Lighting Mishap

You know those people at the hardware store who stand in front of a single item, staring at it for hours–last weekend I was one of those people. I left for the store with the simple task of buying light bulbs. Little did I know that I would have so many choices. I was pretty sure about the wattage that I needed but did I want energy efficient bulbs or regular? Did we like daylight or soft white? Sure, they had examples of the bulbs but under the harsh florescent lighting in Home Depot all of my options looked the same. I called my dad and he counseled me on energy efficient vs. regular light bulbs.  Would I see a huge change in my power bill? No, probably not but they did last longer and they may be worth it. My dad tends to be on the more frugal side so if he said I should buy the more expensive bulbs, I thought it was a good idea.

As for the type of light, my dad told me that it was a personal choice. I usually write blog posts at night and everyone says that picture quality is better during daylight so I thought maybe if I bought daylight light bulbs then it would make up for the fact that I never take pictures in the right lighting. In short I was wrong. Not only bulbs look too green for comfort, I also tried to mix soft white with daylight in a shared space (I mean, really? Who keeps track of what type of bulbs they have anyway?)

First you see “daylight.”

Now you see the soft white. I guess we already had the soft white in the dining area but since they aren’t two separate rooms the different types of light clashed against one another.

Can you see them running into each other on this wall? Keep in mind that there is no difference in paint color. The variation only comes from the two different types of light.

Yes, we’re messy people. We’re working on it. I promise. For now I moved the daylight bulbs into the office but I have a whole other package that is sitting unopened. I may have to try return the unopened package because the idea of these bulbs lasting  longer than the regular type is horrifying.

Now every time Peter and I are walking and spot daylight light bulbs in a person’s house we point it out to one another. Personally, I think the lighting is harsh and terrible but maybe someone out there really likes it. What do you think? Have you tried the energy efficient bulbs? Are we really going to save money in the long run or did we just pay seven times as much for an unnoticeable return? Let us know!