Lighting Ideas To Make Your Home Party-Ready

Don’t underestimate the importance of lighting when planning a great party. The right lighting will set the mood for hosts and guests throughout the evening. It’s easy to lock down catering, drinks, table settings and other set up steps, but many hosts overlook lighting. The right lighting will either make a party upbeat or relaxed, it can provoke warm feelings or get people to feel energized. The good news is that there are more tools than ever to help you create perfect lighting to take your party to the next level. There are lights that can be customized for an affordable price, and other simple tricks that can set the mood. In the scramble to get things ready, don’t forget the role of unique lighting in party planning. Your guests, especially ones that have been to your place before, will notice a change in how they feel the minute they walk in the door. Here are some simple ideas on how to make fantastic party lighting your guests will love.

Lower or Lift Depending on the Party Theme

The light scheme you’ll want for your party will depend a lot on what kind of party it is. If it’s a kid’s birthday party, you’ll want to go for something light and festive. If it’s an adult-only affair, then lower the lights to make the party calmer and more intimate. Lowered lights can help people relax and stoke conversation among people. That’s especially important if there will be people who don’t know each other at the gathering. Indeed, getting people to relax and start talking to each other is the major hurdle every party has got to get over before things really turn fun. If you’re having grownups over, handing them a cocktail as they walk in and setting the lighting correctly will make any party progress along just fine. With the right lighting people will get so comfortable they’ll stay so long you’ll be praying for them to leave.

One thing hosts can do to make things more interesting is to set different light settings throughout the house. Not all of your guests will react to different light the same. Some people prefer to be in lighter rooms, and some people love a darker mood. One thing you can do to remedy that is to vary lighting throughout the house. Make some rooms lighter and others darker. People will naturally migrate to areas they feel most comfortable and talk to people who have more in common. If you’ve got a yard and you’re planning to use it for the party, take the sunset into account. If the yard isn’t lit well at night, it will force people inside where there may not be enough space for everyone. Invest in a few outdoor lights that can keep people seeing clearly after dark.

Take Advantage of Available Technology

Home technology has come a long way in recent years. It used to be incredible just to be able to turn a light on and off from your phone. Now there are lightbulbs that you can change any color of the rainbow from your phone. If you want a pink theme for your girl’s birthday party, done, if you are having a movie night and want to make things yellow and red like a movie theater, easy. Everything with lighting is customizable. Hosts can even change lighting throughout the party, which guests will love. If you’re going all out, then think about buying a strobe light or a disco ball online. They’ll definitely be conversation starters and will get people dancing if that’s what you’re going for.

Not everything to do with party lighting needs to be hi-tech. There are simple things hosts can do to get great lighting that cost almost nothing. Something as easy as laying a thin colored cloth over a lamp shade immediately changes the feel of a room. If you’re having a dinner party, class things up by setting out lit candles on the dinner and around the room to make things more intimate. You can hang a set of holiday lights along a banister or window to make the party more fun.

Don’t sleep on natural light, either. Natural light is something many hosts fail to use effectively. Opening up shades and windows makes a home feel bigger than it is, so guests don’t feel cramped. This is really critical if you’re having a lot of people over and things could get crowded. All the better if the weather’s nice out and you can get a decent breeze going through the house. Whatever you can do to change your house to make it feel like it’s the place to party will go a long way making your guests feel comfortable and get ready to let loose.

Make It A Pendant Party

Disco balls and strobing lights are great for creating a really fun and unique party environment, but some parties require strong overhead lighting in order to be able to see the person clearly in front of you, as well as enjoy group activities together. And the best way to not only provide a long lasting solution, but also create a talking point amongst your guests is to install high quality pendant lights from the ceiling. They are especially useful for adult parties or game nights with friends and family.

When most people think of overhead lighting the first thing that usually comes to mind is track lighting or even recessed can lighting, and while that might be a solid solution to light up a room such as your kitchen, it does not really add style or charm for the rooms you want to entertain your guests in. It can be much more fun and appealing to have pendant lights with an interesting design or eye-catching color so you can add more life to your room and parties!