Help me brighten up my room

[phillai]

Due to the crapness of the architect/electrician that built our bungalow, the lights are NOT positioned in the middle of the room.

Instead, it's positioned in the centre, a third in of the length on each bedroom (one rectangular long and one square long).

The problem I have is lighting, I can't get enough of it and it makes my eyes ache and its not good for my baby and the small windows I have don't help either...

Can someone help me out here and recommend me a new lighting system for my two bedrooms!

Thanks in advance.

[charlesr]

What sort of lights are there? (spots? hanging bulbs) Can the bulbs be made brighter? Or replaced with natural light versions?

[QualityChimp]

If the colour scheme is dark, consider redecorating with a lighter one. Try using reflective paint to bounce around what little light you have.

Try changing the existing light fixtures for one that spreads the light better.

Diffused lighting spreads the light around by aiming it at the walls and ceiling, so you're not being dazzled, but the room is being lightened.
Can you put an upwards facing lampstand in the darker end?

A large mirror (or two) will really help reflect the light and also increase the feeling of space.

Can you declutter at all? Maybe change a large wardrobe for a smaller chest of drawers (in white paint).

Are your windows clean? You'd be surprised at how much difference a dirty window can make.

More expensive options include making the windows bigger or getting a skylight, but I'd give the above options a try first.

Take before and after pictures and good luck!

[Hohum]

Charles sorta touched on it, perhaps try some daylight bulbs? Give off a glow that is much closer to natural light compared to standard bulbs (which are a warm yellow).

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000F5FNXE/ref=s9_simh_gw_p79_d7_g79_i1?pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_s=center-7&pf_rd_r=1XF53ZTXCBS6PE56RB2C&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=467128273&pf_rd_i=468294

[Flabio]

If there's a spot in the room where the lights aren't reaching, the least harsh way to sort it is probably a free standing uplighter.

Something like this (although possibly something slightly less cheap... hehe)

[averybluemonkey]

Had the same in my place, why not just drill new holes in the ceiling and reposition them (it's not a big job)?

[charlesr]

If you do that, make sure you are drilling into joists, otherwise it's just suspended by the plaster

[Flabio]

Had the same in my place, why not just drill new holes in the ceiling and reposition them (it's not a big job)?

If you're renting, that tends to breach tenancy agreements (weird how I automatically assume everyone rents just cause I always have... hehe)

[phillai]

The lights in my baby's room (which is painted bright pink on two sides of the wall and a soft pink of the other two sides) are these three drop down positional hanging bulb ones. We're already using a standing upright light as well but it still feels dark with this, I think it's cos of wardrobe blocking it...

In my room (which has white wall paper with a dash of blue spots), I have this IKEA bendable 5 spotlight system which is very bright but due to the length of it, I still can only position it one third in from the room so it's only giving off light from one side of the room.

Both these lighting systems have been installed by me about 5 years ago (as I was even more unhappy about the lighting then) but it still don't feel bright enough at the other side of the room!

The spot lights in my room can definitely be no brighter and I don't think we can do the same for my baby's room as I changed them last week. They were these see thru type of bulbs before and I changed them to these white ones which is definitely a little brighter.

Worse comes to the worse, how much you reckon an electrician would charge to reposition the lighting to the middle?