17 Inexpensive Layered Lighting Tips for a Rare Bedroom Look

What is layered lighting? How do I incorporate layered lighting into my bedroom? What are the best layered lighting tips that work even on a budget?

I’ve had hundreds of people ask me those exact questions, which is what made me realize. Hmmm. There are so many types of lighting styles out there that so many people get confused about which style to use for their bedroom.

I’ll be honest. I used to get confused too…until I made home decor my entire life.

But I don’t expect you to do that, which is why I’m here to give you the best inexpensive layered lighting tips that will make it easy for you to style your bedroom lighting even on the lowest budget.

If there’s anyone who understands the dilemma of wanting the perfect layered lighting look in your bedroom but being limited by a budget, it’s me.

My bedroom has been quite small since childhood, so I know exactly how to improve bedroom lighting on a budget.

So let’s dive right into the 17 best layered lighting tips to enhance your bedroom look even on a budget.

What Is Layered Lighting?

Before I tell you exactly what these tips are and how you can use them for your own bedroom, let me quickly talk about what layered lighting is.

If you’re confident that you know what layered lighting is, feel free to scroll right past this section!

In simple terms, layered lighting brings together many types of lighting styles to create the perfect space. For example, layered lighting can include recessed lights, LED lights, wall sconces, and even a chandelier.

In terms of your bedroom specifically, this combination of lighting types will improve the look of your bedroom lighting and make it more suitable for many purposes and moods.

What Are the Benefits of Bedroom Layered Lighting?

My favorite benefit of layered lighting is that it allows me to have peaceful lighting, vibrant lighting, and a mix of the two whenever I’m in the mood!

With the layered lighting tips outlined below, you can achieve the perfect bedroom ambiance to fit any of your moods. That is the beauty of layered lighting.

Here’s another benefit that you might love too: not that many people have layered lighting.

This means that your bedroom will look more unique (and so much more appealing) than all your friends’ bedrooms and all the bedrooms in the houses running down your block.

What Are The Best Inexpensive Layered Lighting Tips for Bedrooms?

You can save more money on bedroom lighting than you think. With these inexpensive layered lighting tips, I’ll teach you how to improve your lighting style to give your bedroom a unique look (a look that everyone will want to copy).

Tip 1: Evaluating Your Bedroom Space and Determining the Correct Light Fixtures

You may be like “Seriously, of course I know my bedroom. Why is this a layered lighting tip?”

Here’s my answer. Yes, you do know your bedroom, but do you know your bedroom space? Knowing your bedroom space includes factors, such as:

1. Your ceiling height
2. Your window placement
3. Any alcoves in your bedroom
4. The number of corners in your room (yes, you can have more than 4)
5. The furniture in your bedroom, such as bedside tables, dressing table, or desk
6. Your room size

Analyzing these factors of your bedroom will help you decide what type of lighting is best for your bedroom. It also helps you to decide where you need lighting and how you can style your lighting.

Please, please, please read the article linked above. I highly recommend reading it because it makes it REALLY easy to determine what kind of light fixtures would look the best in your bedroom.

This tip is honestly the biggest step because after this all you have to really do is learn how to bring these light fixtures together to create appealing layered lighting.

And I promise that styling your layered lighting will be much easier as long as you follow the rest of the tips below.

Tip 2: Decorate and Use LED Strips for Alcoves

Most people do not have alcoves, but for those of you who do have alcoves, you may be completely clueless about how to properly light those areas. Don’t worry, I was too.

You may have alcoves behind your bed or even alcove shelves. Regardless, I have on piece of advice.

My biggest advice to decorate any alcoves in your bedroom is using LED strips to create the perfect ambient light. Here’s an example of how it might look:

If you follow this tip and the alcove lighting idea above, then congratulations! You have created your first lighting “layer” for your bedroom.

If you’ve been following my posts for a while, you would know how much I LOVE sticking to a strict budget. That’s why these are the cheapest LED strips that will work perfectly for any bedroom.

P.S. Keep these LED strips safe because you’ll need them for a later tip (tip #8).

Tip 3: Identifying Key Lighting Zones

Remember in Tip #1, when I asked you to determine your bedroom space by analyzing some key factors? It’s time for some of that analysis to pay off.

One of the most useful ways I use to make my bedroom layered lighting look more unique is by making sure I have a light source in all the key lighting zones.

Key lighting zones include any furniture in your bedroom, such as your desk, bedside tables, and dressing area.

It’s really important that you always have some form of lighting at these areas (as shown in the image above) because it makes your furniture really pop. You’ve invested so much money into your furniture. Why not show it off?

For your desk, I suggest a simple LED desk lamp with many brightness levels to fit the different vibes of your room.

For your bedside tables, I personally prefer wall sconces, but I’ve seen plenty of people opt for a bedside table lamp too (more on table lamps in tip #7).

For your dressing area, I recommend a bright tube light around the mirror or fairy lights if you’re going for a more rare, decorative bedroom look.

