I’ll let you in on a designer secret. All you need is farmhouse lighting. That’s what you add to your home to give it a big update without a massive renovation.

I was living in darkness.

That’s how I felt when hubby and I bought our old fixer upper of a home. 

Most of our new home was dark and dingy. It was also pink all over, from the wall paint, doors, carpet, wallpaper and more! It was desperately needing a home makeover.

You know I love a good home and furniture transformation, so we knew this home was for us.

Today, I wanted to share one of the biggest design lessons I learned from my home makeover. I’ve made it simple with a 3-step-process of how I use lighting to update my home!

I made over a small vignette at my store, Village Antiques, in Houston, Texas, to demonstrate this process. 

In this blog post, you’ll learn how to transform your space using: 

1. Overhead lighting and farmhouse chandeliers
2. Farmhouse wall sconces
3. Farmhouse table lamps

Step 1 | Overhead Lighting and Farmhouse Chandeliers

The first way we’re adding farmhouse lighting is with overhead or ceiling lights.

In my home, there was a lack of farmhouse light fixtures in my ceiling. If you’re running into the same problem, you can go in with recessed lighting. Recessed lighting is installed directly inside a ceiling wall. Most of the lighting fixtures are hidden into the ceiling, giving it a low profile. 

Recessed lighting will never go out of style and can add more value to your home if you take the time to place them in the right spaces and use the correct bulbs to enhance the atmosphere of your room. 

For more of a statement light overhead, you can opt for a chandelier or pendant lighting. 

Here’s where that designer style comes in!

Chandeliers are a great way to bring in your personality and the things you love in your home without committing in a big way — start expressing style with rustic chandeliers, crystals, gold, chalk finish painted wood, rustic metals, or whichever end of the farmhouse pendulum that you land on.

I used a standard overhead light in my shop that’s built flush into the ceiling, but if I had it my way, this area would absolutely have a full-glam crystal chandelier!

Step 2 | Farmhouse Wall Sconces

The next way we’re adding farmhouse lighting is with wall sconces. 

Many newer, modern-build homes don’t have wall sconces, and if you don’t have them in your home yet, do not skim over this section because this is one of the key takeaways I want you to get from this blog. 

Wall sconces are perfect for bedrooms, living rooms, dining rooms, hallways to highlight art — did I miss anywhere? 

What I’m getting at is that sconces are extremely versatile. They’re a spectacular way to warm up your room and bring major design.

You just have to find the right ones for your space. My tip is to choose hues and colors from your space and match the hardware to the existing elements of your room. 

In the vignette at my shop, the colors are warm and natural with a brand, tan, and “greige” (gray + beige). There’s also a lot of Farmhouse, French country decor going on here. 

I figured I could do one of two things: 

1. Bring in more of the same elements in the sconces
2. Bring in an opposite style for a contrasting effect

The best thing you can do to see what will work best is to take your options home and see what works best for the atmosphere you’re trying to create in your room—this is the fun part. 

This is where you can go out and look for crystal, wood, aged brass, or painted fixtures. Use this as your chance to take those design risks that sometimes we’re afraid to take with bigger ticket items or more permanent decisions like fabric and wall paint.

I decided to keep the sconces in the same warm tone and chippy charm as the existing furniture. This helped to keep this section feel more relaxed and cozy. 

Step 3 | Farmhouse Table Lamps

I love layering farmhouse lighting. The third layers are the side table lamps or my end table lamps. This helps to bring that lighting down the room to where we are all actively living. It’ll give you that warm, intimate lighting. 

I tend to look for something under 38 inches tall. I like this height because it’s functional for reading and chatting with loved ones, and is at the right height for more flattering lighting. If you’re placing a table lamp in a family room, you can go with something lower. 

I often describe table lamps as the jewelry of your decorating because they can really dress a room up or down. As with my other tips, I take cues from the hues in my furniture. 

As I went shopping, I contemplated between a warm-toned wooden-based lamp and something with a more chippy, painted style. When this happens, the best thing you can do is try them both and see what you gravitate to the most. 

I ended up with the warm-toned lamp because the beautiful honey wood color almost perfectly matched the antique whitewashed doors behind the couch. It also has a slightly aged look to it with the chalky finish on the top, making it fit in very nicely with the overall natural vibes of this space.

Pro Tip: Remember in the beginning I talked about putting your farmhouse light fixture on a dimmer? Once you start installing these into your home, I highly recommend that you get them on a dimmer so you can control the ambiance or the feeling of your home.

The Room Makeover Reveal

This is how I was able to transform this room just by using three layers of farmhouse lighting!

Now you can see how easy it is to get a home-improvement-style makeover in your own home just by adding in three underestimated elements to your space.

Let me know what you think of how these farmhouse light fixtures transformed this space in the comments! And don’t forget to sign up for your free newsletter to get notifications every time a new blog comes out as well as exclusive inventory alerts and design advice.

Keep using your amazing design gifts to create heart in your home,

Amitha

P.S. I often get so many questions of where clients can find all of the beautiful home décor they see on our blog. You can find all of this and more, at our retail store, Village Antiques, in Houston.

Please stop by and check out our collection of farmhouse style furniture, french country home decor, antiques, vintage, chalk finish paints and more!

We are open Tuesday – Saturday from 10:00am to 5:00pm. 

You can also reach us at (713) 468 – 3931. 

P.P.S. All of the lighting shown in this week’s blog and more is available at Village Antiques! Here’s a sneak peek of what we have.