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Choosing the right lights for each room in your home is an important factor in home decorating as well as creating functional, efficient spaces. A well-thought out plan also saves you money both in buying and using home lighting.

As the cost of energy continues to rise, making wise lighting choices will help you conserve resources and cash, while creating the right ambiance.

Before you can purchase the right kinds of home lights, you need to understand how lighting needs differ in and around your house.

Ambient lighting provides illumination to a large area. Floor lamps, including those stylish Kichler lighting pieces, diffuse a lot of light into an entire room.

Your options for providing ambient, or all-over light range from strong visual pieces, such as those by Hampton bay lighting, or more subtle recessed lighting fixtures.

This is the kind of lighting you want for a living room or dining room. Most people include some ambient lighting in their cooking area, but often rely on dedicated task lights for the foundation of their kitchen lighting needs.

Task lighting directs light to a specific area so that tasks can be done in the proper amount of light. A table lamp beside a bed is one example of task lighting, as are track lights.

The great thing about lighting is the versatility the individual lamps provide. You can easily adjust them to point wherever you need focused lighting.

The bathroom is another place where both ambient and task lamps are used to meet changing lighting needs. Individual vanity bulbs around a mirror serve as task lighting for shaving or applying makeup, while overhead fixtures meet the ambient lighting needs the rest of the time.

Heat lamps pull double duty in bathroom lighting, providing both warmth and illumination on cold winter mornings.

The third main type of lighting you may want to consider for your home is accent lighting. Most outdoor lighting falls into this category. These lights focus attention on an architectural aspect of the house, or on specimen plants.

Accent lighting is also frequently used inside the home to highlight artwork.

Once you've identified your lighting needs, you're ready to shop for lamps that fit your décor and usage requirements. To really get the best lighting for your buck, talk to the staff at an electrical supply store or lighting specialty shop.

They can guide you through the maze of lighting choices and make the process less daunting.