Credit: Benny Chan/Fotoworks

Created with backlit translucent resin panels, this striking light fixture in a Malibu, Calif., home adds decorative flair while staying in step with the décor’s neutral motif. Architect: Griffin Enright Architects, Los Angeles Builder: Hinerfeld-Ward, Los Angeles

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If you’re looking for a silver lining to the housing downturn, you can find it in design. As builders and buyers have looked for ways to cut costs, many of the unnecessary—and sometimes bazaar—ornamental elements lavished upon homes during the boom have been stripped away, opening the way for pared down plans all the more beautiful for their simplicity.

But while buyers want less of what isn’t necessary, they’re still looking for the best of what is—which makes this an ideal time to revisit your designs with an eye toward perfecting your homes’ basic elements. And if you need a good place to start, try lighting. With lots of new money- and time-saving technologies, and inexpensive maneuvers that pack a dramatic punch, lighting is an ideal makeover candidate for tight budgets.

To that end, we interviewed three lighting designers from around the country about the best ways to brighten new homes. While much of their advice had to do with light placement, each designer we spoke with also emphasized that there are new products worth trying, or old products that have come a long way.

Take fluorescent lamps, for example. Long thought to be the antithesis of all things beautiful, new fluorescent bulbs are not your grandma’s bathroom lights, says Chip Israel, owner and president of Los Angeles–based Lighting Design Alliance. "There are new fluorescent lamps that have a warm color and look more natural. [Many of them] have 100 lumens per watt, and some last 50,000 hours. So there are these long-lasting light sources, and you can get really good color out of them. And these only cost a dollar or two more than the cheap ones."