Home Series: Lights, camera, action!

The correct lighting options can brighten your home style. Planning your home lighting is an important step. The hubs and I spent several hours thinking of what sort of light to use and what mood we wanted. We had to consider what tasks were going to be carried out in that particular room. Both design and function have to gel. The kids' rooms for example had to have ample lighting whilst our master bedroom needed something softer. There are various other factors to consider when choosing lights:

• Floor and surface may reflect or swallow your lights. 
• Ceiling height impacts the way you illuminate the room as well. Should you be lucky enough to have high ceilings, brighter lights can be spaced out. 
• Colour of walls. If you have a dark-coloured wall like our master bedroom, keep in mind that that tend to absorb light. Similarly for textured walls made of stone or brick. White light on the other hand reflects light hence the room would look brighter.

What do you think of this baby? Gorgeous right? It is meant to be a night light but I am planning on using it as a bedside table lamp. It didn't come cheap though considering that it is from Taobao. It cost me close to $40 per piece? I probably have bought the last two as the link is no longer working. 

We got this LED light for our master from Taobao. Many would probably shun at the thought of getting lightings or anything electrical from Taobao. We know how unreliable that may be. However, I tried to get it from a store with better ratings and more diamonds and crowns. Also, according to the hubs, who deals a lot with electricity in his job, such ornamental lights in Singapore didn't come with the safety mark anyways, so no diff. Biggest diff is in the driver of the lights. So fingers cross that that doesn't catch fire! *Gulp. The size we bought was of 52cm however, I kindof regretted it as it isn't as bright as we wanted it to be. Should have gotten a bigger one. Nevertheless, a nice designer piece like this would probably set us back easily by triple its price in Singapore. I got this at approximately $60 with shipping. Great deal right?

Here is the link to it: https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=39817163391&toSite=main

I didn't want my house to be filled with boring old downlight hence here's another beauty for my study room to give the room a bit of an industrial look. A good an big lighting can be the talking point when guests come so I am hoping that its prominence would bring some chatters. Also, gotten from Taobao. I couldn't find a nice and decently priced one here and whilst browsing randomly one day, this beauty caught my eye and I had to get it. Cost me approximately SGD60 (inclusive of shipping). 

Here's the link: https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?ft=t&id=527913145018&toSite=main

Track lights have been in vogue of late. It can be used as mood lighting or general lighting. It goes really well with a industrial or Scandinavian  modern theme.

These boring lights are well, boring, but essential. It gives the place a minimalistic look. Too many pendant lamps will kill the feel of the place. Cove lights and downlight go hand in hand. To achieve a continuous glow effect, the strips of cove lighting has to be installed well. Be sure to cater enough width for overlapping.  We got these from a wholesaler at Kahki Bukit.

Switches are an integral part of the house. It is of utmost importance that you plan the position and the function of each switch. Like where would you like a two gang or a three gang to be? Would this switch be able to be controlled at another part of the house? Which lights do the switch control? Where do you need the sockets to be -- this depends highly on the things that you go about doing in the house which require a socket e.g. vacuuming. All these information has to be discussed and communicated well to the electricians because trust me, there are some out there who would simply not take initiatives and will have several lights controlled by one switch, thereby turning your house into a stadium! The hubs is particularly fond of Schneider's switches. He says it's the designer piece amongst switches. I have to agree with him as it has a softer touch than its cheaper counterparts. When turning off and on, it doesn't make the loud click click sound. Also, when it is switched off, you would see a small blue light which is enough to be my my night light. You may be wondering why is my switch placed horizontally but well, that's the design! Most switches would be vertical but ours are horizontal. Perhaps I'm a frog in the well, but this is pretty interesting isn't it?

Apart from Taobao and local brick and mortar stores lining Geylang and Balestier, we did check out a couple online lighting stores. Below are some of my favourites in no particular order of preference:

http://www.hipvan.com

http://www.lightsandco.com

https://www.castlery.com

The entire renovation journey thus far has been an exhausting one. From choosing laminates and flooring to lightings and furniture. However, one thing's for sure, the hubs and I got to bond more over this project and we have been talking about things other than kids! You know how you tend to loose yourself when you have kids? So this is a refreshing topic. That said, I wish things would move a tad faster! The wait is an arduous one!