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