Whether you live in a small home or a large one, one thing everyone has in common is the desire to have a clean and clutter-free living space. There is no better way to do this than to organize yourself to save space and be minimalist in your designing. We’re here to help you in the best way we can: space saving solutions with lights! This listicle will bring you through tips and ideas to minimize the area of space your light fixture occupies to give way for other furniture – light fixtures are nice that way, you’re very welcome. Say ‘no’ to days wondering if you really need your obstructive light fixture and ‘hello’ to an environment flooded with light!
ONE :: Hanging Lights
The best way to manage your space with light fixtures is to install hanging lights. These lights are suspended from ceiling and therefore, will not take up any space that you might want to use for something else! Unless, well, you’re Spiderman or something, otherwise we don’t see why you need the ceiling for anything. When it comes to saving space, one would go for a simple and delicate light design, however, here’s where you go for a statement light fixture as ceiling lights provide the owners with the liberty of space. For lovers of simplicity, going for a hanging Edison light bulb is too sweet to pass off. The minimalistic look helps reduce the feeling of clutter and provides a very industrial-modern touch to the space.
Spotted! If you like any of the light fixtures above, do check out Screed’s HEIDI Transparent Glass Funnel Lamp, KALLE Spider Hanging Wire Lights and ELSA Metallic Chic Pot-Lid Pendant Lamp. You won’t get a better cost anywhere else. Seriously, it is easier to find Atlantis. Not sure how you can work the hanging lights? Check out our article on pendant lights for every room in the house, you won’t be disappointed.
TWO :: Multipurpose Lights
Don’t we all love it when we find more than one use for something? Not only is it way cool, it optimizes every dollar we invest into the product. We can combine light fixtures with other household furniture to reduce the space occupied by the furniture. Hey, doesn’t this sound a little familiar? We mentioned this point in our article on statement lights and low ceiling. It includes links to great DIYs to make dual functional furniture. In this article, we’ll be presenting this amazing table and light combination that is simple, elegant and very functional. It works perfectly as a bedside feature or will make a good corner piece in the living room. Another idea is to use your light fixture as a shelf! Not only does it take up less space in the house, it helps bring focus to the objects on the lit shelf. It’ll be the perfect placement for family photos or those pretty ornaments you always wanted to display.
THREE :: Wall Lights
Apart from hanging lights, another way to avoid occupying space on table tops and floors will be to go for sconces or, better known as wall lights. You can get real creative by deciding on the placement height and frequency on the wall. With the number of wall lights available in the market (we carry some too!), you’ll be spoilt for choice – the number one killer for those inflicted with indecision. Hang in there for we’ll be delivering life support!
Where: Sconces are commonly seen flanking both sides of a mirror or a window. Alternatively, they are also seen lining stairs and corridors. Essentially, those are the best and most general ways to install your sconces as wall features need to complement with surrounding furnishing. The element of symmetry is starker in sconces as compared to other types of light fixtures, therefore consider how the sconces are positioned relative to the nearby furniture.
How many: This greatly depends on the size of your scones and the surface area of your wall. If your sconce is larger, go for a low frequency to prevent the wall from looking too overdone. The opposite works for scones that veer on the petit side.
Which: Consider the colour of your wall and the pattern (if applicable). Go for a scone that has a complementary colour to help ease its integration into the theme of your space. Whereas for patterns, use the opposites attract rule: if the wall has patterns, go for a solid and plain coloured scones to avoid over complicating things.
Hold up! Is that the DAGNY Angler Rod Lamp we spot in the left-most picture?
FOUR :: Recessed Lights
Recessed lights are incredibly common, you can find at least a set in every household. Hence, we won’t be boring you with how recess ceiling installation will help you save space (we all know that!). What we’ll be touching on is where else can you install your recess lights. Instead of going up (ceiling), you can go down and position a row of recessed lights along the wall skirting (right). You can also add recess lighting to your furniture such as in shelving units. This acts as a spotlight for the ornaments on display and is great for those dark corners. If hanging lights are beyond your budget, recess lights are the way to go!
FIVE :: Furniture
We’ve talked about how we can merge the light fixture with tables and how we can add recess lights into shelving. These lead to the next tip on installing light fixtures you would conventional add to ceilings and walls to your furniture. This does not mean setting a table lamp on the table! Instead, think of adding wall lights to your furniture. Adorning your furniture with wall lights can bring your furniture up and notch as it adds character and sophistication to the plain ole piece. You can get really creative with this and attach wall lights to any flat surface you deem suitable. We recommend installing lights on your headboard (picture), the side of your table or the side of your shelves! Can you think of other places you can add light fixtures? Comment down below with your ideas and gain some interior design street cred.
