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Before you update furniture, replace floors or renovate a living space, consider whether your lighting works. Lighting is a telltale sign of design quality and one of the most affordable ways to update your home without busting your budget. It sets a mood and helps define a style. Without it, important architectural details, artwork and focal points fall flat and unnoticed. When done right, lighting functions as a carefully tuned orchestra, creating a pitch-perfect composition of light, layers, direction and flow.

Lighting placement, fixtures and functions are the three main ingredients to think about when giving your living space a light makeover. So if you’re wondering if it’s time for an update, ask yourself these questions.

1. Am I lighting unexpected places?
As you evaluate the status of your lighting style, keep in mind that lighting also functions as art that helps define your style, set the mood and perform practical tasks. Think of adding light in unexpected places, such as a chandelier in the master bathroom. And consider using light in unconventional ways –such as using hanging pendant lights as reading lamps.

Bright idea for unexpected lighting
Look for opportunities to install light fixtures in alcoves, tray ceilings and wall niches to trace interesting lines. Notice the hidden lights in the ceiling alcove above the cylindrical feature here.
Painting with light is another way to add surprise. Here coloured LED lighting with toe kick lights underneath the island and cabinets creates dramatic appeal.

In this dining room, the coloured LED lights in the tray ceiling and alongside the stone wall add dimension and visual interest. Notice how the light calls attention to the texture of the stone wall. Rope or strip lighting achieves this effect.

2. Does my lighting have layers?
A perfectly lit room has three basic layers: Overhead lighting, task lighting and accent lighting. This bedroom pulls all those together – the chandelier for overhead, bedside reading lamps as task lighting, and accent lights above the headboard and artwork.

3. Do my lights dim?
Good lighting should multitask and set the mood. A dimmer is an inexpensive and essential tool that puts you in control of the quality and quantity of light. You can install a dimming system either as a whole-house lighting control or by adding a wall box dimmer in each room and lamps with dimmer switches.

4. Do my fixtures reflect current styles?
One of the quickest ways to update the look of a living space is to swap decorative lighting fixtures for more up-to-date styles. The ceiling fan as a light fixture is now a bit passé.

5. Is my lighting focused?
Lighting design is all about the strategic placement of light and matching the perfect light source to its intended function. Indirect lighting pulls focus, adds texture and layers the sight line.