Lighting can set the tone or mood for any room in your home. If you want to set up a home theater, you need a room where you can control the lighting with a minimal amount of natural light. On the other hand, if you want an open room for reading your favorite book, people generally want as much natural light as possible.

To save on energy costs, replace the bulbs with energy efficient fluorescent bulbs, they use fewer watts and generally last longer. You can also take a look at replacing or updating the lighting fixture to generate even more savings in your energy consumption.

DirectBuy offers a wide range of lighting solutions for your home – both indoors and outdoors. Manufacturer-direct prices on all your lighting needs allow you to purchase top quality and stay within your lighting budget.

Coming home to a dark house can be frightening, but with outdoor lighting you can worry less about your safety. There are many things to consider when it comes to outdoor lighting for your home. You want to be safe but stylish as well. Think about:

Outdoor Lighting Types – ceiling and wall mount, hanging, pendant and chandelier
Outdoor Lighting Design – tall, slender, round, airy
Outdoor Lighting Styles – simplistic, elaborate
Outdoor Lighting Finishes -  copper, iron, bronze, and other colors

DirectBuy carries a wide range of outdoor lighting solutions to help you create a safe and beautiful outdoor environment. For all your home building, remodeling and furnishing needs, DirectBuy has great options and great savings.

In today’s modern bathrooms, a combination of various lighting styles is a common trend. Decorative light fixtures, both wall-mounted and ceiling fixtures in the center of the bathroom, make beautiful additions to create an elegant ambiance.

Choosing different types of fixtures for various areas in your bathroom provides efficient lighting and also allows you to add a touch of your own style. The options in bathroom lighting solutions today are unlimited. Whatever your taste, you can find many choices to create the look and feel you prefer.

DirectBuy carries a beautiful selection of bathroom lighting fixtures in many different styles, colors and finishes. You’ll also find great lighting solutions for other areas of your home – both inside and outdoors. The experts at DirectBuy can help you choose coordinating fixtures to create the perfect ambiance in your home.

Spending time in front of your bathroom mirror is a daily task for most everyone, whether for shaving or applying make up. So how do you provide adequate light that also has style?

A common trend these days is to choose a stylish light fixture that can be placed above the mirror in your vanity area. When making your choice, it’s important to choose a fixture that is the appropriate size for the mirror. Generally providing 100 watts per 18 inches of mirror width will do the trick and give you efficient amounts of light for your grooming tasks.

Another great idea for an exceptional comfort level in the bathroom is to install a dimmer on the vanity light. A dimming control will allow for bright light when you need it and will provide the option for softer lighting the majority of the time.

DirectBuy carries a wide selection of great lighting solutions for your bathroom and other areas of your home – both inside and outdoors. Whether you’re building or remodeling, you’ll find most everything you need to make your project successful.

Nothing adds ambiance to your outdoor garden or pool area like beautiful landscape lighting. It might seem like a complicated venture, but adding outdoor lighting to your landscape is a lot simpler than you might expect.

There are many great styles of outdoor lighting fixtures to choose from – you can choose the style that complements your taste whether contemporary, rustic or traditional. Selecting your favorite type of lighting fixture from the numerous choices available today is the fun part.

Once you’ve made that decision, you will need to create a diagram of the area you plan to light so you can make sure the fixtures are placed where you want them.

Not only does outdoor lighting provide an added security feature for your home, it will add a lovely glow to your nights spent outdoors.

DirectBuy carries a variety of outdoor lighting fixtures to help you create the perfect outdoor ambiance for your home. You’ll also find other great home improvement products for inside and outdoors at your local DirectBuy showroom.

Most homeowners focus on cabinets during kitchen renovations, but lighting is an important element necessary for improvements to look their best. Efficient and appealing kitchen lighting is a requirement.

Formulate a plan that blends lights with the kitchen’s architecture, decor and accessories. Use a layered approach to illuminate the entire kitchen so the entire room is balanced and well-lit. Add several different types of lights for the appropriate look that balances necessity with decoration.

Task lights provide light for duties such as preparing food and are usually placed near work surfaces such as pantries and upper cabinets.

Ambient lights create a soft, warm glow that makes the area feel warm and inviting to guests.

Accent lights create depth and dimension when placed inside cabinets or when spotlighting certain objects.

Decorative or contemporary lighting finishes off the look.

DirectBuy carries a large selection of brand-name flooring at wholesale prices direct from the manufacturers and their authorized suppliers. A one-stop shop for all of your furnishing, home building and remodeling needs, DirectBuy has virtually everything - including the kitchen sink - for in and around your home.

Good lighting choices make a huge difference in the ambiance of your kitchen. But you also need useful lighting for the work areas.

One of the most popular types of lighting in today’s kitchen is recessed lighting under cabinets. If you choose this kind of lighting, make certain the cabinet bottom is also recessed so your light fixtures won’t be apparent.

