Building 101 Lighting

Hey y’all! I’m so excited to finally start diving into the fun design parts of the building 101 topics! Lighting was one of the toughest decisions for me when we were building. As soon as I had the house plans finalized, and design features of the home layed out. I started looking for lighting and would literally come home from work and research for 1-2 hours almost every night!! I started to feel overwhelmed. Then started second guessing myself because I had so many options. But I had some goals in mind!!

Lighting Fixtures on a Budget

I needed to stay in budget ($3000) because it would be super easy to go over on lighting, and I didn’t want to do that. I would rather put my money somewhere else. Lighting is an easy switch later down the road, but brick backsplash, or flooring, well not so easy to switch out. So, the first thing I did was make a list of all the lights I needed to order on an excel sheet (I believe I have a sheet like this attached to the Building Financial Template I sell here.). Then whenever I found something I liked, I would copy and paste the link onto the sheet so I could easily find it again. This also helped me track the price of that light.

Another thing I did to help me find the lighting I wanted but for the best price, is when I found something I liked on, let’s say Wayfair, I would highlight the name, and copy and paste in in google. When I searched for that light, google would tell me other places that sold it for cheaper, (normally Amazon). I found look alike lighting for HUNDREDS less! For example, my black 36′ chandeliers in my living and dining room, I got from Amazon for $119, and they also have a look alike one at Pottery Barn for $699. And guess what, I have had ZERO problems with my chandeliers. No one’s gonna know if they cost $119, or $699 (unless you tell them)!!

Where I bought from:

• Amazon is where most of everything in my home came from! 🙂 Especially my lighting! I have them all linked on my Amazon storefront. They can be found under the list “Shop my House” but I also have others saved that I love the price and look of the lighting under the list ” Lighting, Mirrors, and More”. Love the easy returns if I didn’t like it too!
• Ashley Home Store is where I found our kitchen pendant lights (most asked about, and best seller for 2021) for Ashley Home store for only $74.99 (sale price, regularly $88 each)! All other places had them for over $100 a piece!
• Overstock has good prices too, but be careful, because I saw several prices on there that were really good, and then way overpriced compared to other stores. BUT I found lots of good deals there. I got our front door and back door wall sconces for only $35 each! Be aware of returns for Overstock, not always returnable, or you have to pay for shipping to return.
• Home Depot/ Lowes has good deals too. I purchased our fans from Home Depot, I liked that it was local, and would be easy to return if needed. We have fans in all the bedrooms, playroom, and two on the back porch covered area.

Below I have rounded up all my lighting I bought and linked them below. If you read the caption, it will show you the price of the light fixture when I linked it, and where it is in my home. Please note that, I earn a small commission if you purchase something through my any of my links. Thanks 🙂

Lighting & Electrical- Things to consider

Lighting

We purchased our own flood lights (shocker, from Amazon) so we could make sure we had what we wanted. After lots of searching, we found some that could switch back and forth between motion sensor, and being able to stay on the whole time we wanted them on. We LOVE this feature about our flood lights. They are linked on my Amazon Storefront.

Our electrician installed light strips in our upper cabinets. These are hidden LED strips that stay hidden underneath the cabinet. So you don’t see those “can” lights up in our upper glass cabinets. Very clean and chic looking. I have attached some photos so you can see what they look like. They aren’t very pretty, but no one sees them!

Electrical

We did not put in a ceiling fan in our great room, mainly for design aesthetic reasons. We were nervous about being living in Texas and not having a fan. Our living room wired for a fan, just in case we ever decide to put one in later, the wiring is already done. The switch plate has three switches, one for can lights, one for the chandelier, and one for a fan ( which does nothing when you turn it on). Never hurts to be prepared! We haven’t had any problems with not having a fan though!

We did a few other things that helped us out later on during the electrical stages. One thing we did that we loved when electrical was going in was having the outside soffit outlet on a timer for when we put up christmas lights. Also, the boys bathroom is pretty small and as three pocket doors, so we had to install a motion sensor that hooked up to the vanity light. This is amazing because it automatically comes on if they get up to use the restroom at night, it not only helps the Blaine because he isn’t tall enough to turn the light on, and it also turns off by itself, so I’m not constantly telling them to turn the light off. So theoretically it helps save on our electric bill!

We also had the house wired for security cameras during the electrical stage, so we didn’t have to go back and do that later. And last, but not least, we also had it wired for indoor and outdoor speakers!

Building 101 – Next topic

Next up on the on the Building 101 topics, I’ll be talking about plumbing fixtures! I’ll go over faucets, sinks, pot filler, bath tub, and showers! Such a fun topic! Be sure to subscribe to emails, so you won’t miss a building 101 topic or any other post that is made on the blog!

Thanks for reading y’all!