Building or Renovating Your Bedroom?

If your home is your castle, then the bedroom is your sanctuary. It’s where we can truly relax at the end of a tough day, take refuge when we’re unwell, and prepare to take on the world each morning.

If you’re thinking of building a new home in Christchurch, renovating or making alterations to your bedroom, here are a few electrical points to consider.

Sockets, Sockets, and more Sockets

Technology is changing and becoming a bigger part of our lives. So many 'necessities'  today didn’t even exist 5 – 10 years ago. That said, we need to power and maintain these devices, which more often than not means bringing them into the bedroom.

Not long ago, bedrooms needed power sockets for a bedside lamp, an alarm clock, and maybe a TV in the master bedroom. Now everyone seems to have a TV, multiple gaming devices, stereo or radio, phone chargers, laptop cables, and a myriad of other cords which all need to be plugged in.

If your Christchurch home was built prior to 1980, your bedroom may only have one electrical outlet with two power sockets. Instead of plugging in electrical multibox after multibox and causing an overload, consider installing multiple electrical outlets around the bedroom.

Switchgear or power sockets can be customised to suit the colour or interior design of a room. Would you like modern chrome? A fun design for a kids room? Electrical sockets that include USB ports? Classic and timeless or something with a bit more character? Once you start looking, there are actually lots of ways to personalise the switchgear and sockets to each room and make sure there are enough places to plug in all your devices.

Classic white socket with in-built USB chargers.

Bedroom Lighting Design

You don’t need an electrician to change a lightbulb, but what about changing a light? Replacing regular light bulbs with LED lights can reduce your energy costs and help you save money. LED’s last longer than regular bulbs and are a fraction of the cost to run. This way you need to buy fewer lights over the course of a year, and they don’t add as much to your power bill. 

We all worry about staying warm at night. If your bedroom has light fittings recessed into the ceiling they might keep lights discreetly tucked away but they won’t keep the heat in. Because regular filament light bulbs can get very hot in a short space of time, you can’t place insulation or batts over the top of them. Not so with LEDs, as they produce more light that heat so you can lay the ceiling insulation on and keep your bedroom warm.

While we’re still on lighting, what kind of atmosphere do you want to create in your bedroom? That’s not a funny question, as lighting can have a big impact on how we feel about a space. Soft, warm lighting can be bright enough to see, but not so bright that it jars you awake when you’re trying to sleep.

Reading lights set into the wall can help the late-night book lover, and be small enough to not impact anyone else in the room. A child’s bedroom may have a homework desk too, so lighting must be balanced between relaxing and functional to ensure they can work and sleep when they need to.

Adding Personality To Your Home

Despite bedrooms being personal spaces, you may still have a feature or something to put on display. A bookshelf? Painting or photo? An ornament on the mantelpiece? Feature lighting isn’t restricted to living areas, but can highlight aspects anywhere in your home.

Bedroom lighting highlighting a feature wall

Whatever electrical alterations or building plans you’re considering, make sure you choose a registered Master Electrician like the Christchurch based team at Mister Sparky. You’ll automatically be covered by the Master Electrician $10,000 guarantee and receive certification for any electrical services, for your safety and peace of mind.

 For quality electrical services in Christchurch backed by guarantees, workmanship and certifications you can trust, contact the registered Master Electricians at Mister Sparky on 0800 842 248 for a free consultation and quote.