By Clarissa Allison | April 29th, 2016

If you want to update your home to create an appeal of freshness and light, there’s no better color to use in your decorating scheme than white. Whether pure white, off white or cream – despite what you may initially think, white can add drama to your home. Read on for tips and product suggestions that will transform your abode into your own personal white palace.

The key with using white in your space is to soften your chosen items by making sure that everything isn’t overly match-y and austere. Choose distressed finishes for your furniture and items that exhibit a bit of texture and softness. In this way you will avoid severity and “coldness” while adding familiarity and comfort to your space. George Nelson  at the end of the Second World War.

reflective glare. The sculptural qualities of this lamp are truly amazing.

Upgrades to your home are a part of life. It can be fun and exciting to add a new feature to your home. It is easy for things to get stale or boring when you have lived in the same home for a long time. You can spice things up by adding a few new upgrades to your home that are easy and inexpensive. In fact, some of the upgrades can actually save you money.

Electrical upgrades should always be handled by a qualified electrician. Santa Monica residents can rely on The Electric Connection’s skilled professionals to handle any job, big or small. An inexperienced person should never attempt to handle electricity. The safety concerns are too great. Always hire a professional.

Light Fixtures

Updating light fixtures can give your home a whole new look, while saving money at the same time. There are numerous ideas you can incorporate into your space to liven it up depending on your wants and needs. Recessed and track lighting tend to be the most popular choices and are relatively inexpensive.

Ceiling Fan

Adding a ceiling fan to a bedroom or living area is also an ideal way to help cut your electric bill while adding comfort to your home. Most ceiling fans are equipped with lights and can replace an existing light fixture. These are great for circulating the air during the stuffy summer months and moving the warm air throughout the home during the cooler months.

Install Bath Fan

A bath fan is essential to keeping wood-damaging moisture at bay in the bathroom, which is prone to mildew and mold growth due to the damp conditions. Today’s market includes numerous styles and varieties that include lights and heaters.

If you are interested in giving your home a bit of a facelift without undergoing a major remodel, call your electrician in Santa Monica today. The Electric Connection is here to serve you and would love to speak with you about your upgrade needs.

Under-Cabinet LED Lighting Kit is available for purchase that contains a plug-and-play LED light strip, push-button dimmer, remote, 12V power supply, and connection accessories. If you want to build a custom kit, follow the steps below the diagram to ensure that you get everything you need.

3. Select a dimmer or controller

For single-color LED strip light setup

Select the power supply large enough to operate the amount of LED strip light you need to use. If you want to control the brightness of your light strips, you will need a Single-color dimmer shown installed with a non-dimmable power supply

For color-changing LED strip light setup

Follow the instructions above for the single-color light strip setup. However, instead of a dimmer, use a RGB color-changing light strip installation

4. Use an LED amplifier for long runs of strip

Depending on the strip chosen and its maximum run (the number of strips that can be installed consecutively before needing amplifiers), you will need to install an light strip interconnect cables. It is best to purchase a length of strip that is more than your application requires. For example, if your project requires 8 1/2 feet of strip, we recommend purchasing 9 feet of strip to ensure that you have everything covered.

Outlets are wired into your home to make it convenient to plug in anything from an appliance to a lamp. However, an electrical fault can occur endangering your home. It’s not a good idea to have 19 different appliances plugged into a single outlet. This can cause a short; not to mention the maze of cords running through the room aren’t safe for family and pets.

Sometimes electrical faults in your system can cause a ceiling light or fan to stop working. After identifying that a bad bulb is not the culprit, you should turn off the power and inspect the light fixture itself. Check the cable and flex connections and make sure the terminal screws are tight. Use a continuity tester to make sure the flex hasn’t gone bad requiring a replacement.

Lights, fans, and other fixtures can also stop working because a residual current device has tripped. You can reset the device but if it trips again it’s best to call in a certified electrician.

If you are still experiencing problems after doing these simple troubleshooting tasks, it’s always best to call in a trained electrician. Outlets or lights that are malfunctioning could be caused by exposed wires somewhere in your electrical system. If your circuit breaker continually trips, it means the current in your home is not cycling as it’s intended. Either way, it’s much safer to have these issues repaired by a good electrician.