If there’s one part of the holiday season that nearly everyone looks forward to, it’s the lights. From twinkling trees to the classic show at Macy’s Center City, lighting makes the holidays that much more magical.

Aside from seasonal décor, you can use lighting to update your home ahead of holiday parties. New options in lighting fixtures—like natural materials, LED Edison bulbs and two-tone finishes—now provide you an opportunity to wow and welcome your holiday guests, no climbing on the roof required.

Choose one or all of the ideas below to make your home sparkle year-round.

Replace standard builder fixtures with on-trend looks

From rustic to retro, there are a barrage of styles and shapes to add visual interest to your space. Consider swapping a standard 5-light brushed nickel kitchen chandelier with something that matches your personality.

For example, the Turnbury series from Progress Lighting’s Design Series—made of wood and galvanized steel—can be used to create a modern farmhouse look without going full-blown Fixer Upper. They could also lend texture to a coastal style, as is shown in the design below. 

Photo courtesy of Stephen Alexander Homes via Progress Lighting.

Layer your lighting and create ambience with dimmers

We’ll admit: this one takes a bit more effort than replacing a chandelier, but it will deliver maximum effect. As most event planners know, layering lighting is the key to setting the mood. In the home, this means you want a mix of task and ambient lighting.

Ambient and task lighting are not mutually exclusive—they’re mostly the same fixtures, but dimming is what creates the difference.

In a kitchen or dining space, adding under-cabinet or LED tape lighting on a separate dimmer from your main ceiling fixture offers the ability to set each light source at different levels of brightness, creating the perfect ambience.

Installation is quite simple. The bulk of the work will be upgrading to (or adding) dimmer switches, and possibly adding a small LED transformer. But it’s all everyday electrical work—nothing a contractor couldn’t complete in a few hours.

Pictured above: Layered lighting with under-cabinet, recessed, and decorative ceiling lighting, featuring the Looking Glass chandelier and Era pendants from Progress Lighting.

Replace dated ceiling lights with recessed LED trims

Regardless of when your home was built, it’s likely you have a few “mushroom” lights on your ceiling (pictured below). 

Replacing these lights with new LED recessed trims is a quick and cost-effective way to give your home a modern refresh. Here’s why:

1. First, you’ll reap tremendous energy savings. Most mushroom lights require two 60W bulbs. A recessed LED trim, like the Progress Lighting P8222-28-30K, uses only 17W of power and its brightness is equivalent to 100W incandescent. That’s more light and less energy.
2. Also, recessed lighting of the past used to require multiple components—a can, a trim, and a bulb—all of which would cost you at least $25 in materials, plus the labor of installation.

Now, you can likely buy recessed LED trim “complete” for less than $25. Plus, these lights only require an electrical box where the light is installed. You simply connect two wires from ceiling box to the trim, and your recessed light is ready to go in less than 15 minutes, no electrician needed. 

Before you get into the hustle and bustle of gift buying, shop for your home to make it merry and bright. For more information and answers to any questions you may have about these projects, visit or call a Denney Electric Supply store. With eight locations serving Pennsylvania and Delaware, helpful service is just around the corner. Find the store nearest you at DenneyElectricSupply.com.