My personal style is a mix of high and low.
I’ve bought from Home Depot and been very happy, but it wasn’t always easy to get them onto dimmer switches and they were on manual and not the most stylish or energy efficient.
I’ve bought medium quality — lees art studio bf it closed. . . Those were best as one of, stand alone pieces Like floor lamps,
and, I’ve splurged on higher end like artemide, flos, kartell, for living room accents (floor lamps, wall scones) and fancier bed stand lights. Some of the brands are here:
https://www.modernchandeliers.eu/lighting-design-the-best-high-end-italian-brands/And, there are designer pieces, like Hermes did desk and floor lamps that are very nice wood ans metal covered in alligator or croc. I forget which.
I would say that with good taste and hard work, one can come up with a really nice lighting scheme without it costing a fortune. But a lot of it may not be integrated and seamless in operation and there will could be some awkwardness in cords and switches.
There can be a big difference in terms of layered lighting effects, energy consumption LED. It’s not just the actual fixtures, it’s also ease of programming (manual switch. iPad or some kind of wall programming. For example, you can have mood lighting for a party programmed in And the design aspect of which lights go where: buried in the ceiling, washing effects on walls etc etc.
We bought a second apartment that is essentially a dream apt for us and we will undergo a year long full gut renovation. So, we hired a lighting designer to do things like wall wash and perimeter light design ( all of which can be an issue if you have ceiling beams) plus fancy stuff on the ceiling (whose height will be lowered to accommodate all this). There will be a few places where there will be a central place for light (an area in front of the fireplace and in the entrance gallery) and some other terms of art that lighting designers do. If you hire someone like this, presumably you will get trade prices. The lighting designer will also provide minimum allowances to your GC to figure into your budget.
