Any ideas on how best to light up a dark room? I have wood paneling in a spare room and it's a very dark brown. To say I detest it is an understatement. Even 100w bulbs in the ceiling fixtures don't do much to brighten the room up. It's as if the dark walls suck the life out of them. The poor lighting is making it hard to use it for much else than as a storage room.

It would be nice to turn it into a guest room. It's about 12 x 16 feet and has two small windows in it. What kind of lighting could I put in there to improve on that? I want something you could read by without straining your eyes and find things in! Right now the lights barely bounce into all the corners.

I tried a small lamp on a chest of drawers and it made little difference. I can't afford to rip out all the paneling and replace that unfortunately.

I need an affordable solution please and would like to keep the costs under $100 if possible as it won't be used that often. Family come and visit four or five times a year and it would be great to be able to offer them a bed.

Thanks!