And don’t forget about a plan for your electrical outlets. There’s nothing more disappointing than great kitchen appliances with no logical place to plug them in.

There is a lot to think about when you plan to remodel your kitchen. If you take your time, do your homework, plan ahead, and remain flexible, you can survive it and end up with a great new kitchen as a gathering place for family and friends to enjoy for years to come.

DirectBuy carries a large selection of brand-name lighting and appliances for your kitchen at wholesale prices direct from the manufacturers and their authorized suppliers. A one-stop shop for all your home building, furnishing and remodeling needs, DirectBuy has virtually everything – including the kitchen sink – for in and around your home.

Designing in the country casual style gives you freedom to mix and match different colors, styles, and furniture pieces to create a warm country casual look.

Choosing to decorate in the country casual style allows you to use your imagination and design your space with furniture, accessories, and different types of lighting that appeal to you personally, with elegant and attractive results.

Choose Accessories to Complement Your Design

Photos of family members, particularly in sepia tones, in groupings with wood frames of varying sizes and shapes will bring a homey feeling into your room. Another popular trend is to add a mural to a large wall. You can find many striking paintings and prints to harmonize with your casual country theme.

Find the Right Lighting

Lighting is always important in any room design. To create the warmth of home, use tables of different styles and lamps with soft lighting to create a warm, soft ambiance. Many lamps today have dimmer switches, allowing varying amounts of lighting throughout the day or evening.

Be careful of using one large ceiling light, which will cast harsh shadows in your room and diminish the charm you’ve created. Lower your center light from the ceiling to create a softer light and a more welcoming feeling.

DirectBuy has a beautiful selection of home furniture and accessories at wholesale prices every day. A one-stop shop for all your furnishing, home building and remodeling needs, DirectBuy has virtually everything – including the kitchen sink – for in and around your home.

Lighting is one of the most effective ways to make a dramatic statement in any room of your home. And many times the great effect lighting can have on the overall atmosphere of a home is often given too little attention.

The right lighting can have a huge impact on the ambiance of your home. You can easily make a large room feel more intimate or a small room feel more open with the right lighting. Create a warm, relaxing mood with soft light or a bright energetic mood for entertaining with brighter light. With the right lighting techniques, you can switch from one mood to another to fit the occasion.

The Importance of a Lighting Plan

It’s no less important to design a lighting plan for your home than creating a plan for furnishings and flooring. Placing a high priority on the lighting for each room will go a long way in helping you achieve the overall ambiance you want for your home.

The basic starting point is to think about the important elements you want to highlight in each room. To help you determine what type of atmosphere you want to achieve in each space, ask yourself a couple of important questions, “What will the room be used for most often?” and “Who will use the room most often?”

Many rooms will, of course, serve multiple purposes and will require more than one type of lighting.

Lighting and Color

Choose lighting that will reflect and bring more light to a light colored room. Darker colored rooms absorb the light, which will make your room feel even darker. So it’s important to choose lighting that will enhance your spaces.

A fresh coat of paint and well-placed lighting can do wonders to change the overall feel of any room. A new room color can bring new light into a room. You can either complement your lighting fixtures or provide a new opportunity to update fixtures and lighting accessories for your room.

Consider Lighting Categories

An effective lighting plan will combine all three kinds of lighting to bring functionality and style together.

Accent Lighting

Using accent lighting such as track lighting, recessed lighting, or wall-mounted sconces creates interest and adds a dramatic effect in your rooms. You can use spotlights to accentuate paintings, sculptures, or collections. Accent lighting, to be most effective, requires at least three times as much light to be effective as the general lighting of the room.

Task Lighting

Task lighting provides specific lighting for activities such as reading, writing, arts and crafts, homework, and playing games. Task lighting can include recessed lighting, track lighting, pendant lighting or lamps. The object of task lighting is to cut down on eyestrain by avoiding shadows and glares.

General or Ambient Lighting

General lighting provides an easy comfort level of lighting in your rooms. Types of general lighting include ceiling mounted fixtures, wall mounted fixtures, recessed or track lighting, and chandeliers. Choosing the right level of lighting can have a dramatic effect on how comfortable your rooms feel.

Lighting Controls

Don’t overlook one of today’s greatest options for lighting flexibility – control switches. You’ll find different types of controls that let you choose the amount of light you want for different times of day and different activities. With just the touch of a button you can change the whole mood of a room and lower the light level to conserve energy and release less heat when the weather is warm.

Making wise lighting choices in the planning stages of your building or remodeling project can save energy and money in the future. It can also provide a much higher level of comfort and efficiency you will be proud of when your project is complete.

DirectBuy carries a variety of lighting for your home such as kitchen lighting, bathroom lighting and outdoor lighting in various styles at wholesale prices. A one-sop shop for your entire home remodeling and decorating needs, DirectBuy has virtually everything – including the kitchen sink – to make your DIY projects as easy as possible.