How To Light A Living Room With No Overhead Lighting?

What can you do to light a living room with no overhead lighting but still not piling up the electricity bill each month?

If you haven’t found out the right solution yet, let me help you!

Below is a rundown of methods to draw a huge amount of light into your dark living room while adding extra beautiful accents to your home décor.

Battery-Powered Lights

This will be the best choice for people who want to cut down on their monthly electric bills but are lacking in DIY skills.

They come in a wide range of options with no requirement of wiring the ceiling, such as battery-operated pendants, freestanding lamps, and wall-mountable lights with traditional looking. The price is much lower, even in the long term of use.

This option is perfect for small rooms, especially the wall-mountable design because it helps save floor and table space hugely.

There are two biggest drawbacks of battery-powered lights are 1) not as bright as the electric bulbs and 2) require battery replacement with the frequency depending on how often you use it.

Table Lamps

Table lamps?

Yes, table lamps!

I know that table lamps are commonly considered small and just irreplaceable in a reading nook. It is too dull to effectively light up a room. However, there are currently plenty of table lamps in different sizes and colors for about every space, such as light-colored shade or a bare bulb.

If your living room has no overhead lighting, table lamps are a nice option to provide more light to space as long as they’re used in different sizes and different heights, or, combined with other lighting layers, like sconces or floor lamps.

Bouncing them off the ceiling or hang at varying heights is perfect to provide extra overhead light without wiring.

Not to say that this light type can be an interesting accent to your living room décor if you opt for a unique design.

Floor Lamps

This is also my most favorite type of lamp to add light to space with no overhead lighting. It comes in plenty of sizes, shapes, and kinds for any room or corner. The best thing is no drilling or wiring required!

Arc Floor Lamps

If your living room is spacious, arc floor lamps are a nice pick because it delivers nice domes of light that spreads through the entire room.

This kind of floor light is quite big – typically standing at 6’ to 8’ high, meaning that it takes up lots of space.

Decorative Floor Lamps

For medium-sized living rooms with no ceiling lights, I highly recommend using decorative floor lamps because they’re only 5-6 feet high, which is ideal to distribute a huge amount of light at various angles.

They literally can light up the banalest of decors as well, as long as you pick the right style.

Floor Lamps & Mirrors

Taking advantage of mirrors to give more light to a room is a clever way because they’re really good at reflecting and making a small amount of light much brighter.

The best way to spread reflective light around the room is placing a mirror and a floor lamp in the center of the room because it allows the light to bounce off the mirror and go around with no barriers of impassable obstacles. The light is also more mellow than other types of light, creating a cozier ambiance to your living room.

While floor lamps and mirrors are considered one of the cheapest ways to light a living room, it gives a softer and classier ambiance than corner lighting.

Place them in a corner where you intend to create a reading nook, you’ll receive a huge amount of intensity with a fraction of the range of light.

Overall, this method doesn’t require a big mirror, but more about where you place it.

Plug-In And Wall-mountable Sconces

Wall-mountable sconces are a fantastic option to light up (and even add beauty) to a living room with no overhead lighting. Whether calling attention to a certain structure in your living room décor or taking the role of main lighting source, it works like a charm.

This light doesn’t focus light outwards or downwards like most others, but directing upwards to reflect off surrounding structures to deliver pleasant low-intensity lighting around the space.

It is a wonderful selection for people who don’t prefer bright or high-intensity light. Besides, it’s suitable for large-sized living rooms or a big family.

Aside from wall-mountable sconces, the plug-in models are another worth-considering option. This light type obviously requires some installation but it is pretty much simpler than messing with the ceiling. Moreover, you can hang them at different heights to create various lighting effects.

The most common positions are on either side a couch or sofa.

Plug-In Ceiling Pendants

If you prefer overhead lighting but don’t have a place to install a ceiling fixture, this is a great alternative – plug-in pendants. They require no wiring at all!

String Lights

String lights are an economical way to add both light and cozy ambiance to your living room, especially if you live in a studio apartment or a small house. It doesn’t require wiring but just some hooks or nails to hang from. And, the maintenance or replacement can’t be easier.

However, if you’re just a house renter, you probably have to ask your landlord first before screwing nails or sticking hooks into the walls.

Conclusion

No matter the reason why your house has no overhead lighting, the 6 suggestions above are surely the best suggestion to light up your living room. They are all popular to purchase, easy to set up, and simple to replace. Above all, they don’t pile up your monthly electric bill.

And this is the end of the post. Thanks for reading!