-Dave Lenhardt, October 2018, edited 2024
Lighting plays a much larger part than it should in a home sale, and the early nights we have in the fall & winter only exaggerate it. Here are some great ways to use lighting to make your home stand out from the rest!
1) Have lighting in the first place.
Have you ever walked into a room in the evening and not had the light switch work? It probably doesn’t happen much in normal life, but it happens all the time in homes that are on the market. All too often the switch controls an outlet, and that outlet doesn’t have a light plugged into it. In those cases, a small thing like that which is easy to fix can start the process of turning off a buyer from your home. It’s important to remember that people are buying the feeling a home gives them as much as the actual physical home itself. The first lighting rule of selling your home should probably be to have at least one bright light that works in every room.
2) Turn the lights on for showings.
As a seller, a large part of your job is to ensure potential buyers have an enjoyable experience when they tour your house. In the late fall & winter, I suggest turning all your lights on before showings to avoid a potential buyer’s first experience at your home involving fumbling around in the dark for light switches. The extra few cents on your electrical bill will be worth it!
3) Get the right color “temperature” for your lights.
As a seller, a large part of your job is to ensure potential buyers have an enjoyable experience when they tour your house. In the late fall & winter, I suggest turning all your lights on before showings to avoid a potential buyer’s first experience at your home involving fumbling around in the dark for light switches. The extra few cents on your electrical bill will be worth it!
4) Light your kitchen island or peninsula correctly.
If you’re lucky enough to have a kitchen island or peninsula in your home, you really should either have some pendant or recessed lights above it. I personally think pendant lights that match the feel of the home make the kitchen appear exponentially better than simply adding some recessed lights, but either choice is better than nothing!
5) Install under-cabinet lighting.
A beautiful kitchen is often what draws buyers to your home, and under-cabinet lighting is a great way to help make it pop! There are many plug-in options out there that can look just as good as hard-wired ones, and many brands are even self-stick to make mounting super easy.
6) Don’t waste money on an electrician if you can use a plug-in option.
The name of the game when getting a home ready for sale is to get the most return on every dollar you spend on the “facelift”, which can often mean using a plug-in version rather than paying an electrician to add permanent lighting. Here are some examples from Wayfair.com:
7) Hold off picking paint colors until after you’ve installed your new lights.
If you’re going to paint part of your home before selling it, lighting can play a big part in how the paint appears. I’ve seen the same color of paint look pure grey in one light and brown in another, so do yourself a favor and sit on your hands until you finalize any changes to the lighting in your home before picking paint colors.
Every home is different of course, so keep in mind that whatever worked for your neighbor might not have the same effect in your home. Reach out if you want some help deciding the best option for your home and budget!