Not every buyer comes to look at a house at high noon on a Saturday. Sometimes they come at 6 or even 7 during the week. When a property is on the market in the winter, and the sun sets by 5 pm, the buyer really knows whether it is dark or not! You want to have brightly lit rooms on these dreary winter days… and you want your home to radiate light and warmth to attract those buyers.
Simply put …. buyers do not like dark houses. Even if they don’t consciously think that a home is dark, they feel it and respond negatively. The vast majority of buyers want a home with lots of sunshine or well lit rooms. Only Dracula’s first cousin is going to say about a home on the market…. “The house just had too much natural light.” or “The house was just too bright.”
But you do hear, “The house was so dark.” or “Boy there just wasn’t any natural light.”
But what do you do when your home is north facing, or it was built when ceiling/recessed lighting weren’t commonplace. Don’t fret. It’s an easy fix!!
Just get lots of lamps. They are an easy and inexpensive fix to any room.
A Few Tips:
- In a living area such as a family room, great room or living room: Use three lamps in a triangular pattern. This will spread the light well throughout the room.
- One floor lamp is okay but don’t use three floor lamps. The table lamps go on the end tables.
- In a master bedroom two lamps on either side of the bed on the nightstands is a must. Make these large lamps to frame out and accent the bed nicely.
- All other bedrooms at least one nightstand with a lamp on it.
- Use as high of wattage as possible in all lamps. A minimum of 100 watts (or equivalent lumens) and even better a lamp with a 3 way bulb up to 150 watts (or equivalent lumens).
- Use white or cream lampshades that will allow a lot of light through. Dark colored lamp shades are wonderful for creating ambiance lighting but not the look you want to achieve for selling your home.
- If you have ceiling lights as the only light source in the room where lamps cannot be added (such as a kitchen, dining room or hallway), make sure your light fixture allows a lot of wattage. You may need to get a new light fixture or buy LED light bulbs that have more lumens.
If you are selling your home you should walk through your home on a dreary day and then again in the evening. Is every room in your house bright and well lit? How many lamps do you have? You may need to put a lamp buying trip on your to do list!