Installing good lighting is essential in a home for more reasons than one. The two most striking ones are that your home will look more spacious, and you’ll have a sense of cleanliness. Having said that, achieving a perfect balance when installing light fixtures is not easy if you don’t have some great tips to help you. It is especially true if you are dealing with a house that has a specific style. Therefore, we are here to offer some useful tips for lighting a southern style home.

What is a southern style home exactly?

Have you been toying with the idea of relocating to the southern parts of the country? If so, you have undoubtedly found some information about settling in Tennessee. One piece of information will most definitely be about the spectacular Southern architecture, aka antebellum architecture. It is quite a select branch. It usually refers to larger homes with huge wrap-around porches and staircases traditionally found outside of the house. 

The great news is that most southern style homes have great potential when it comes to lighting. This is due to their massive windows. Although many perceive southern architecture from the standpoint of a specific time frame, it’s much more than that. Since the base of these homes offers so much flexibility in any future renovation, people consider them modern rather than traditional. 

A southern style home

Best tips for lighting a southern style home

Many tips are applicable when it comes to homes that aren’t naturally very bright. However, you won’t have to work that hard when making the lights of a southern style home shine. Although not a particularly tough task, you still need to be quite careful and focused if you want your home to look great.

Windows are the eyes of the home

As we’ve mentioned before, the window policy of southern style homes is the bigger, the better. However, this fact alone isn’t enough to make your southern styled home brighter. The first thing that you should think about is placement. If you’re remodeling and investing in high-quality glass and frames, make sure they’re facing the best possible direction. You won’t get the same amount of sunlight on every side of your home. So be careful.

A skylight, a great way to light a southern style home.

Another tremendous addition to your home would be a mesmerizing skylight. If you’re really thinking of lighting up your southern style home in the most luxurious way known to man, this is it. However, be careful. Not only is this a significant investment, but it’s also very easily messed up. Therefore, hire the right people for the job.

Light is all about reflection

There are several ways to make your house well-lit and bright. Of course, you can always use artificial lighting in the form of chandeliers or lamps, which can be really beautiful. Think of your home as a blank canvas that you can paint with crystal lamps and alluring crystal chandeliers.

Use mirrors to your advantage

Another object that can help you light a southern style home in a great way is a mirror. It’s genuinely a multipurpose piece. Even though it seemingly has only one practical purpose, it can also be a great piece that makes the light in your home get a whole other dimension. Take the time to play with mirrors and see how your space can benefit from them. You can try to place them in different areas, combine them with natural lighting, or simply set them across a beautiful lamp. A great thing about mirrors is that they’re easy to move, so you can change the appearance of your home a bit whenever you feel like it.

A mirror, stool and two pots with plants.

How to use light fixtures to their fullest potential

There are probably more types of lamps and chandeliers than you’re aware. Depending on their style and quality, as well as what your goal is, there is a seemingly endless number of ways you can make use of them. Although letting your imaginative side run free and playing with all these options is fun, it’s good to have certain guidelines. Here are some proven methods you can use to bring lighting to your southern style home:

• Choose your focal point.
• The first rule that’ll make all the difference is deciding where you want your eyes to go when you step into the room that you’re lighting. This is a focal or a focus point. Once you’ve made this decision, place the most striking piece right above or next to that point. This is usually the perfect use of a crystal chandelier or a larger lamp. 
• Make sure that all the light fixtures complement each other.
• Once you’ve set your central piece, it’s time to assemble the rest. Smaller lamps are a great addition when it comes to both function and aesthetics. The main thing you’ll want to pay attention to is that everything looks cohesive. Whether you’ve picked incandescent, fluorescent, or halogen lights, make sure to stick to your choice.
• Use dimmers
• Having an option between a well-lit room, a dark one or anything in between might not seem all that important. However, lighting has a great way of setting the atmosphere of the whole space. Don’t pass up on this opportunity.

Trick your mind

If you cannot brighten your southern style home with lighting options, you can always try to trick your mind with the help of home decor pieces.

• Paint your walls a brighter color
• Lighting a southern style home can be a part of your overall home decor theme. The brighter the color of your walls, the lighter and more spacious your house will look.

An empty room with white walls.

• Furnish your home with larger and lighter-colored furniture
• This tip for making a southern style home lighter doesn’t only apply to furniture. Any pieces that you use for decoration, such as wall decor or art in general, come into consideration. You can also use table lamps or bedside lamps to shine some light on these pieces additionally.
• Make sure to have some statement pieces to make the space feel homey
• Lighting is important, but you should try not to overdo it. Make sure that you take the time to find some bold colored statement pieces that’ll complement your space. If you go all white, your home will resemble a pharmacy and not a livable space.

If all this sounds interesting, before you start working on lighting a southern style home, you must first get there. So, get online and start looking for reliable movers, such as Spyder Moving, and collect several quotes before making the final decision. You need a company that’s committed to moving you and your dreams forward. 

Author bio: Jessica Williams is an interior designer who loves sharing her work and educating other people so that they get the best out of their homes. She’s also one of the first designers to actually open a free online course that focuses on making your home brighter and more spacious with tricks that aren’t at all burdensome.