All aglow is best achieved with exterior lighting, highlighting landscape and front door.

From within it depends, as different rooms would need different lighting. Dimmers will help create a softer look and save some electricity.

Usually a lot of table lamps on tables near windows, but yes, layers of light...

Soft White light bulbs instead of Bright White will give your house a glow.

Glow is what you make it. I never close my drapes so at night the LED 4000K lighting creates a modern feel glow . I do not think yellow lighting is attractive that is me .

It’s fine if we all like different lighting strengths, but 4000 LEDs do not softly glow, and that’s a fact. Also, not everything that is not glaring 4000s is yellow.

I’m so curious what you did before 4000 LED lights came out, Patricia! Stadium lights? :D

(I’m just teasing with you.)

Love that look you're talking about, so inviting!! I'm in a condo and had a neighbor that put in recessed light down their hallway...and from my place you could the lights...they were super bright/cool colored lights...looked like airport runway. Looked horrible.

I am guessing from your description that you are seeking that nostalgic feeling of coming upon a cabin in winter storm where the glow from the fireplace is welcoming you to come inside.

Lighting colors

At one time most everyone used 2700k lighting, it is pretty orange/yellow warm and felt similar to the gas lamp lighting. (I live in Amish country where many homes still use gas lamps and don't use electricity)

My sister has always lived in the North East (NJ/NY/PA) has a Tudor home, antique furnishings, uses fall colors (golds, greens, orange reds and likes 2700k lighting.

I lived in Southern California for 30 years and now am back in PA. My homes were MCM. I love winter colors, Deep wine reds, purples, violet grays and blue greens and I prefer 5000k lighting.

In general people who live in the South prefer cooler lighting, people who live in the North prefer warmer lighting.

Many of the doctors or people who work in medical labs seem to prefer brighter, cooler lighting.

Warmer lights are more relaxing and are better for inducing sleep.

I think everyone needs to pick a lighting color that makes their home look and feel the way they want it to look and feel.

I would concentrate on getting the lighting you love with your furnishings and colors rather than concentrate on how the lighting is viewed from the exterior of your home. If you love the 2700 k lighting inside then you don't have to do anything special to create that glow other than turning on lights all over your house.

With my colors all my violet grays and purples would get muddy looking if I used 2700 k lighting. Even 3500k/4000k is too yellow for me.

If I wanted that soft, yellow/orange glow outside I would use 2700 k up lighting and possibly add some 2700 k lighting just inside each window.

https://www.amazon.com/flameless-Embedded-Starlight-Function-Battery-Powered/dp/B087CQZM82/ref=sr_1_40?keywords=Lights+for+Window+Sill&qid=1665423307&qu=eyJxc2MiOiI1LjI4IiwicXNhIjoiNS4xOCIsInFzcCI6IjQuMDUifQ%3D%3D&sr=8-40

They do make some lights where you can adjust the temperature and can change temperature based on time of day. You could make it warmer as night approaches.

Ya'll are all so dang sweet and considerate to answer! Thank you so much 💗

Dimmers are a must!

I always try to have lighting on at least 3 sides of every room with different table and floor lamp configurations depending on the furniture and needs of the room - layering is key

I absolutely prefer softer, more flattering light - and absolutely hate blue-tinged lighting that makes me feel like I am in a public restroom at a 24 hr rest stop - I have lighting issues for sure 😅

“In general people who live in the South prefer cooler lighting, people who live in the North prefer warmer lighting.”

Interesting, I’ve never heard of that. I’m in the south, husband is an electrician, and I don’t know anyone who likes cooler lights. In fact, cool LEDs are pretty much hated by everyone we know (including his customers). He’s from NY, his customers there preferred cooler lights. Curious why you think that? (Not being snarky, I really am curious.) :)

We are on acreage so don’t need blinds. I have sheers in most the windows, which I think softens the light from inside.

@Jinx - I can't tell you which of the hundreds of studies that I have read noted this difference, but I read scientific studies on color and lighting preferences, color phycology, color acuity, human perception of color. . . all the time. Just something that fascinates me.