Tip 4: Explore Thrift Stores for Budget Lighting Parts

Thrift stores are my absolute favorite for finding affordable home gadgets. That’s why one of my layered light tips always including running to the thrift store real quick.

You may get lucky and find a complete lighting fixture that you absolutely love.

But otherwise, you’re most likely going to find unique parts that you can use to add to your lighting. For example, you could find a vintage wall sconce cover that will fit your room perfectly.

Or, you could find other materials that you can use to create your own lighting from scratch.

This actually leads us on to the next tip, which explore how to create DIY pendant lights.

Tip 5: Creating DIY Pendant Lights

Getting the Materials

Before you run your trip to the thrift store to look for budget lighting parts, keep the following supplies in mind that will help you create the most aesthetic DIY pendant lights.

1. Wire baskets
2. Mason jars
3. Rope
4. Lightbulb wire

If you don’t find the materials you need at your local thrift store, no worries. You can always look on Amazon.

I know many people dislike Amazon for home decor products, but I honestly love it. They have a unique variety of products, great customer service, easy returns, and free shipping. Ah, more ways to keep our hard-earned money safe.

How to Create DIY Pendant Lights

Here’s my favorite step-by-step tutorial on YouTube for how to create DIY pendant lights on a budget:

Additionally, don’t limit yourself. You can create any type of DIY light fixtures for your bedroom, but my layered lighting tips only includes DIY pendant lights because they are the easiest (and the cheapest).

But if you’ve got those electrician skills, go for it!

Tip 6: Try Color-Changing Bulbs for a More Flexible Lighting Design

As I said earlier, one of the main benefits of layered lighting is being able to have the best lighting for every one of your moods.

Different are often associated with different moods, which is why I suggest that you invest in color-changing bulbs.

But here’s the trick.

Don’t get color-changing bulbs for every single light source. And don’t get color-changing bulbs for any wall lights.

Instead, use them for ONE of the following: ceiling fan lights, recessed lights, LED strips, or floor lamps.

Pro tip: if you don’t want to invest in these extra lightbulbs but still want multiple colors in your bedroom, then buy a multi-color floor lamp instead. Here’s my favorite modern floor lamp with 16 million DIY colors.

Tip 7: Combine Table Lamps

I’ve seen so many people completely neglect bedside table lamps because they think they’re too outdated or ugly. But believe me, they’re not.

Oh, I apologize; there is one way that table lamps can look terrible. And that’s when people mismatch table lamps or only have one bedside table lamp.

I don’t want you to make that mistake, which is why one of my layered lighting tips is to combine table lamps. Bedside table lamps typically come in a set of 2, so it doesn’t even cost you any extra money!

Also, to make sure your bedside nightstand actually fits the look of your bedroom, be sure that you’re decorating your bedside table the correct way. If you need extra tips on how to decorate your nightstand, click here.

Tip 8: Add Under Bed Ambient Lighting

Under-bed lighting is one of the most underrated components of bedroom layered lighting.

This is one of my favorite lighting layers because it makes your bed really pop. Plus, almost no one else thinks to put ambient lighting underneath their bed, giving your bedroom a rare look.

How to Style Under Bed Ambient Lighting

Using just LED strips, you can achieve a perfect appearance. The good part about using LED strips is that you can adjust the brightness and color.

Oh yeah, and they’re super affordable.

Pro tip: avoid getting a bed frame that completely covers the sides of your bed. Note how in the image above the bed frame is small and minimalistic, allowing the ambient lighting to have a big impact.

Tip 9: Include About 3 Statement Light Fixtures

Statement light fixtures serve as focal points in your room. These lights make your bedroom look more defined and aesthetic, while also providing different types of illumination for different purposes.

The number of statement light fixtures can vary from room to room as all rooms are different sizes. But I usually recommend 3 statement light fixtures for the average room.

This number allows you to cover the 3 main types of bedroom lighting: task lighting, decorative/relaxation lighting, and general lighting.

The following 3 layered lighting tips (tips #10-12) discuss how to ensure you have each of these 3 main layers of light.

Tip 10: Include Some Form of Task Lighting

In simple terms, task lights are light fixtures that cast direct light on a small area, making it easier for you to do certain tasks, such as reading, writing, or doing your makeup.

The benefit of task lighting is that it does not cast ugly shadows. Why should you care about shadows?

Because 9/10 rooms that you walk into will have a singular light source that casts shadows across the walls. But with task lighting, your bedroom will look much more elegant and rare.

Here are my favorite task lighting ideas for some common tasks you might do in your bedroom:

1. Assuming you read in bed, you will need some sort of bedside reading light. I suggest focused wall sconces.
2. For your desk, I suggest a simple LED desk lamp. It’s old school, but it never lets you down.
3. For doing make up, you will need a bright light that you can either place on your mirror or overhead lighting.

Curious about how these bedroom lighting ideas will look in your room? Check out these bedrooms:

Tip 11: Experiment with Layered Fairy Lights

This layered lighting tip is what I like to call “layering the layers.” What do I mean by that?

