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Tasteful lighting is an interior designer’s secret to making any space feel luxurious. Keep reading to learn where to find affordable lighting that will make your home look expensive.
If you want your home to look timeless and elegant, you should invest in quality lighting. Lighting is one element of a room that can completely change the look and feel of a space, and is often overlooked by new homeowners. Once you get a taste for beautiful lighting, it is hard to go back to being satisfied with the Home Depot-chic look. I can certainly relate to the disappointment of falling in love with high-end lighting, only to realize that at market price, it is well out of your budget. However, don’t despair! If you know the right tricks, you can easily find stunning and affordable lighting that is within your budget.
Examples of beautiful high-end lighting
Our house is well over 100 years old, and when we moved in, it was in need of many updates, including the lighting. We have no overhead lights in half of the rooms so adding other lighting sources was a high priority since we didn’t want to spend our evenings in the dark. The lighting we did have was a mix of styles: some funky vintage lights, early 2000’s big box store lighting, a few hideous fluorescent lights, ceiling fans, and two beautiful antique chandeliers.
As we remodel and decorate each space, I’ve been slowly adding and replacing lighting along the way. Here are some of the tips that I’ve picked up to help you find beautiful, but affordable lighting!
Buy your lighting open box
Purchasing something “open box” means purchasing products that have been opened and returned. Many lighting retailers, such as Lamps Plus and Capitol Lighting, offer this option. This may require some patience (and luck) to find exactly what you’re looking for, but the savings are definitely worth it.
I got lucky when I purchased the lighting for our sunroom because the Lamps Plus open box selection had exactly two of the lights I wanted in stock. At the same time that I purchased those lights, I noticed that the open box selection also had a single Hudson Valley sconce. This just so happened to be a sconce I had been coveting for our bathroom renovation. Unfortunately, even with savings of buying one of them open box, I couldn’t justify spending around $450 for two.
Over the next ten months, I continued periodically checking the open box selection. Then, one day the stars aligned perfectly! I needed to purchase sconces for our bathroom and there was finally a matching Hudson Valley sconce available. So, of course, I bought the pair immediately. This allowed me to save $220 from the retail price.
Take advantage of holiday sales
Retailers often run sales on random holidays. I mean who associates great lighting sales with Memorial Day?! Not me. That assumption was clearly wrong. During the Capitol Lighting Memorial Day sale, I purchased two beautiful Visual Comfort wall sconces. I paid $125 less than the retail price.
Remember to sign up for email sale alerts so that you are aware of these sales in advance. That is the only way I would have known to check their Memorial Day sale. I noticed that they were running a similar sale on the Visual Comfort sconces on Labor Day too.
Check out this gorgeous powder room designed by Clary Bosbyshell, which features the same Visual Comfort sconces that I bought on sale last Memorial Day.
Shop secondhand
While I have purchased all of my hard-wired lighting either on sale or open box, all of the lamps that I’ve purchased have been antique store or estate sale finds. Many times this requires looking past a dated shade to realize its full potential. Once you’ve done that, there are several ways to negotiate a better deal for something that is slightly out of your price range.
If you are buying from an antique mall, ask the sales associates if they offer any discounts. They are typically authorized to give you a small discount. However, if an item has not sold after a certain period of time, the sales associate can contact the seller to negotiate a better price. You can negotiate similar deals at estate sales or yard sales.
. The picture below is a charming lamp that I found at an estate sale. It originally had a older, plain white shade, but I fashioned a new one out of this lovely Melsetter fabric by William Morris. Check out this post if you are interested in learning more about creating your own shades!
I hope these tips help you find affordable lighting so that you can create your dream home on a budget!
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