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The kitchen is very often the heart of the home. It’s a family gathering spot and a place where food and good times can be shared across generations. Often, it is one of the first places you go when you get home from a long day at work. And for many working parents, it is the place where they spend each morning and evening. So it’s important that your kitchen is a warm, inviting space where you can feel good spending your time. Unfortunately, many older homes were built with unattractive fluorescent lighting in the kitchen. Those kitchen lighting fixtures haven’t aged well. But many homeowners who want a change are put off by the high cost of hiring a contractor. Or they may fear the disruption to their daily life. Octo Lights has a great solution to quickly and cost-efficiently update those old kitchen light panels.

Time to Replace Your Kitchen Lighting Panels

Let's face it. Many older homes were built in ways that we would never build them today. Whether your home has asbestos popcorn ceilings, horrifying 1970s wood paneling, or dated track lighting, styles change. One design trend that has gone way out of fashion is fluorescent lighting. And for good reasons. Fluorescent lighting was once a great feature. It was energy efficient, the bulbs lasted longer than incandescents, and they gave off lots of light. But what builders and homeowners didn’t know then was the effect that fluorescent light has on a space and the people in it.

Today, we know much more about fluorescent light and why it’s best to avoid it. Although the evidence has been mounting since the 1970s, we now fully understand the detrimental effects of high-intensity short-wave light. Some exposure to high-intensity short-wave light is actually beneficial. In fact, one source of high-intensity short-wave light is sunlight at midday. Natural exposure to this kind of light can help regulate sleep patterns, reduce stress, and increase healthy physiological functions. However, exposure to artificial high-intensity short-wave light, especially in the morning and evening when it does not naturally occur, can be harmful.

Unfortunately, fluorescent lights are a leading culprit in daily exposure to artificial high-intensity short-wave light. If your kitchen was built with fluorescent lights, the time you spend there in the morning and evening could be harming your health. This makes updating your kitchen light panels not just a design issue, but a health priority.

The Cost of Replacing Kitchen Lighting Panels

Fluorescent kitchen light panels are common in older homes, but they are not easy to replace. Often they are recessed into the ceiling. A full replacement with another kind of light fixture would require extensive construction work. The fluorescent lighting fixture has to be removed and completely rewired. Then the ceiling that was recessed to house a full-sized fluorescent fixture has to be patched with new sheetrock. Finally, it all has to be painted to match the rest of the ceiling. Often, that means repainting the whole ceiling. This can be a costly and disruptive process. So for many homeowners, it just gets put off. Every day they are exposed to high-intensity short-wave light, but they do nothing about it.

What if we told you that you could skip all the construction and get the same effects? Would you be interested?

It turns out that much of the detrimental effect of high-intensity blue light from your old kitchen lights panels can be fixed at a fraction of the cost of a full replacement. Instead of rewiring and installing a new lighting system, just update the kitchen lighting panels with decorative light covers from Octo Lights. At only $30 a panel, our covers for your kitchen lighting panels can save you thousands of dollars.

The Benefits of Installing Decorative Light Panels Over Kitchen Lighting Panels

The great thing about installing decorative light panels is that you don’t have to do any demolition or new construction. The Decorative light panels that Octo Lights makes come as a thin film that you can easily lay down over your existing kitchen lighting panels. The installation is quick and easy, but the results can be transformative. You will instantly notice that the light you are getting from your kitchen light panels with the Octo Lights covers is different. Your eyes will relax, and you may feel your stress level drop. Symptoms you didn’t know you had will melt away.

How is all this possible? It’s all about blocking high-intensity short-wave light.

If you’ve ever worked for hours in front of a computer (and let’s face it, who hasn’t), you have an idea of what high-intensity short-wave light does. Those feeling of eye fatigue, headaches, exhaustion, and elevated stress are all your body’s response to high-intensity short-wave light overexposure. It turns out that our devices shine with a high level of high-intensity short-wave light. That’s why so many health experts warn against their use at night especially. They disrupt sleep.

But what many people don’t realize is that the very same high-intensity short-wave light is coming at them from another source. Fluorescent lights can increase your exposure even when you’re enjoying a nice dinner at home, away from all your tech gadgets. You don’t notice how it makes you feel until you remove the stimulus and feel the difference.

Other Benefits of Decorative Light Covers

The benefits of upgrading your kitchen lighting panels with decorative light covers don’t end with their filtering capabilities. Much of the benefit is actually aesthetic. The sad fact is that as detrimental as fluorescent light is, many of the fixtures are just as bad. A dark kitchen that is lit only by fluorescent light can feel cramped and unpleasant. This is especially true for kitchens in smaller home and apartments, where there already isn’t a lot of room to move around and may not even be any windows.

Putting decorative light covers over your kitchen lighting panels can give new life to a compact kitchen. One of the most popular ways of doing that is to install one of our cloud-themed light covers. These decorative light covers are printed with beautiful full-color images of bright blue skies and billowing white fluffy clouds. The effect created by installing one of these decorative light covers over old kitchen lighting panels is similar to installing a skylight. It can open up a room and make an indoor space feel less closed off.

Although our cloud-themed panels are our most popular, there are many other great styles you can choose from to create all sorts of effects in your kitchen. If you love science, astronomy, or science fiction, or if you just appreciate the night sky, we have the thing for you. Our astronomy kitchen light covers are printed with stunning images of colorful nebulae and majestic galaxies. These images can add a fun and inspiring look to your dull kitchen. Adding a little adventure was never easier.

Why Order from Octo Lights?

Value, ease, and simplicity make Octo Lights the obvious choice for your decorative light covers. You’re updating your kitchen lighting panels because you want a great look and healthy light. You’re not looking for a complicated DIY makeover project. And even for those in the midst of a full-scale renovation, you’ll love how easy Octo Lights can make this part of the process.

The ordering process couldn’t be simpler. Pick an image. Pick a size. Checkout. That’s it. Give us a day or two to custom print your image, and you’ll get an automated email from FedEx letting you know when to expect delivery. It usually takes less than a week. Once you have your Octo Lights decorative light covers, installation is a breeze. Just unlock you kitchen lighting panels and let them swing open (they’ll still be connected on one side). Lay the films over the kitchen lighting panels image side up, and close them back up. You can always contact us if you have any questions or need help with ordering or installation.