Fairy lights are typically used as a decorative lighting layer in bedrooms for relaxation. And typically, you’ll only find one type of fairy lights in the entire room.

That’s getting kind of old though, don’t you think? It’s time to be unique.

You’re still going to be using fairy lights for decoration and relaxation. But you’re just going to have multiple types of fairy lights, giving your bedroom the most flattering interior design possible.

Tip 12: Include Some Form of Lighting for General Illumination

Many people think that they’re always going to want dimmed lighting in their bedroom. But that’s simply not true.

I personally love aesthetic and elegant lighting, such as ambient lighting or task lighting or fairy lights. But I can’t live in that lighting forever. I need general illumination (which is lighting that lights up your entire bedroom).

That’s why I always suggest that your layered lighting includes some form of general lighting. The go-to general lighting option is always ceiling lights and I stick by that.

Some common bedroom ceiling light fixtures for this purpose are recessed lights, ceiling fan lights, chandeliers, or flush mount lights.

Pro tip: for more rare bedroom look, go for a flush mount light or a chandelier.

Tip 13: Take Advantage of Any Natural Light

Think back to tip #1, when I asked you to evaluate your window placement. Does your window let in a lot of natural light?

If so, then you’re in luck. The sunlight coming into your room will complement your layered lighting as it reflects off of any reflective surfaces, such as a mirror or glossy furniture.

When this reflected light shines in your bedroom, it creates another layer of light. And this layer of light is the most unique because no other light source can achieve the same color intensity or brightness.

Additionally, more sunlight means less artificial light. And that means less electricity used. And that means…you guessed it…more money saved.

Tip 14: Include Candles for a Cozier and More Romantic Ambiance

LED Candles vs. Wax Candles: What You Should Pick

Before I begin, let me just tell you one really important thing. I HIGHLY recommend that you invest in LED flameless candles that will last you so much longer than the average wax candle.

For reference, a large wax candle lasts about 96 hours, while a large LED candle lasts 180 hours. And this difference will save you A LOT of money in the long run.

If I’ve convinced you, here are my favorite budget LED candles for your bedroom. Don’t worry, they’re not tea light candles.

How to Correctly Include Candles in Your Bedroom

Regardless of whether you’re using wax candles or LED candles, you can use them to create a more romantic (or a relaxing) ambiance in your bedroom on demand.

Simply place a few candles around your room, such as on your desk, dresser, bedside table, or even the floor.

In my experience, this additional layer of lighting looks the best in dim lighting, especially in black bedroom designs.

Tip 15: Install Dimmer Switches for Improved Layered Lighting

This layered lighting tip is truly a game changer.

Imagine having 5 different types of layered lighting in your bedroom. You turn all your lighting on, but everything is too bright to blend together. Trust me, I’ve seen this happen, and it looks disgusting.

With dimmer switches, you can turn all your layered lighting on at the same time. Dimmer switches let your bedroom lighting work together to enhance the look of your bedroom and make it more rare.

Many light fixtures, such as lamps and fairy lights, already come with dimming options. But for those that don’t dimmer switches will save your bedroom’s appearance and reputation.

Tip 16: Repurpose Existing Light Fixture Parts

Earlier, I talked about running a quick trip to your local thrift store to find budget light fixture parts.

Now, I’m giving that strategy a slight twist.

Instead of buying affordable supplies at a thrift store, see if you can repurpose any light fixture parts that you no longer use. You can easily give old fixtures a new life by repainting or customizing lampshades and bulb covers.

Tip 17: Use Picture Lights for Accent Lighting

We all love artwork, don’t we? Why not show it off?

If you don’t already have at least one canvas in your bedroom, I highly recommend getting one. You can either create your own or get one at CanvasVows.

Once you’ve decorated your wall with a canvas (or a few canvases), it’s time for accent lighting to work its magic.

Accent lights are lights focused on a specific area or object. In this case, we need accent lighting for our canvases.

To create meaningful accent lighting and emphasize your piece of art, I recommend using picture lights.

I promise they won’t let you down.

Conclusion – Inexpensive Layered Lighting Tips

With these inexpensive layered lighting tips, I hope you can create the rarest bedroom look possible. I hope you can be your own interior designer and achieve the perfect lighting.

For other budget home decor ideas and tips, whether it be for your living room, dining room, family room, or kitchen, follow my Pinterest page. I post publish budget home decor ideas every single day for people just like you!

Meet The Author

Hi! I’m Anish, your budget buying guide! I’ve been reviewing home gadgets and accessories for the past 3 years, so it’s safe to say I know a thing or two about home products.

So why did I start writing these guides? Because I saw that people were spending WAY too much money on home products when there were SO MANY cheaper alternatives out there.

I want to help you save money on your home gadgets without compromising the appearance and functionality of your home. So what better way is there than simply writing about how I do it myself?

I want to show you how you can change the landscape of your home without spending a dime more than what is required. You can save more money than you might think!

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