It’s finally happened. Just as the reds and yellows of the leaves have fallen to the ground, the cups at Starbucks have turned that same unmistakable shade of red. Summer has come and gone, and now fall has fell. Time to break out the sweater, the scarves and the big, warm, living room blanket.

Worse than even the coldest of temperatures is the way your days seem to disappear. A 9 to 5 easily steals most if not all of the daylight hours and hanging out in the dark just doesn’t have the same appeal to you that it had when you were 16. But you don’t have to be left in the dark; you can bring the light to you.

Light for Function
First thing’s first. Make sure your house has enough light to do the things you need to do. Overhead illumination is usually enough to cover this, but sometimes a well-placed floor lamp or wall sconce is just what the doctor ordered.

Photo Credit: The Design Home

Photo Credit: Ashton Sebastian

Light for Form
Now it’s the fun stuff. Lighting shouldn’t be all work and no fun. In fact, lighting your house will not only serve as a great, cold weather activity, it leads to further indoor activities, no matter the weather. Start with the rooms you spend the most time in. For me, it’s my kitchen and living room. Both of those rooms, while they have drastically different lighting, are adequately lit for their purposes. For example, my kitchen has bright, powerful lights over my work stations. My living room on the other hand is pretty dim for the most part. I have a floor lamp above the comfy chair that I read in, a small track lighting set up for general lighting and a cleverly place desk lamp behind my TV to give soft illumination from behind the screen.

Photo Credit: Suburban Light

Light for Winter
Just as bears hibernate and birds fly south, many of us have our own winter traditions. Maybe yours is making hot cocoa on Saturday afternoons or cuddling up with a good book after work. Mine is adding an extra floor lamp in every room to combat the early evenings of winter. I do this because when it’s dark, I tend to get sleepy. And with the sun only shining for a few hours each day in my neck of the woods, I need all the help I can get.

Photo Credit: My Hunter Gatherer

Written by Ross Donald