Garages don’t have to be dim and gloomy. In fact, as more and more people strive to turn their garage into functional space, creative lighting options are being sought more than ever. Garage lighting can transform your garage from a difficult place to work into the great studio or workshop that you’ve been envisioning. These six tips will help you get the light you want.
1. Bigger Windows
If you’re designing or remodeling your garage, putting in larger windows is one of the best things you can do. This won’t help you light the garage at night, but even a small increase can do wonders during the day. You can take additional security measures if you’re worried that a large garage window could tempt people to enter. On the whole, however, garage windows are too small to let in a burglar, even at their largest.
2. Swap Out Regular Bulbs for Long Ones
One of the easiest ways to upgrade your lighting fixture is to opt for long bulbs, four to eight feet in length. You may have to add a circuit to put in these large bulbs, but the results are worth it. The one thing you have to consider when adding large bulbs is their warm-up time. Some of these bulbs do not perform well in the cold. If you know that your garage is going to get frosty, then take some extra time to find “cold start” bulbs. They’ll perform better even when your garage is chilly!
3. White Paint on the Ceiling and Walls
White is a reflective color. The light that hits it mostly bounces off, allowing you to brighten a space without change the actual light bulbs. If you like the color of your walls, or you just really don’t want to move everything to paint, start with just the ceiling. Instead of losing light to the rafters you could reflect it back to where you need it.
4. LED Lights
LED lights are some of the brightest lights. They could, in some cases, even save you money on your electricity bill! If you haven’t already taken to LED light bulbs, invest in these before you change anything else about your layout. Sometimes, a brighter bulb is the most brilliant idea!
5. Skylights are Great for Studio Spaces
If you are remodeling your garage and you want to use it as a studio space for art or creativity, you can’t pass up the opportunity for a skylight. These let in lots of natural light. You’ll produce better artwork and won’t run up a big bill lighting your space. Skylights are also a great way to improve your garage lighting with natural light.
6. Floor Lighting
If you don’t need the light to be concentrated to one work area, adding floor lights is a fantastic way to get ambiance and general brightness. LED strip lights are perfect. Just apply them at the baseboard (or around the edge of the floor, if you don’t have baseboards) and get a gentle glow that makes the whole room brighter.
Garage lighting can be tricky. If you want usable space, you have to be able to see! Adding a skylight or bigger windows will brighten your area, but you could try switching to LED bulbs, longer bulbs, or adding some floor lights before you break out the renovation kit!