Welcome to another edition of Small Home Style, where I share design solutions for small on the small side. I started the series Small Style to inspire other small home dwellers to celebrate living small and offer design solutions for their spaces. As a small home dweller myself, I know first hand the design challenges a small space can present.

I recently completed my Master Bedroom for the One Room Challenge, and I love how everything came together! It feels so good to walk into my bedroom and it feels calm and peaceful. One of the updates I was super excited about installing new lighting in my bedroom. Like all the rooms in my small 1950’s Rancher, the bedroom is on the small side. I would estimate my bedroom is 12x13 with 8 feet ceilings. When it comes to selecting overhead lighting for a small bedroom it can be tricky, in the past, I’ve made mistakes of choosing lighting that was way too big for my bedroom, causing the light fixture to overwhelm my space.

Over the years I’ve learned its all about scale, selecting the right lighting for your ceiling height to bed ratio. The right lighting helps create ambiance and makes an entire room feel good. When it comes to bedroom lighting for small bedrooms, my favorite lights are flush mount & semi flush mount lighting.

Today I’m sharing five tips on How to Choose Lighting for a Small Bedroom along with a round-up of my favorite lighting options from Lumens. Lighting in your bedroom should set a mood, and be dimmable! All most every light fixture in my house is on a dimmer, to help set the mood.

HOW TO CHOOSE LIGHTING FOR A SMALL BEDROOM

ONE // IT’S ALL ABOUT SCALE: Just because your bedroom is small doesn’t mean the light for your bedroom also needs to be tiny. Look for light fixtures that are 10-18 inches in width. When I was looking for lighting options for my bedroom, I love the visual Guide that Lumens offers. The guide helps give you a better visual idea of how the light scale and size of the light fixture will look in your bedroom.

TWO// CEILING TO BED RATIO: When it comes to how low your light fixture should hang in a small bedroom with 8 Feet ceilings, a good ratio is 8 - 12 inches from the ceiling down. That way when laying in bed, it doesn’t feel like the light fixture is too close.

THREE// MIX AND MATCH METAL FINISHES: Layering in metal finishes in a room adds a nice layered look. In my bedroom, I paired to finishes together Aged Brass (lighting, dresser hardware, and gold side table) and Black (Door Hardware, Drapery Rod) the mixed finishes add visual interest

FOUR // GO SCULPTURAL: I love modern lighting and sculptural makes a great statement in a bedroom! Plus going sculptural and close to the ceiling allows you to larger in size.

FIVE // SKIP HARSH OVERHEAD LIGHTING: For overhead lighting look for light fixtures with diffusers or frosted globes. The lighting should fill the room without giving off harsh shadows. If the light fixture comes with clear blubs, consider swapping the blubs out for frosted blubs.

When I was looking for lighting for my bedroom I came across so many amazing lighting options from Lumens Light and Living. I rounded up eleven of my favorite modern lights for small bedrooms.

MODERN LIGHTING IDEAS FOR SMALL BEDROOMS

ONE Spellbound Semi-flush Lighting TWO Axis Flushmount THREE Tori Semiflushmount FOUR Remi Flushmount FIVE Roxy Semi Flushmount SIX Viaggio Flushmount SEVEN Phoebe Flushmount EIGHT Hanely Flushmount NINE Kerry Semiflushmount TEN ELEVEN Astria LED Semi-flush

For more ideas for small home dwellers, check out my design series Small Home Style. What are some of your favorite lights you love from my lighting round up? Also, now is the time to score your favorite lighting on sale, during the Black Friday sale at Lumens, lighting up to 70% off!

One of my favorite topics to share on my blog is design solutions for small spaces. It's been way too long since I've shared my ideas on how to maximize a small space. I was talking with a girlfriend of mine who recently bought a cute fixer-upper in Southern California about her kitchen. I was sharing with her ways to 'make it work' while she saves up for a big renovation in the future.

I started the blog series Small Home Style to help fellow small home dwellers with design ideas to help maximize their small spaces and tackle design dilemmas. This topic is near and dear to my heart as a homeowner living in a small 1950's rancher with my husband, two kids, and our Chocolate Labrador Oliver. I'm getting back on track, and every Monday will share a post about Small Home Style.

One of the big-reno myths on TV is a person or couple buy a home and instantly put $80K into renovating their house into their dream home with only one tiny $2K hiccup along the way in under 30 minutes, which is fake and misleading. The reality is most people prioritize renovations with needs as in what must be down ASAP to move into the home and then save-up for other improvements.

Today I'm sharing Five Budget-Friendly Ideas to Update a Small Kitchen on a Budget and tide you over for a while saving for a renovation. I honestly believe tight budgets create opportunities to get creative!

ONE // Add Storage

A bookcase is a great edition addition in a kitchen, especially if you have an empty wall and little more storage. Bookcases can easliy be transformed into freestanding pantries. You can use Ikea Billy Bookcases, a leaning bookcase or a wire metal shelf. All three are affordable updates that are under $ 100 bucks, but once styled look incredible.

TWO // Hang Shelves

Adding shelves to an empty wall is a great way to quickly and affordably update the look of a kitchen. Treat the open shelves like a pantry. Raw wood looks incredible and its very affordable! I love that most big home improvements store like The Home Depot, cut down wood for you in-store! Wood shelves paired with pretty shelf brackets is a great way to affordably customize your shelves.

SHOP THE LOOK

THREE // DIY Update on the Floors

Most dated kitchens come with dated floors! Nothing is worse than ugly tile and lots of it! When ripping up all the dated tile isn’t an option, consider painting it! I’ve seen some amazing tile and linoleum transformations with the power of paint! Within the Grove, was a great tile stencil ‘how to’ walking you through the process.

FOUR // Paint Your Cabinets a Color

There’s no denying it, I LOVE white kitchens! However, I think older kitchen cabinets come to life when not painted white! Plus a white kitchen is almost expected, I love the idea of stepping outside the box and have fun with color. All the dated details of old kitchen cabinets (funky details) fade away. Top off the cabinet makeover with new hardware.

FIVE // Remove Upper Cabinets / Remove Cabinet Doors

If your upper kitchen cabinets have wonky doors, consider removing some of the cabinet doors for a new look. You can paint or wallpaper the inside of the cabinet to create more interest. Or, remove the all upper cabinets completely and install shelves with pretty brackets. The second option requires more work, patches the wall etc. but once those dated cabinets are gone, its going to feel like a new space.

I hope you enjoyed this post and feel inspired to tackle little projects in your kitchen that won’t break the bank! Have you made any budget friendly updates in your home to area?