SIX :: String Lights
They are trendy, flexible and cheap: what is there not to like about string lights? String lights are great as both temporary and permanent lighting solutions. These guys occupy minimal space and can be placed just about anywhere in your home! String lights are brilliant for bringing a romantic and bohemian vibe to your room that will instantly put your tumultuous mind at ease at the end of a long, tiring day. The low maintenance and easy set-up makes these string lights super user-friendly – suitable for the lazy and the overworked alike.
Surprise! We have an entire article chronicling the best string light home decor and DIY ideas. If you haven’t seen it, where you been? Go read it now!
SEVEN :: Standing Floor Lamps
We know some readers do not feel entirely comfortable about drilling holes into their walls so hanging and wall light fixtures are a huge no-no for them. Here’s your calling! Unlike table lamps, standing floor lamps do not occupy any table space but are able to light up your area the same way. Their tallness enables light to be better directed towards the required areas unlike table lamps with limited coverage. It also helps create height variation among the furniture in the room. They do take up some floor space but most of their bases are flat allowing other furniture to be stacked on top of it without much trouble. Choose standing lamps with a thin minimalist body as those will be perfect for tight and dark corners in your home.
EIGHT :: Light Fixtures with Flexible Arms
Light fixtures with extendable arms are growing in popularity and we can all see why. The accordion arms strikes a nice balance between being industrial and modern. Their key feature makes them extremely helpful for de-cluttering and saving space as they can be easy stowed away when not needed. What strikes us the most about this light fixture? Don’t you think it is so vintage?
Swing arm light fixtures are a more common occurrence as they have a more minimalist design. Though they are less flexible than the accordion arms, they do a great job at saving and clearing up space. One point that gives these swing arms an upper arm over their accordion brother is their multidirectional feature. Accordion arms are only able to move forward and backwards, while the swing arms are able to bend upwards, downwards, extend and retract! This is a tough fight. What do you think? Should it go to the Amazing Accordion or the Sassy Swing Arms? Comment down below!
A single or pair of swing arm lights not enough drama for you? Check out the scandalous EVELINA Tarantula Spider Legs Extendable Light!
Other options include light fixtures with bendable arms. This is extremely old school and reminiscent other 90s. Though they are not as popular as they were back in the 90s (frankly, we don’t understand why: they’re awesome!), we think they are perfect for adding a little softness into your space. The curved, bended lines work well to balance out the straight lines in the furnishing. Not to mention, they cover a full 360 degrees! Hah, take that accordion and swing arms.
NINE :: Cove Lights
If you’ve been following Screed’s blog, you’d probably know what cove lights are. If you don’t, go read our older blog posts… or Google, whichever works. Cove lights are the best at saving space because they aren’t even there! However, cove lights are architectural instalments and therefore, require a certain amount of planning before execution. Of course, you can hire a contractor to create a recess along the walls but that isn’t very cost-friendly. A way around that would be to use flat LED light strips and carefully line them against the edges of the wall. Though this wouldn’t replicate the brightness of the architectural cove lights, it serves its purpose of saving space! LED lights strips can be easily purchased from most hardware stores.
TEN :: Windows
You must be thinking ‘Windows? They aren’t light fixtures!’. Partially true. Partially because they allow light from the outside to enter the room, hence lighting it to some extent. Fair enough? Windows literally take up zero space and require zero watts of electricity to operate. Whoa! What a steal. However, some of us prefer to keep our privacy and not have our window wide open for the prying eyes of strangers. You can opt to use a sheer curtain and overlay it with a opaque one. You can roll out the sheer curtain when you need more light and add on the opaque curtains when you’re feeling extra secretive. Alternatively, you can get blinds for the windows and accompany them with sheer curtains. Blinds enable the windows to be complete covered or left open just by tugging a rope. They are extremely convenient and last longer than any sort of curtain. These blinds are also easy to clean as compared to bringing curtains to the dry cleaners. ‘Boo’ for laundry day!
Did these tips help free up some space in your house for other purposes? We hope it did! A clear and de-cluttered space will make your feel liberated and less constrained in your own environment. This facilitates concentration and boosts optimism that results in productivity! Whoa! All that just from clearing space? Nice.
Have any other ideas that are way better than ours? Or you executed some of our ideas and will like to share with us? Drop a comment down below or tag us in any of our social media sites.
