Replacing Halogen Bulbs: Stylish Lighting Ideas for Your Home

Replacing the halogen bulbs in your home with LED lights is a task that’s long overdue. As you mull over the best place to purchase replacement bulbs, you relish this opportunity to transform your space. LEDs are far more versatile than outdated halogen bulbs and can completely alter the ambience of your interiors, so it’s a decision you want to get right.

Eyes skimming around the room, you imagine what it could be like if you upgraded your lighting with stylish LED light bulbs. Warm, dimmable lights around your living room creating a soothing atmosphere, ideal for relaxing after a long day at work. 

Beautiful LED pendant lights hanging above your kitchen island, giving off a warm white glow that illuminates the area in all the right places. Each room will be ideal for how you intend to use it, enabling you to switch between soft and calming to bright, practical light as you choose.

Looking to replace your halogen bulbs? Our guide provides expert guidance and style tips to ensure you choose the right replacement bulbs for your interiors.

Image courtesy of @callertonkitchens

Craft calming and stylish interiors by replacing your halogen bulbs

Did you know that halogen bulbs have been banned since 2021? This is part of the UK’s efforts to tackle climate change, prompting us to look towards alternative lighting solutions.

LEDs have become more popular as a result of this but also because they’re far more practical and versatile than halogen bulbs. Not only do they consume less energy, but they also come in a wider range of colour temperatures,  enabling you to create the right ambience in each of your rooms.

When replacing your halogen bulbs, there can be more to consider than reducing your energy bill… The LED bulbs you choose to replace them with have the power to completely transform the atmosphere of your space, so it’s worth taking the time to get it right.

Combine these bulbs with plenty of ambient lighting fixtures to beautifully set the mood in any interior – no matter what the occasion.

How to change halogen bulbs

Changing your halogen bulbs to LEDs couldn’t be simpler. There are suitable LED alternatives to every halogen bulb, which means it’s as easy as removing the old bulb and replacing it with an LED bulb of the same size.

To work out which replacement LED bulb you would need to get the same level of brightness, make sure to compare the lumen value – not the wattage. The power consumption in watts can differ quite considerably depending on the quality of the LED, which means using watts is no longer a suitable measure of a bulb’s brightness.

Replacing halogen bulbs with LED lights: The benefits for styling your space

LED bulbs are available in a broad range of different styles and colour temperatures. This means they’re great for setting the right ambience in your home, whether you’re looking to create a bright, functional kitchen space or a warm, cosy living area.

Image courtesy of @hornsby_style

Choose a colour temperature that suits your interior

One of the biggest benefits of switching to LED lighting is that LEDs come in a wider range of colour temperatures. Colour temperature refers to the warmth or coolness of the light that is emitted from a bulb and is measured in Kelvin (K).

Halogen bulbs typically measure around 3000 K, which produces a warm white colour. LED bulbs, on the other hand, can measure anywhere from 2700 K for a soft, warm glow to 5000 K for a bright white that emulates daylight.

The broad range of LED colour temperatures available means you can choose the most appropriate amount of light for each room in your home depending on the atmosphere you want to create.

Which colour temperature to choose?

For an intimate, cosy interior, warm LED bulbs with a colour temperature of around 2700 K are the best option. These bulbs will bathe your space in a beautiful golden glow that has a naturally calming effect, much like candlelight, which has a temperature of 1000 – 2000 K.

Contrastingly, practical spaces such as kitchens and offices need cooler lighting to ensure the space is as brightly lit as possible. Cool lighting with a colour temperature of 3000 K or above is designed to help boost our focus during the day – unlike warm lighting, which helps us to relax. If you get stuck, think of the warm soothing light of sunrise and sunset versus the brilliant cool blue daylight of midday.

It’s therefore a good idea to have a mixture of warm and cool lighting throughout your home to cater for all times of day.

Product pick: For cosy interiors, you can’t go wrong with the Aurora opal LED light bulb. Beautiful enough to stand on its own, this decorative bulb doesn’t need hiding with a lampshade.

Curate a cosy sanctuary with dimmable lights

Although halogen bulbs are fully dimmable, you might not have any dimmer switches in your home, so swapping your old halogens for LEDs could be the perfect opportunity to introduce dimmable lighting into your interiors. Although do check if the LED bulbs you want are dimmable – not all of them are. 

As with colour temperature, the main benefit of dimmable lighting is that it allows you to transform the ambience of a room, without the need to make any changes to the décor. This is ideal for spaces like bedrooms, which need to be bright when you’re getting ready in the morning and softer when it’s time to unwind for the evening.

Product pick: To take your bedroom from day to night, opt for elegant wall lights that can be dimmed with ease. Wall lights provide the perfect brightness for any time of day without being as intense as an overhead light.

Upgrade your existing light fixtures to transform your home

If you’re replacing your halogen bulbs, why not update your existing light fixtures while you’re at it? There are plenty of beautiful light fixtures that require LED lights and even showcase the ones with more decorative designs, allowing you to substitute your old halogens in the most stylish way possible.

Pendant lights are an excellent option for suspending over your kitchen island, with their LEDs providing concentrated light over the space where you need it most. Consider the Baton tube pendant light for the perfect blend of style and practicality.

Image courtesy of @studio_jute & @hollyjolliffephoto

When it comes to living room lighting, an eye-catching bubble chandelier is the ideal way to make a statement. Serving as a focal point within the room, this light fixture looks stunning even when not in use.

Share your LED lighting inspiration

We’d love to see how you’ve used LED lighting in your home to create beautiful ambient spaces. Tag @dowsingandreynolds on Instagram – we can’t wait to see your ideas!