I thought it would be fun to try something new and share scenes from our home during my favorite time of the day—the evening!
There’s a reason you rarely see interior photos taken at night, and ‘lights on’ are a photography faux pas—artificial lighting completely distorts colors and casts harsh shadows—certainly not an ideal or accurate representation. But, there’s also something cozy and romantic about warm candlelight and dark rooms, and it’s really interesting to see how spaces transform without any natural light.
I planned to take just a few photos of each room and ended up with about 300, edited down to 60, so I’m splitting this tour up into two posts. These were a beast to edit and took me two full days. So much color correcting and trying to even out the lighting as best as I could—definitely not something I’m used to, as I shoot in natural light only. So, I really hope you like them and all this work was worth it! 😉
Without further ado, let’s begin in the living room…
We have two main sources of light here—our chandelier and recessed ceiling lights.
The chandelier has incandescent candelabra bulbs and the recessed lights are LED—both 2700k. I cannot stress the importance of kelvin temperature enough!
In our house, we use 2700k throughout for a warm glow that gives you a feeling of comfort and calm (it’s scientifically proven to impact your mood!). 3000k is another popular option and I think that’s fine during the day, but too harsh in the evening.
We installed these recessed lights, which I highly recommend as you can adjust the color temperature with the touch of a button. They were originally set to 3000k, and we later changed them all to 2700k after comparing them to our incandescent bulbs which felt much more relaxing.
Our lights are also installed on smart dimmers, which I believe is nearly as important as color temperature. Mood lighting is everything, and the quickest way to ruin the mood is with lights that are too bright.
Alternatively, you can also simply replace your existing bulbs with smart bulbs, so you can dim and adjust the color temperature anywhere from your phone. Isn’t technology great?!
Our dining room is at the center of our home, connecting the living room to the kitchen.
We have four sources of lighting here: recessed lights, a chandelier, picture lights and wall sconce. To be quite honest, we pretty much only ever use the chandelier.
The range of light it provides (via smart dimmer) suits our needs in any situation. And occasionally we’ll break out the candlelight for special occasions 🙂
Over in the kitchen, we have the same recessed lights plus four wall sconces.
The sconces are usually enough light for us, but sometimes we’ll flip on the ceiling lights if we really need to see what we’re doing.
I kept the recessed lights off for these shots because the bright light and harsh shadows make for some really awful photos.
Candlelight, especially at night, is always a good idea.
Across the hallway from our kitchen you’ll find our powder bath (can you spy our Eufy? That’s where he sleeps at night :))
I just bought this set of solar landscape lights for our pathway after testing them out at the Riverside Retreat (and quickly realized we needed more—another set is on the way!)
And finally, our backyard at dusk. Our giant live oak provides too much shade for solar lights, so I think we’re going to bite the bullet next year and have hardwired landscape lights installed (as part of a major backyard renovation—stay tuned!)
Okay friends, that’s it for now! Come back tomorrow to see our bedroom, closet, nursery, two main bathrooms and playroom all lit up at night. If you’re curious about sources for any room, you can find them all on my Sources page.
Let me know what you think of the night tour so far in the comments! Do you have a favorite photo? And would you like to see more night shots of rooms in the future, or do you prefer bright and natural light?
Dominique says
Hi Jenna,
I looooooove the nighttime shots. I just purchased dimmers/smart lights from Costco, and loved your recs. I plan to build in two years and love everything you do! You are my inspo!
Dominique
Jenna Sue says
Oh yay! You’ll love the dimmers, the difference is night and day (ha!) Thank you Dominique!
Pat says
Loved your evening home tour…your home is so beautiful and especially peaceful feeling.
Jenna Sue says
Thank you so much Pat, so glad you enjoyed the tour 🙂
Karen B. says
Your home is spectacular and your photography is amazing. Such an inviting and cozy feel to each room.
Thank you for sharing.
Karen
Jenna Sue says
That’s so kind of you to say Karen, I really appreciate it! <3
Sherri says
Jenna Sue- Everything thing looks beautiful at night. I love the warmth and glow. Do you draw your shades at night or leave things open? We always close curtains even though no one can see in from the back and we live on a quiet street! But I also nickname my husband Capyain Safety because he is worse than I am!
Jenna Sue says
Thanks Sherri! Usually if we are hanging out in the main living area in the evening, I’ll draw the curtains closed. Honestly I typically just forget about them so they’ll stay either open or closed for long stretches 🙂
Cynthia Solomon says
Just stunning! Honestly, one of the prettiest homes I’ve seen!
