Where do you look for discount lighting?

Angelina-M

Hi all.

I'm in the middle of decorating and need new lighting for the hall, stairs and landing plus bedrooms. I've been to the DIY stores and i've done the department stores but anything I like has been around the £150 mark.

I believe that lots of these designer ranges are just inflated in price by the department stores so are there any suppliers online that sell good quality lighting at reasonable prices

We've spent the last few weekends looking around and now hubby is fed up and won't go shopping with me again so i'm asking for help on here!

Thanks all

FrugalFriend

I had to find lighting for an entire house so I can empathise. I find Homebase and Argos brilliant for lighting at good prices. I went for something nice for the landing, hall and lounge but I just put shades in the bedrooms. You can get cheap basic shades in the smaller high street stores for a few quid. I ended up getting nice halogen lighting for the kitchen for €18/£14 for each fitting (needed 2), including the bulbs. That was my best purchase, got them on sale in Argos. I try to hit Homebase on a 10% off day, and when they're having a sale on, also I'll check their clearance section for mark-downs as well. If you ask the staff they sometimes know when the next 10% day is, and they can tip you off if there's a sale/reductions on the way. I know for some people it's not the done thing but I've found it pays to speak up and let the staff know you're looking for a good deal. When it comes to finding home interior bargains, it can be a case of speak and you shall find.

I learned a lesson with my last lighting exercise. I wouldn't buy halogen fittings again, the bulbs are too expensive, and they need replacing too often. I would use more fittings that can take low-energy long lasting bulbs. They're environmentally friendly and have lower running costs too.

bbbunny

Ebay is actually a great place to try and I agree that argos has some great lights too.

Angelina-M

Thanks guys I shall check these places out. I didn't realise how hard a task it would be. To buy from a department store you would easily spend £500 to kit out a whole house worth of lights and its an expense I didnt put in the budget!

I know what you mean with the halogens, I have them in my kitchen and they are forever going, I think I've got three of the eight out at the moment

adandem

Ikea lighting is very good value, I have seen various sites on ebay selling lighting but they haven't always been the cheapest.

If you find one you like run a search on the name of the light, we found 3 online stores selling the lights we liked at a cheaper price.

We have halogens in our kitchen and also in son's bedroom, the bedroom one is Ikea and has the original bulbs (4 years), the kitchen one did keep blowing bulbs but they were replaced with Osram bulbs and have been fine since then.

knightstyle

Halogen bulbs without a transformer blow after quite a short time, low voltage light fittings cost a bit more but it is worth it.
Agree with adandem and look in Ikea casualty bay for bargains.

Angelina-M

Thanks again guys. Looks like Ikea is a winner then.

I fancy something quite big and dangly in the hall, i'll have a look at what they have

Peartree

Agree on IKEA but bear in mind they generally use screw in bulbs which can be a bit more expensive when you go for energy saving. I've just bought three new fittings for my house from IKEA. None of the 'sheds' had anything in the same style and I think I saved around 90% on similar styles I'd seen in the more specialist retailers.

yorksguy11

If you dont find anything try one of the larger Wilkinsons stores , i was supprised what they had and quite cheap

waddy80

Have you looked at the trade sites. We got some good stuff from Lyco.

LINK

Angelina-M

Thanks guys. :T

Interesting info on the bulbs for the Ikea lights, could work out expensive then if you can't buy the cheapo bulbs. Saying that I don't mind forking out for the bulbs if they are going to last.. not like the halogens in my kitchen :mad:

I like that trade site and even the top quality stuff seems reasonable.

I'm still trawling through ebay, I think everyone on ebay has lights for sale lol!