When we moved into this house many years ago the realestate lady was quick to point out it’s many wonderful features…one of which was a beautiful formal living room. It was certainly a beautiful room but I am not a formal living room type of girl….I want rooms that I can LIVE in without worrying about getting crumbs on floor or dog hair on the furniture! So, the formal living room quickly became my office/reading room/music studio and we use it every single day!
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The one thing I dislike about the room is the lighting situation! Up until a couple of years ago we lit the room with a tall halogen lamp. Then one day a giant moth landed on it and quickly burnt to a crisp. That day we were reminded of what a huge fire hazard that type of lamp is…and the lingering smell of toasted moth was extremely unpleasant. No more halogen lamps for us! But, that left one very tiny desk lamp to light up the whole room and it just doesn’t work! Sometimes we leave the hall light on to help us see in there but that is not an ideal situation! I even got my kids music stand lights because they were complaining that it was so dark they couldn’t see their music!
When I was selected to help out on the #GELighting Home Makeover project I was thrilled! Finally an excuse to go out and find the perfect lighting. GE makes a ton of great energy efficient bulbs to choose from so I headed over to my local Walmart to check out the selection of lamps and bulbs.
Since I had never shopped lighting at Walmart I had a little trouble finding the section I needed. I found the lamps fairly easily in the Home section and assumed there would be light bulbs in the same section but they weren’t there. Some very helpful employees directed me to the hardware section and boy what a selection they had to choose from!
I was a little bit overwhelmed by how many choices there were in terms of lighting! Depending on the type of light fixture (chandelier, ceiling fan, normal lamp, etc) and the type of light you want (daylight? How bright?) there really is a lot of things to think about! If you want to know WHY you should change your lighting to energy efficient bulbs, check out this video from GE!
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2. Put certain lights on timers or motion sensors. Instead of leaving the driveway light on the entire time you are out to dinner, it will just pop on the minute you drive up to the garage. Those outdoor lights can be big energy hogs and leaving them on several hours isn’t really necessary!
3. Put nightlights on a photosensor. You can get a simple screw-in photosensor for very little money. It will automatically turn your nightlight on at night and off during the day. You just screw the photosensor into your existing light socket and screw the light bulb into the photosensor.
Of course, if money is no object you can install solar panels on your house and put skylights in every room but that can get a little pricey!
Are you convinced yet that energy efficient bulbs are the way to go? Save money AND go green by printing out this coupon for GE Energy Efficient lightbulbs!
Now that my not so formal living room has better lighting I can spend more time in here reading and working on the computer without having to turn the hall light on to try and see! And maybe my kids will stop complaining about not being able to see their music…of course, they will just find something ELSE to complain about, I’m sure!
I really love the look of this room now and I can light up whichever corner of the room I want to use. Whether I want to read in my chair, work on my computer, or have my daughter play the piano, there is now plenty of energy efficient lighting available!
- Attend the #GELighting Twitter Party from 1:00-2:00 PM EST on Thursday, May 31
- Join the #GELighting Pinterest Party from May 30-June 13
Disclaimer: I am a member of the Collective Bias™ Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™ and GE. #CBias #SocialFabric All opinions expressed here are mine and mine alone. |
Diane has a Bachelor’s degree in Microbiology with a Minor in Health Management and Policy. She spent many years working in cancer research, academics, and biotechnology. Concern over the growing incidence of human disease and the birth of her children led her to begin living a more natural life. She quickly realized that the information she was learning along the way could be beneficial to many others and started blogging as a way to share this knowledge with others. While passionate about health and the environment she can’t quite give up her favorite Cheetos and Diet Coke! Learn more about her HERE.
I love the lamps you picked! Very nice!
It’s amazing to me how much changing the lighting can change a whole room! You have some great money-saving suggestions, by the way!
these bulbs are amazing…i can’t believe how bright they made your corner!!!
Wow! What a difference! Great job. 🙂