Lamplight and Dimmer Switches

You can still enter my giveaway for Jeanne Winters' book, Inspirational Home: simple ideas for uplifting decor and craft. Comments will be open until Friday night!

Nester's post about quick changes that you can make to your family room was just the kick that I needed to make a couple of easy changes. I have disliked the lighting in our family room from the day we moved into this house. It's a large room and that makes it difficult to get pleasant lighting throughout.

Even though I absolutely know better, we put in one of these when we were building the house. The fan makes sense to help distribute the heat from the fireplace but the light? That darned overhead light! It's so unpleasant and I only turn it on when I need to perform surgery in the family room.

I am a lamp fanatic though. I can't pass up a good deal on a lamp whether it's at the thrift store, Goodwill or Target. So I have a rather large selection of mismatched lamps hanging out in my basement. I've finally put them to good use.

If you have a hot plug (one that's connected to a light switch), you've got a perfect set-up for easy lamplight. Just connect a couple of your lamps to that plug so you can just throw the switch when you come into the room.

One more tip? Dimmer switches! Put them in wherever you can. They make a huge difference. Seriously. I've added them to the eyeball lights over my fireplace and all the lights in the kitchen.

Yes, I said "I". It's really not difficult. If I can do it, anyone can. Just TURN OFF THE ELECTRICITY first. And if you shock yourself into next week or burn down your house, you didn't hear this from me.

I know what you're thinking. "Kimba, why did you write a post about improving the ambiance in your family room without showing us a picture of the new and improved room?" I'll tell you why. My house is a red-hot mess! A mess that can only be solved with the zoom lens.

Oh fine. You want a little peek? Here you go.