Living Room Lighting Issue

So my living room has no light. It's an older apartment, so I can't really do anything about it. But something needs to be done, because it's rather annoying. We have a lamp right now, but it's just in a weird place because there's nowhere to really put it. So... time to start thinking innovatively.

My first thought was a chandelier type of thing, but even a small one hangs too low for what we want. It needs to be as low profile as possible, so this just doesn't work.

My second thought was EL Wire, but I don't think it's bright enough. So then I thought about LED Rope, but I'm not sure if that's bright enough either? It's an idea, at least. Just make a little circle on the ceiling and a white extension cord? I could even get a matching light cover to put over it.

I could also get a plug-in light socket and stick it up there with a light cover that matches the other ones in the apartment.

So that's where I'm at right now. Any other ideas?

Edit: I would lover a light that fits into the corner of the room, like this one....

http://mattermatters.com/product.asp?id=933

But it's about $1,000 too much.

Just cover the ceiling in EL panels with double-sticky?

LEDs on the ceilings and walls?


Throwing out ideas based off of what you said.

Well, you have a resident architecture student right here. I would get some pictures up here and then I can probably help a bit more.

If all you want is light to see and not trip, then just get some Christmas lights cheap and string them around the corner of the ceiling. They are sort of fun as mood lights and will let you see, and are great for getting the room up to the right level for movie watching. But it won't be good for reading, or dining, or tasks.

You could go with some lamps plugged in throughout the room, and then you can get a remote trigger to turn them on/off from wherever. My parents' living room is ~14x24' and has zero built in light fixtures. They use lamps with a remote.

You could get some battery powered wall sconces and place them throughout the room. Try some variations that direct light both up and down so you reduce gloom.

You could also get a bunch of RGB LED strips and an arduino and then program the whole room to display patterns of changing color or whatever. This will be about as cheap/expensive as some options.

I think I'm going to try and make that corner light I linked above in my first post.

Now I'm just trying to figure out how to light it evenly while still being bright enough to give the room a decent amount of light.

Also, mounting. Not sure how to mount it.

The cheap route would be buying a plug-in light socket with a long white power cord and then scotch-taping the plexiglass in place. But... eh....

LEDs, Arduino, and some tuna cans!

Consider putting together some uplights. Indirect lighting is best for watching movies. Get a few can type fixtures, mount them on some heavy bases (6" square pavers work), and place them close enough that the light washes along the wall. Throw a diffuser over the top for an even softer effect.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by AmEv

Just cover the ceiling in solar panel with double-sticky?

LEDs on the ceilings and walls?


Throwing out ideas based off of what you said.

---

Yes it is the right way to do.. Even I have covered the ceiling in EL panels..Everything is still working fine