Neon lights in a home can add a fun color and mood to a room. (Kellie Burke Interiors)

A gloomy, cloudy day makes you suddenly realize your home may be lacking in lighting.

Whether your home is 100 years old or a brand-new build, we often aren’t using enough lighting. According to Kellie Burke of Kellie Burke Interiors, lighting is not just crucial, but critical in your home.

“During new construction, the majority of people do whatever the architect or builder suggests, which is typically random canned lighting or flush mounts,” Burke said. “Gone are the days to just plop in recessed lights.”

The opportunities and types of lights available have expanded exponentially over time during the explosion of LED bulbs. Since they run cooler than the old fluorescent bulbs, lights can be used anywhere in the home.

“It’s all about how you want to feel in the space,” Burke said. “You can use a bright, white color in the space or use dimmers to make a room moodier.”

LED bulbs come in all kinds of colors and temperatures from cool, medium and dark to daylight white or warmer white or more of an orange tinge.

Vintage lights can add an interesting element to a room. (Kellie Burke Interiors)

One of the biggest things Burke sees people do wrong is not using dimmers.

“Use lamps in different sizes, shapes and get dimmers,” she said. “You can get ones with an on/off switch with extension cord with a dimmer. On a gloomy day, you can make the room much more bold. In the evening when entertaining, you can set it as a low mood rather than a bright, tasking feel.”

To change up an existing light, Burke suggests homeowners retrofit cans to get better lighting in an area. She also said don’t be scared of recessed lighting.

“People used to hate the dots in the ceiling,” she said. “They are much more streamlined now and profiled. Recessed lighting is imperative.”

Beside the typical recessed lighting, there are now longer, more linear LED lights to run under cabinets or as up lighting along floors or kitchen toe kicks.

Layers of lighting are important such as the recessed lights, industrial and mid century modern art lights going on here. (Kellie Burke Interiors)

One chandelier in a room isn’t enough, Burke said.

“Use some directional lights to hit artwork or specialty cabinets or any types of drapery or dark areas,” she said. “If you take art off the gallery wall, it loses its passion. It needs to be lit to be illuminated properly. Think of a theater and what needs to be lit to get that wow pow factor.”

When looking at a room, Burke suggests starting from the base up and working your way out when considering what needs light.

“Use hanging fixtures and sconces as mood lighting. These aren’t tech lighting. It’s the jewelry of the home and the little accent at the end,” she said. “If you aren’t doing construction, the more lamps the merrier.”

If you have dead corners that are dark in a room, she suggests thinking of interesting ways to light it up, whether that be up lights hidden behind a sofa or chair, lighting up a plant or a lamp on a table next to a sofa.

“Large lamps are my jam, they are very dramatic,” Burke said. “I love taller lamps too when you can see through them. You can put a big, bulky lamp in a corner on a table with a sheer, light shade so the illumination can go through the whole lamp rather than just at the bottom.”

Le Grande undercabinet lighting systems are great too. (Kellie Burke Interiors)

Sconces are a tool many homeowners forget about.

“You can get plug in sconces so you don’t need an electrician. They can come in brass or chrome finished covers,” she said.

One of the modern technologies that have come available are smart bulbs. These make it particularly easy to turn lights on and off.

“Use a lot of battery operated candle lights on timers,” Burke said. “In the middle of the night, candles pop on and give an extra level of light and don’t compete in the space.”

Smart bulbs and smart switches make it easy to dim the lights and control the mood.

“You could have an older home with 19 million switches and the smart switches make it easy to add lighting and allow you to dim the lights from your smartphone,” Burke said.

Neon lights can be a fun way to light up a room and give it a different mood. (Kyle J Caldwell/Kellie Burke Interiors)

As far as styling your lamps and lights, Burke said two strong trends are coming through in 2022.

“One trend is very industrial, very modern lighting and mixing it into an old world home,” she said. “You can mix this very trendy, sleek, linear sconces with no bulbs into an older home.”

The other trend takes a bit of searching through antique shops.

“People are getting very antique, vintage lights and rewiring them,” she said. “They go to secondhand stores and look for these gorgeous lights and add a new shade or add a dimmer for a more modern look.”

However you do it, Burke said layers of light is the important thing to remember.

“It’s a design feature rather than just for task,” she said. “You need lighting to make your room sparkle. It can make a home more dramatic and also tell your home’s story.”