Good or bad lighting can define a room and make it either very pleasant to stay at or make your eyes and head hurt. It gives out vibes and changes the complete atmosphere of the room making it a very important part of any house design.
There are many vital aspects to pay attention to when it comes to choosing the proper lighting of a room. Such as the placement, the type, the color, the combination with natural light, the compatibility with the furniture, and more.
When all of these aspects align, a room can be transformed into a place that reeks with style and enjoyable feelings.
However, most people do not pay enough attention to the lighting, and they focus more on furniture, walls, and carpentry. If you want something better for your home, here are some tips on how to light your home for maximum effect.
1. Use natural light
This one is a no-brainer. The best thing you can do in any home is to have as much natural lighting as possible since it has so many benefits.
Natural lighting plays a very important role in our perception of space. Places that are soaked in natural lighting look far more open and spacious.
This automatically makes people more comfortable to spend time in the particular room since the light is much more pleasant to the eye. From an interior design point of view, natural lighting is timeless—it never goes out of style. And on top of that, it has lower expenses connected to it along with energy efficiency.
2. Use a variety of lighting styles
Not every space can have a bunch of natural lighting. Some properties are designed to be much more secluded than others.
In these cases, using a variety of lighting styles to light different parts of the rooms can be the best thing to do. Mixing the three major types of lighting can be a very good idea. Ambient lighting is the general lighting, and it’s the most used.
The second type of lighting is task lighting which is a more concentrated light that is generally used when doing a certain task that requires a finer light. An example of this is reading lamps.
The third type of lighting is the accent lighting which is even more concentrated lighting that is used to put an accent on certain objects in a room like an art painting for example.
3. Think about the functionality
Lighting cannot only be used to make a room look nice; it’s there to serve a purpose. So, thinking about the functionality of lighting is a thing of great importance.
A great example of this is chandeliers. They are always used in large, open places like entryways or vast rooms and are generally placed in the center.
This is the case because they are huge sources of light and provide strong illumination in big spaces. If put in smaller places, they would look blinding and forced. If you have desks and other areas connected to working/reading/sewing or something else, think the task lighting thoroughly. Functionality is as or even more important than appearances.
4. Pay attention to the colours
The colours used in a specific room in combination with lighting can make a lot of difference in the perception. Some surfaces will be enhanced by lighting, and using darker colours can make the room look visually smaller or too cramped.
The colour of the light can create illusions which can go both ways. Examples of this are making the room bigger by illuminating the walls or softening the wall colours by using directional lighting.
Make sure that you think about how a bright light will light up the darker colours in the room. But it can also make the lighter colours seem too bright or cold making the complete wrong atmosphere in the room.
5. Pay attention to current trends
Getting informed and digging into what others are doing at the moment when you’re adding lighting in your home can’t hurt.
Looking at others, even outside of department stores, can give you insight into great ideas. Follow newly renovated restaurants, hotels, or bars since those want to create the best atmosphere for their customers and often go for the warm, comfy feeling.
Another great thing about that is that public places like that are projects where designers are not afraid to risk it, so they can be as innovative as they might want. Getting your ideas about what you like and what suits your home space from public places can be very easy.
6. Know where to leave out the lighting
Lighting is a much-needed component in our daily lives both from a health and aesthetic perspective. But it’s good to know that light has to be left out at some places in your house.
Mary Rushton-Beales did a lot of research through the years on how light affects our bodies, and she makes some good points when it comes to using lighting in the places where we sleep.
The psychological need for the darkness that we all have is as important as the one we have from brightness and light.
Lighting affects our sleeping behavior, and for our bodies to be fully asleep, there has to be no light at all or a very low-level light.
This way, while sleeping tight our bodies release natural healing hormones which control our body clock, reduce stress and risk of depression and other mental illnesses.
We already live in a time where the majority of people go to sleep with their phones and fall asleep with the lights of smart screens, so adding bright lights that are turned on during the night is not that good of an idea.
In conclusion, good lighting makes or completely ruins a certain room. Not that lighting only affect the aesthetic aspect of our living, but it also does our overall health and living habits. Doing a lot of research of what suit your particular needs for your space can save you a lot of trouble later on.
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Author Bio: Lisa Wetherell runs the blog Lighting House – where she writes about her knowledge gained from 10 years of industry experience in the lighting and interior design field. To learn more about how lighting can improve your space, you can follow her blog.