Short on natural light? You can create a renter-friendly fake window using LED strip lights to brighten a closet or other windowless spaces.

This light panel made from four laptop LED screens looks like a window and can give you the light you need. There are a lot of cool ways to repurpose an old laptop, but having a broken monitor ...

But not everybody's so keen on LED. Nick Schommer, who lives at 48th and Washburn in the Fulton neighborhood, said the new LED blasts his front porch and shines light into his bedroom window.

The Switch bulb is the only LED bulb on the market to offer this clear-glass dome. But the company also makes a bulb with a frosted dome that helps to diffuse its light.

We chose an LED-compatible model from Lutron, a similar Leviton switch, and a cheap, $5 triac rotary dial intended for incandescents only.