Lighting in frum homes (discovery during house-hunting)

amother

Wed, Mar 13 2024, 12:09 am

amother Heather wrote:

I’m in my 40’s, grew up in the UK and now live in the US. This is something I remember clearly noticing as a young child. When I passed by non Jewish homes they looked so dark and dim. Whilst the Jewish homes in my neighborhood were all brightly lit..

That means it's not an American thing

Interesting

amother

Blueberry

Wed, Mar 13 2024, 1:45 am

Many living rooms, especially in older homes, don’t have lights because installing hardwired lights can be pricey. It’s generally not a building code requirement to include overhead lighting in a living room, so builders sometimes opt to skip it. Especially in rooms with good windows.

Did you notice the same in hotel rooms? I did. Only wired lights in bathrooms and above entryway which must be code.

amother

Purple

Wed, Mar 13 2024, 1:59 am

I love indirect soft lighting at night, and natural light during the day.
I hate being in a room with florescent bulbs while the sun is shinning through the window.
I have noticed that some people think my house is too "dark" on friday nights. I think it's just not too bright. We have yellow bulbs and indirect light from lamps and the light of the shabbos candles. To me that's cozy and creates a warm ambiance. But I have noticed that it's definitely not the norm in the frum community.

Brownies

Wed, Mar 13 2024, 2:01 am

amother OP wrote:

That means it's not an American thing

Interesting

Funnily enough, I always thought of it as a European thing because we've rented holiday apartments and houses in a couple of European countries and always been frustrated by the poor lighting. It never occurred to me that it may be a Jewish/non Jewish thing!

amother

Moonstone

Wed, Mar 13 2024, 4:47 am

I’ve noticed this too. All the Airbnbs we stayed in were dark. The houses themselves were very modern but at night they were so gloomy and dim. I think there’s a big difference for us. We want our house to be lit up and bright on shabbos and Yom Tov. They probably go to bed with the big tv screens lighting up the homes most nights.

amother

Burlywood

Wed, Mar 13 2024, 6:14 am

This thread is very funny to me because it’s a major topic of discussion in my marriage. I come from a non frum background and I married an Israeli from a Haredi background. Like amother purple above I love soft low lighting and yellow lightbulbs in lamps, hate overhead lighting and fluorescents. I think dimmer, warmer lights are cozier.
When my DH and I first moved into our apartment together he came home one day with a new lightbulb for the kitchen and when he turned it on I literally had to cover my eyes and beg him to turn it off. He had no idea what was the problem. I told him my eyes hurt and he’s making our kitchen look like a bus station bathroom but he loved it; it was what he was used to from home.
I’ve since converted him to lower, softer lighting but we still bicker over how many lights to leave on over Shabbat!

Success10

Wed, Mar 13 2024, 6:22 am

I did not realize this was a thing! I live in a small Jerusalem apartment (B"H) and I need good lighting. Constantly telling dh to upgrade the fixtures to brighter. It gives a feeling of more space and air, almost like being outside. When you have many kids (also B"H) in a small space, you need that. Perhaps dim lighting was designed for smaller families with few kids? I get why they would want a dimly lit, calm and romantic feel in their home if it's just a married couple.

LeMortedeLilac

Wed, Mar 13 2024, 6:55 am

We bought from a [gentile] three years ago and renovated the whole house. 127 new pod lights later, three chandeliers, and we finally have actual light throughout. Unreal! The house has a lot of floor to ceiling windows so I suspect that's why there was minimal lighting but the kids rooms didn't have any ceiling lights at all. So odd!

amother

Wallflower

Wed, Mar 13 2024, 7:43 am

We bought our house from non Jews and the lighting is a disaster. We do have singular light fixtures in each room but in the main living room dining room it's just not enough. I keep wanting to fix it but it's so expensive especially as it looks like we would have to lower our ceiling for spot lights. My husband who is not American actually prefers the soft dim lighting.
I agree with him in that I hate cool bright lights, it feels like a gym for me, I prefer warmer lighting tones but just lots of it. Recently someone commented on how different (not in a nice way) my lighting is because most people have very cool bright lighting.

amother

Brunette

Wed, Mar 13 2024, 7:47 am

I grew up not Jewish and I don’t like the frum style of lights blazing. It’s harsh, and also expensive to run all that electricity.

I prefer softer lighting. I like a cozy look.

Cozy isn’t something most frum Jews seem to want.

amother

Ginger

Wed, Mar 13 2024, 8:47 am

My husband sells lighting and we discuss this all the time. Although my husband says that some Jews really go overboard with lighting which is both ugly and blinding. with the right lighting there’s a happy medium

kenz

Wed, Mar 13 2024, 8:52 am

amother Brunette wrote:

You can have cozy but not dim though.

amother

Periwinkle

Wed, Mar 13 2024, 8:53 am

This is so interesting. I think it's an age/generational thing more than jewish non-jewish. I follow a couple of families on YouTube -not Jewish- and they all put in many many lights in their home in every room. They definitely are younger, 20s/30s with newer houses as opposed to houses built in the 60s, 70s, 80s.... with older people

amother

Vanilla

Wed, Mar 13 2024, 9:05 am

amother Lightcoral wrote:

Maybe you are just looking at "older" houses that haven't been renovated yet' . Many "older" houses, and even those built, n the 60s 70s and 80s, at least for I live, were not built with recessed lighting or any kind of ceiling fixture. Mostly they have wall sconces for lighting.
According to google recessed lighting did not come into popular usage until the 1970s.... And even then it probably didn't catch on with everyone right away

My house was built in 2003.

It came with one light fixture over the kitchen table, one light fixture over the dining room table, a light in the laundry room, and one light in the upstairs hallway.

We added extra lighting to the kitchen, dining room and hallway, and put in lighting to the living room and bedrooms.

Bnei Berak 10

Wed, Mar 13 2024, 9:08 am

amother Periwinkle wrote:

With LED lights and technology lightning and fixtures have become more affordable.

amother

Khaki

Wed, Mar 13 2024, 9:12 am

We had to put in tons of lighting everywhere we lived. When we designed our house I begged the (non-Jewish) decorator to make the living room bright so we could read on Friday night. She refused. So we’ve been sitting in the dim for 12 years already. B”H my family are all big readers. I told her 12 years ago (and I told my husband too) that this couch will be filled with people sitting and reading. No one believed me.

Yes it’s a big difference between frum homes and hotel rooms let’s say.

Bnei Berak 10

Wed, Mar 13 2024, 9:18 am

amother Burlywood wrote:

Those flourescents. Can't Believe It

I detest them with all of my heart. Still I have it in the kitchen. Nobody and nothing looks good in fluorescent lightning.
Proper lightning makes a huge difference.

amother

Pistachio

Wed, Mar 13 2024, 9:22 am

It's honestly a big interior design no-no to put in tons of ceiling spot lights. Design says you should have layered lighting- so some spots, table lamps, floor lamps, wall sconces, pendants, chandeliers, accent leds... so it's easier on the eyes, can be adjusted for the mood, is more interesting...

Personally I find it doesn't work well practically. I hate having to travel around each room to turn on 5 lights to make it sufficiently bright for my taste. And then again to turn them each off.

I put 14 spot lights in my living room LOL

amother

Alyssum

Wed, Mar 13 2024, 9:57 am

Omg its definitely a thing!
Can it be in older houses they wanted to preserve energy?
IDK
But we added/changed so many light fixtures, when my landlord came back he said the house looks much better with us. I wonder why:)