What to Consider Before Scheduling a Lighting Consultation
Are you looking to add depth, warmth, or drama to your home? Have you planned everything from colors to furnishings perfectly, but you are still not getting the finish you hoped for? If so, landscape lighting could be for you.
However, before you book a lighting consultation, you should think about what you actually want from the professional. Below, we discuss some factors you need to think about before your lighting consultation.
What is Your Goal?
Firstly, you must have a good idea of what you want your lighting goal to be. Lighting can transform a room or area in a number of ways, but not all of them. You must decide what your objective is with a lighting assessment consultant.
Are you looking to make the room appear larger? Are you trying to warm the room, making it more homely and inviting? Perhaps it is totally a financial option and you are trying to reduce energy costs, or increase the value of your property. No matter the goal, you need to establish what it is.
Do You Want to Experiment?
Next, decide if you want the lighting consultant to provide options, or do you actually want to experiment with the lighting? There are a number of lighting demo kits, both physical and digital, that can allow you to play around with your options.
Perhaps you just want the solutions provided. In this case, consulting with a lighting specialist will be the best option. Tell them your goals and let them provide their expertise.
No Two Rooms Will Be the Same
Have you seen a great lighting idea in a friend’s home or property? Do you really want to replicate the exact thing in your own place? Well, chances are it may not work.
Every room and building have different shapes, so the light will refract in different ways. They will also have different heights, meaning shadows and displacement could be longer.
In addition, the natural light sources coming into your room will have an impact. This can diffuse light and add differing effects night and day. Finally, the color of your room can impact the lighting by absorbing or changing colored light in the spectrum.
If you have a specific lighting idea that you want to replicate, consult a lighting specialist. They will be able to adapt and tweak it to get it close to the original idea as possible, of your own property.
Day or Night?
Homes, rooms, and property can all look very different at varying times of day and night. Before consulting a specialist, decide what time of day you want the lighting to make an impact. Will it be in the evening, or will you want it sparkling throughout the day?
It’s a possibility that innovative lighting consultants can do one lighting job for both times of day. However, you may need to have two separate lighting jobs installed depending on your needs.
Exterior or Interior Lighting Consultation
Decide if you want the consultation to be about exterior or interior lighting, or possibly both. Also, remember that one can impact the other. Lighting to your exterior may shine through and impact the interior, and vice versa.
Exterior lighting may also require some extra installation procedures. Lights may have to be installed in hard to reach places, so you should consider this in your consultation. Any quality lighting consultant should factor this into the price.
Are You Looking to Save Money?
Anyone looking to get a lighting consultation to increase the value of a property, or to save money on electricity, should understand that consultants will approach the problem from this angle. It might not be possible to have the specific vision for your lighting if you’re trying to save money and increase property value. A good consultant will get as close as possible to it.
People looking to save utility costs will likely be offered LED lighting. This can cut your energy costs on a property. A good LED lighting consultant may also be able to increase the distribution of light while using fewer sources.
Looking to Increase Sales?
A good lighting set up can increase sales in two main ways. The first is that the visual appeal can increase footfall to a store or showroom. Once inside you can capitalize on the captive audience that have been lured by your professional appeal.
Secondly, you can highlight products that you really want to sell. Perhaps you have an amazing holiday display or just some great sales items that need highlighting. Lighting can do this for you.
How Much Maintenance Do You Want to Give the Lighting?
Have you ever been inside a dusty old shop with flickering lights? It does not leave a good impression and dated lighting like this can actually cost money. Higher utility costs and the upkeep of cleaning on cumbersome items can have an adverse effect.
Decide upon how much maintenance you would like to give your lighting before you hire the consultant. They can advise you on how to install lighting that will last longer and require very little upkeep, allowing you to make back the installation costs.
What is Your Budget?
Finally, set a budget and stick to it. It will make the job of a consultant much easier if they know what financial constraints they are working with. This does not mean the job has to expensive, in fact, many good lighting jobs can be done on even the tightest of budgets.
Book a Consultation
Now you have thought about the different factors, think about booking your lighting consultation. Lighting Distinctions have a number of solutions for all occasions. We have professional, experienced staff who will be more than willing to assist, so call and book a consultation today.