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How to light a room with no overhead lighting

Do you have a room in your home without overhead lightning? Maybe you’re in a situation where your landlord or rental agency prohibits wiring lighting fixtures, or you lack the ability or desire to rewire an entire room of your house just to put in a light fixture.

Lighting rooms without overhead lighting may involve some creative solutions. Whether you’re looking for a simple lighting solution or a fixture that is both beautiful and functional, here are some suggestions on how to brighten your home without the cost of wiring.

glass globe feature in modern kitchen
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Improving overhead lighting

Plug-in ceiling pendants

This is a perfect way for adding ceiling light without wiring. A plug-in pendant provides overhead lighting even without a ceiling fixture. The pendants come in various artistic shapes and designs, and they are sold in single or multiple packages. Plug-in ceiling pendants could easily give the look of a chandelier that really beautifies your room, as well.

Wall sconces

Wall sconces are a viable option to add more lighting to the living room. You need to install them, but you don’t have to install wiring. And, it’s much simpler than having to deal with the wiring in your ceiling. If you find a beautiful design or vintage sconces, they will make great home-decor accents, too.

Plug-in sconces can be easily hung around your home, and they are flexible enough to be mounted at different heights. They look absolutely fabulous in pairs on either side of a bed or couch.

String lights hung up on wall
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String lights

This is a lighting solution that really adds light and ambiance to a room without the need for overhead light fixtures or ceiling wiring. String lights are lightweight and would only require some hooks and nails for hanging. In addition, they can be draped from other hanging utilities.

Hanging cable lamps

If you prefer having overhead lights, an excellent solution is using long cables and statement pendants of bulbs hanging from the ceiling. It only requires simple hooks being fitted to the wall and ceiling. When hung, the lights provide a warm, cozy feeling.

Floor lamps

This solution involves the usage of oversized or arc-style floor lamps. These lamps are an easy and simple way to beautify a room as well as light up a room without fixtures of any form or wiring. They require no drilling and provide the feel of overhead lighting without the actual ceiling lights.

Beautiful and attractive statement lamps originally manufactured to be placed in a corner of your room will do well to serve as lighting. This will not only solve the lighting problem, but also gives additional decor value to the designs. They come in various heights, shapes, and sizes to accommodate your space.

A creative solution is to use a mirror against a floor lamp for lighting. It is one of the most effective lighting solutions for a room without overhead light. By placing a tall floor lamp against a mirror, the light will be reflected around the room.

Table lamps

Table lamps come in different shapes, sizes, or heights, and sometimes come in pairs. Many times, sleek and minimalist table lamps come in different colors to complement just about every space. A bare bulb or light-colored shade helps direct light across the room, or it may bounce off the ceiling.

More tips to enhancing your lighting solution

In order to make your lighting solution a bit more efficient, these tips will be useful: Choose powerful bulbs and set up a remote switch connected to the wall outlet. On the other hand, you probably shouldn’t consider using battery-operated lights. They are not so reliable, tend to dim, and you will be left dealing with dead batteries.

Remember, lighting sets the vibe and atmosphere of your living space, so choose one of our options and improve your room’s look and provide light when it gets dark.

Need more ideas? Check out our favorite lighting ideas to brighten up your room and day.

Editors' Recommendations

Deb Goncalves
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Deb's work has appeared on Moms, Babygaga, and WorldAtlas. When she's not working (that's hard to say about a Capricorn), she…
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