Adding new hardwire lights

[glias3]

My living room has insufficient lighting, I don't know anything about electrical stuff, and I'm just looking for advice on how to get started in planning this out: I would like to add hardwire lighting to the space at some point (ceiling light, sconces) where there is currently none... Do I ask an electrician to evaluate my home/walls to see where we can place lights before making any solid plans or buying light fixtures? Or do I ask a contractor instead? Should placement not be an issue? Or do I need to buy fixtures first? (What order should I go about planning things?) What should I expect from this type of project, like would the walls need to be opened up to run more wires, etc, or are there more discreet ways to run wires? It would be nice to know whether this would be considered a minor or major project so I can plan on whether I can do this sooner or if I need to wait until I do a proper renovation of the whole space.

Thanks for your time. I'm really sorry if this question is inappropriate for this forum. I tried googling this but couldn't find any information.

 

[brianmoooore]

Impossible to say from here. If you want a second ceiling light, straight along from the existing one, operated by the same switch, and the ceiling joists run the right way, the necessary wiring could be drawn into place, with zero damage to décor inside an hour, but you don't often get that lucky.