Patricia, it would save you a lot of time and typing if you just changed your name to Patricialoves4000KLEDlights, IneedafullfloorplanColwell.

😆

Thanks, Jennifer! It is fascinating, I agree.

On this, though, I don’t see how in the world it could ever be anything other than anecdotal. I can’t imagine how something like that could be studied or analyzed in any exact way, as it’s such a broad subject. Different fixtures, different tones, different lighting besides specific types of bulbs that illuminate a room (at dusk, for instance), northerners who are from the south or other countries and vice versa, possible reasons for needing differing outputs, and on and on… just so many factors to consider. I don’t see how it could possibly be narrowed down enough for good studies to be done.

Anyway, I really appreciate your thoughts on these threads, they make me think! :)

@Jilly - I am also kind of curious why everyone you know would have the same preference. I have found that people who live in older homes seem to like the yellower lighting while more modern homes like whiter lighting, but that is just local observation. It does seem to make sense to me. My MCM home has all the clean lines large windows and is brightly lit and most of the homes that are 100+ years old are darker in general. Window tax of the time created the row homes with windows only on the front and back of the house and many of the homes were built prior to public electricity, so the limited number of outlets and lack of ceiling lights is also common. They don't feel like they were supposed to be light and bright and the whiter light may feel quite stark in those homes. Most homes built from the 1970s forward seem to have the lighter brighter feel although they may not be as light filled as the MCMs, they are much lighter and brighter than the older homes.

They just do, I can’t explain it. It’s nothing scientific, of course, although my DH is in the business and sees it from many sources.

We have very strong sunlight here in Texas, that might be a big factor. The constant, harsh, blinding, relentless light so many months of the year gets hard to take. Soft, dim lights are soothing.

My dad recently built and we got the recessed lights for his living room and kitchen that have settings. For fun, I had DH set them all on 4000. After a minute, we begged him to change them back to 3000. 😆 The glare and shadows they made were gross. (We actually all prefer having lamps on to overhead lighting, except when cleaning.)

Sidenote: Blue-tinted and/or overly bright lights actually make me feel ill.

The first factor to consider - are there enough fixtures to achieve a "glowy" look. Second is the type of fixtures you are using - cans, surface mounts, table and floor lamps. Third would be the type of bulbs you are using. It might take some experimentation to find which types of bulbs give you your desired look.

I'm with @Jilly - blue-tined make me feel ill. Too bright hurts my eyes and can cause headaches. So I prefer soft white bulbs. We rarely turn on the overhead cans in our new house - Florida, white walls, bright white LED. Even with the dimmers we installed I cannot stand them on for very long, so we use lamps instead. The light fixtures we replaced have soft white bulbs and the stair sconce bulbs have been changed. One must do what works for them.

This is an interesting thread. I love 3500 kelvin i feel like goldilocks ita just perfect😀

My overhead lighting has 3000k bulbs and my lamps 2800. It’s just right for me. I don’t see much 4000k and 5000k avaiable in stores. My mom retired last year from 30 years in the lighting business and 3000k LED were the most commonly sold bulbs. We’re in Metro Atlanta.

I don't know the age of most Houzzers on here, but I was amazed at the difference in colors I saw after cataract surgery! Made me wonder what kind of mistakes I made decorating people's homes before having them removed! Everything had a yellow cast to it, and I doubt 4000K LEDs would have made much of a difference to my diseased eyes at that time! I suppose color blindness could have equally disturbing consequences regarding the way one sees light and things in certain light. My advice if you're hands on decorating and over 60, have your eyes checked often! It can creep up on you!

Deco, that’s a great point! And great advice.

I clean much better while wearing my contacts, rather than my old glasses. :D

This reminded me of when I was a kid and I guess Nixon noted all the choices American women had, they could pick any color appliance they wanted while women in the USSR all got the same government issue appliances. I don't remember Nixon saying this, but I remember my dad using that reference to explain to us how lucky we were to live in a country where we had the freedom to choose.

Isn't it wonderful that I can choose 5000k and be happy with it in my home and each of you can choose the color that makes you happy.

I love that we don't all like the same thing and that there is no "Right" answer, just preferences.