Modern living rooms have dim lights, and people do not like ceiling lights due to their sharp effect. Therefore, adding a medium-light source like lamps on the floor and string lights to the ceiling is better.
Why are there No Ceiling Lights in Living Room? There are no ceiling lights in living rooms to make these rooms comfortable and cozy. Moreover, it is a traditional practice because there are no strict laws to add lights to the ceiling; you can save your money by avoiding ceiling lights as they consume more electricity and are less durable. The absence of ceiling lights ensures flexibility in terms of location and color of the light source, as you can move floor lamps to other locations quickly. Furthermore, it reduces the construction cost and requires lesser time and energy.
Brighter is not a better option always, but it does not mean that your living rooms need to be darker.
Intense light looks harsh in the soft and cozy environment of the living area, so you can add low voltage bulbs to make them relaxing and appealing.
Cozy and comfortable environment
Minimum lightings in the living rooms create a comfortable place for you to relax. You can sit in a cozy environment to freshen up your mind after a hectic day.
Ceiling lights can look sharp and have a harsh effect on the peaceful environment of the living room.
While the dim lights provide a soothing effect, yellow lights in the lamps can bring a warmer effect to the room.
A room with a limited number of bulbs or a slightly darker area positively affects your state of mind.
This is because the ambient lightings set your mood, and you can choose the colors to build it up accordingly.
You can install LED bulbs of varying colors in the lamps or chandeliers. The blue or green LEDs help overcome the stress and tiredness of the whole day.
White lights with blue tints can make you feel energetic and active, while soft yellow colors can make you feel relaxed.
Traditional practice
It is a traditional theme to add hardly any lights to the living room’s ceiling, and it’s still trending. The purpose of avoiding lighting fixtures in the ceiling is to save the builder’s money.
The national code of electricity does not force homeowners to add lights in the ceiling where it is not essential.
I observed that houses built in the 1950s have living rooms with no ceiling lights. Similarly, no lights in the ceiling of my Grandfather’s house’s bedroom and living area are present.
The reason to follow the traditional practice is that darker rooms can reduce depression and tensions.
Moreover, it provides a comfortable environment to make conversations with your family or read a book.
Minimize construction cost
When homeowners build a house for renting purposes, they prefer to cut off the construction cost to its minimum. So, they inform the builders about the budget and instruct them to avoid unnecessary items.
Accordingly, constructors avoid adding these to the living room ceilings’ because of their secondary importance, particularly in the lounge area.
Fluorescent bulbs are cheaper than halogen lights and are more efficient. Moreover, only one ceiling light can cost almost 90$.
The cost for installation can exceed about 230$ to 250$ if you want to install the light with new wiring.
Not only the cost of bulbs is a burden on your pocket, but material like wires needs to be purchased also.
In addition, the cost of labor and material like wires and the ceiling light can disturb your budget.
Lesser consumption of electricity and durability
Bulbs consume more energy than television does, but lesser than conditioning systems in the house. Therefore, there will be less electricity consumption when few lights are in the living room.
You can save money by using minimum voltages and avoiding these in the areas where they are not essential.
A ceiling light having incandescent bulbs consumes up to 75 Watts of energy. However, the floor lamps consume less energy, that is about 50 Watts.
Incandescent bulbs consume almost 85% more energy than LED lights present in lamps and hanging strings.
Similarly, the LED bulbs last for a longer duration and are functional for almost 99,000 hours, but an incandescent light lasts only 2800 hours.
No laws or building codes
There are no specific laws or building codes for adding ceiling lights into the living room and a bedroom.
It depends on the home owner’s choice whether he wants to make its residential place more appealing or not.
It is not a legal requirement to add bulbs to the living room’s ceiling, so builders are avoiding it.
Non-functional place
The living room is a non-functional area where you are not doing tasks like cooking in the kitchen.
It is a place with soft couches and fluffy sofas where you can sit for a long time without getting tired.
It does not need sharp light to see everything clearly, like in the kitchen, where you are dealing with flames. However, a light source is essential in the functional areas of a house to avoid mishaps.
Livings rooms contain furniture to sit and relax, and it needs to be more decorated with lamps and LED lights.
Therefore, it is a valid reason behind the absence of a building code for adding ceiling lights in this area.
You can use a table or floor lamp on one or both sides of a sofa or bench.
A soft white light or warm yellow color is sufficient for reading a book that creates an ambiance and intimacy in this area.
Multiple options for lamps and LED lights
Ceiling bulbs restrict the readers to a place where there is maximum light, and you cannot adjust its intensity.
However, lamps provide a directional light source so that you can move their head in any direction to improve focus.
In addition, you can shift the lamps to any location as if you are not comfortable on a chair; you can take them to a sofa.
Moreover, there are options for selecting the color for your lamps and LED lights.
It provides the flexibility of location and color and allows you to develop a customized environment for yourself.
For example, I have added two yellow LED lights to my lamp, and it is present near the chair.
Save time
Adding bulbs to your room is a time-taking and energy-consuming process. In addition, you have to put some extra effort into fixing these light sources in your living room.
Furthermore, it takes almost 3 hours to install a light in the ceiling if you are not changing the wires. The time exceeds from 3 hours to 2 days when you have to install the wires to a new location.
However, it is easy to install the lamp on a side table and takes less than half an hour to put a lamp and make it operative.
Similarly, it is an effortless and quick process to hang string lights and mount a wall sconce.
How to light up a living room that has no ceiling lights?
There are multiple alternatives to ceiling lights for lighting up a living room that can be electrical or non-electrical. You can also use some creative layouts to add natural light to the dark rooms.
Reflecting mirrors and glass windows
You cannot tear a wall for wiring in a rented house, and if you do so, you have to pay for the damage.
So, you can choose some other ways to light up the living room having no ceiling light.
You can add glass windows to allow sunlight to reach inside the room.
Similarly, you can place reflecting mirrors in a direction where the light from the glass window directly falls on the mirrors. The mirrors reflect the light and are suitable for the darker corners of the living room.
Table and Floor lamps
You can place floor lamps on the corners of the couch to draw attention and lighten up the room’s corners.
In addition, table lamps are perfect for providing focused light if you are reading a book on a sofa.
You can set up the living room in a decorative manner by adding some glass or wooden lamps. Both shaded lamps and exposed lamps are perfect for providing light in dark rooms.
Furthermore, you can add multiple bulbs to your lamp or use a tree lamp to improve its brightness.
Lighter Shades of Paint and minimum furniture
You can paint the living room walls in lighter shades like grey, blue, and white because lighter shades reflect light better.
It suits the relaxing environment, and the walls appear lighter and brighter.
Moreover, the presence of more furniture stops more light, and the room appears darker due to shadows. It is better to add minimum furniture to the room to fix this issue.
Hanging LED lights and Candle lamps
It is better to add light on the walls vertically or along the curtains to give the room a modern and attractive look.
It provides light on the floor and keeps the walls or area behind light darker.
You can use candle lamps containing flameless candles or have batteries inside.
The chandelier looks perfect if there are no ceiling lights, as it gives a modern look to your room.
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