lights at varying times of the day can alter the task light and accent lighting rolls played by various fixtures to create various different layers on top of a room’s general light.

There are many creative ways to remodel your condo with light and “custom designed lighting” always looks good on the sales brochure. Even if you’re not selling, the functionality and style of your home will be greatly enhanced with a few simply lighting upgrades. Rethink your condo illumination; it will dramatically improve your “lightstyle”.