How to Use Lighting in Your Home

Published
by
Ken
on May 5, 2008
in Uncategorized
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The way you use lighting in your home is one of the most important elements to consider in interior decorating.  Lighting is instrumental in setting the mood of any room and home. Lighting can convey warmth and intimacy or can be used to set a great disposition for entertaining.  

Generally, there are considered four basic types of decorative home lighting. Let’s take a look at these different types below:

  • Ambient or General Lighting - This type of lighting illuminates an entire room.  Usually the lighting is in the form of recessed or track lighting. Wall sconces are also considered useful in this category.  Dimmers are often used with ambient/general lighting allowing added flexibility in adjustment of the brightness of a room.
  • Task Lighting - This type of lighting is just as the name suggests; task oriented. For whatever undertaking you are involved in, this type of lighting is used. Examples where task lighting would be used are reading, cooking and shaving.  Task lighting should be glare free and should allow for objects to be able to be seen clearly and easily without any eye strain.
  • Accent Lighting - Accent lighting is used to focus light directly on a specific object, piece of art, or architectural element in a room. This type of lighting is approximately three times as bright as ambient lighting.
  • Natural Lighting - This type of lighting is exactly as the name implies, natural. It refers to the light that comes in naturally through windows, doors and skylights.  This type of lighting obviously varies, depending on the weather and time of year.

When considering lighting for your home, think about these different types before making a purchase. Plan carefully the activities that will occur in each room and what type of lighting will be needed.  Don’t be afraid to mix it up and use different types of lighting in one room. In fact this is usually the norm in a home.

Consider also the fact that the lighting you chose is going to make a room look either smaller or larger.  For example, if you have a narrow hall space, then use a wall light which will in turn visually expand the hallway to look less narrow.  Oppositely, if you desire to make a room look larger, then use lots of ceiling lights.  This will give the effect of a larger area room than exists in reality.

As you set out to choose lighting for your home, you are going to find that there are literally hundreds of different types of options–from style of lighting to type of lighting to choose from.  In this endeavor, it helps to think of lighting in two aspects–functional and aesthetic.

Functional lighting refers to just that; lighting that is functional–purposeful, practical and useful.  In other words, functional lighting is lighting that you want to serve the purpose that it is intended for. Aesthetic lighting, on the other hand, is lighting that is used to create a mood.  This is usually achieved through its intensity and color.

With having learned already the various types and functions of lighting, let’s expand our view and take a look at a room-by-room guide to lighting.

Kitchens

  • Consider recessed ceiling lighting to provide good general lighting
  • Install recessed down lights as task lighting for the sink and cooking areas
  • Place halogen lights over bars and counters
  • Using under cabinet lights makes excellent task lighting and comes in quite handy and useful

Living Rooms

  • Use and place lamps behind where anyone might read. The best type are about 42 inches above the floor
  • Use a halogen track light to or a picture light to highlight a framed piece of art
  • Install recessed lighting, with a dimmer switch, to use as your general lighting
  • Strip lights are available in all different types of lengths and are useful in highlighting a shelving display

Dining Rooms

  • A chandelier over the dining room table is ideal. Install a dimmer switch to enable you to control the setting more precisely.
  • Use track lighting or a picture light to highlight a framed piece of art
  • Install strip lighting to highlight your china cabinet
  • If you do not like chandeliers, use a different type of direct lighting for the dining room table, such as a trio of pendant lights

Bedrooms

  • Place lamps on bedside tables
  • Use wall sconces to provide general lighting without being too bright
  • If your bedroom is small, use recessed or pendant lights with a dimmer switch installed
  • Don’t forget candlelight!

Bathrooms

  • Fluorescent or incandescent lights (shadow free) around mirrors are great for grooming
  • Place mirror lights on the side of rather than directly overhead to avoid heavy shadows
  • Install a nightlight for easy nightime navigation

Steps to Well Designed Room

Published
by
Ken
on May 5, 2008
in Uncategorized
. 0 Comments

The first step in creating a well designed room in your home is to identify what you want from the room.  Ask yourself, “What exactly is this room going to be used for?”  It may be that the room will be used for more than one activity. For example, a great room might include putting one’s T.V. in it, having their kids play in it and even eating in the room.  This is ok. The important first step is to clearly identify what you want from the room.  Knowing the purpose of the room will be one of the strongest cues for the décor.

·        Once this is complete, the next step is to “remember who lives there.” What this means is knowing if children, pets or adults will be the primary inhabitants of the room. In other words, white silk slipcovers would be a lovely choice for an adults-only room, however they would not make it through one season in a space that routinely hosts kids and/or pets.

 

·        Following this step is to learn what pleases your senses in a room.  Use decorating magazines to look through, go to home shows, look at other home furnishings and get a sense of what pleases you in regard to decoration.

 

·        Next, keep the size of both the room and the furniture and furnishings in mind. In other words, don’t buy a sofa for a room that is not large enough to house a sofa. This tends to be the case often. Homeowners will over judge the size of a room and buy furniture that is either too  big or just too much.

 

·        Go with your flow.  A beautiful home should have continuity from room to room.  To prevent each room in your home from looking out of place, try to maintain similar tones and themes throughout the house.

 

·        Focus on one great piece in the room.  This can be an item you already have and love or a new one, but whatever it is, let it become the inspiration for the rest of the room.  This can be something simple such as a tile, a chair or even a pillow.

 

·        Formulate a plan for the room.  Whether you carry this information in your head or on paper, never dive into planning a room for your home without thinking it through.  Try to envision your room when it’s completely done, and then plot out what steps you’ll need to take to get to that point.  Make sure a keep a room design file. This needs to include measurements and inspiring images. You’ll also want to keep a shopping list based on things you have seen in stores, on websites and in catalogs. 

 

·        Shop around.  Don’t buy all your furniture from a furniture showroom. Instead shop around. You want your room to look like you put some thought into it so it’s not something you will see at the local furniture store showroom. Establish a unique look by shopping a variety of retailers, auctions and markets.

·     Don’t shop around if you are unsure.  If you don’t have a good eye for design or a solid vision of what you want your room to look like you may find it very difficult to piece a room together from different sources. Instead of shopping around you may be better off buying an entire set from one designer. Sometimes people will buy things that “just don’t go”. It’s completely up to how skilled of a designer you are. Many stores offer decor and furniture pieces that are 100% compatible as a full set. Doing this will ensure your home looks top notch and you won’t have to worry about clashing choices.

As you design a new room for your home, remember that form and function are equally important. You will never be able to relax on a rock-hard sofa no matter how much you love the fabric.