Jenna Sue says
You are too kind, thank you Cynthia!
Elizabeth McILwain says
How lovely! Your home is beautiful in daylight, but the evening coziness takes it up a notch! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Jenna Sue says
Thank you Elizabeth, I’m so glad you enjoyed the tour!
Meagan says
I love this perspective of your home! Lighting, GOOD lighting, is so critical but often overlooked and what a perfect way to capture its benefits by way of this beautiful photo shoot! Love all your content. Saving this one for future reference!
Jenna Sue says
Thank you so much, Meagan! I’m really surprised it isn’t brought up more in the home design/decor world and I feel like it’s my duty to spread the word about how life changing it is. Hah!
Julie Marquez says
These are so cozy feeling, like winter time. So it seems odd that you did this in the summer. Where I live in the Northwest, the sun sets at 9:30 pm and peaks up again in the morning at 4:30am. The edits you did are beautiful, all the photos are stunning and I love the living room and how rich the curtains look in the evening.
Jenna Sue says
Sunset is at 8:20 right now in FL–we enjoy our home in the evenings year round 😉 I did one of these last year around the holidays with all the decor, so it’s fun to see it in ‘normal’ mode as well. Glad you liked the tour Julie!
Teddee Grace says
Glad you went to the trouble! But if I were you, I wouldn’t necessarily do it often. My favorite photo? The last one. Those cute little feet!
Linda says
Love the night tour! Beautifully done.( I also love seeing Esme and Suzie together! )
Anxious for part 2. I’ve said it dozens of times… your home is so gorgeous! ???
Jenna Sue says
Thank you so much Linda! This was a fun shoot, I have to say. I see more evening photos in my future 🙂
Jessica says
Yes! Love this, as someone who is mostly at home in the evening its so nice to see some inspiration that is relatable. Thank you!
Jenna Sue says
Thank you Jessica! I’m so glad you enjoyed the tour 🙂
Emily says
This is beautiful! And it makes me so excited for the cooler cozier months in fall. ?
Jenna Sue says
Ahh nothing like those fall/winter evenings! I’m not ready yet but give it another month of this heat and I’ll be there 😉
Victoria says
I enjoyed this, and worth it just for Esme on tippytoes by the bed!
Jenna Sue says
Thank you Victoria! Isn’t that photo the sweetest? I’m going to miss those little tippy toe Susie kisses one day soon…
Karen says
So worth all your editing. Lovely. Your house is really great. Homey , warm and beautiful.
Hmm we are just beginning a major front and back landscape adventure. I poo pooed electric lighting the bid for that was $2400 . We wanted to use solar , we are in Az and have plenty of sun. I may have to revisit that. The landscapers will be thriiled, not. They just started yesterday.
Oh that Esme is just an absolute doll.
Jenna Sue says
Thank you so much Karen! We didn’t have the budget for landscape lights when we first built the house, but it would have been much easier to do then, than now after the fact. $2400 sounds super reasonable to me… I think our quote might be triple that based on the electrical work we’ve hired out so far. Cost is the only reason we haven’t done it yet, but it bothers me that we don’t have enough landscape lighting and I do think it’s a necessity!
Beckie says
Lovely home ❤️ So warm and inviting ! Yes ! Please share more nighttime lighting . You and you husband have such great taste ! You are truly gifted making this a beautiful place to raise your little princess ?
Jenna Sue says
I really appreciate the kind words, Beckie! Thank you and I will definitely continue to share more evening photos 🙂
Jamie says
I love the night shots! Your home looks so cozy. Lighting is everything! This post is very helpful and full of great information. Do you use your recessed lighting in your living room often? We are almost ready to start framing our house in so I’m starting to make decisions on the lighting. I’m unsure of whether we need recessed lights in the living room. We generally use lamps and I love the idea of a chandelier. Esme is such a big girl now!? Keep those night shots coming and thank you for working so hard to provide us with so much useful content. And as always, love seeing Esme!
Jenna Sue says
Thank you, Jamie! So glad it was helpful. We prefer dimmer lighting in the evening, and the chandelier provides more than enough light, so the recessed lights are overkill. I can’t think of a time when we’ve ever needed both on at the same time, honestly! But it’s always nice to have too many lighting options than too few 🙂