Appropriate lighting is something a lot of people spend too little time on. Yet lighting is crucial to the atmosphere of a space. Lighting can make or break a room. Sure, you can have wonderful seats, fancy decorations and a classy table, but without the right lighting they won’t offer much value to your home.
We didn’t say choosing the right lighting fixtures and lighting spots will be easy but it is definitely worthwhile to take out some time for this. After all, your home is a place you are going to spend lots and lots of time in. Needless to say it has to become a place you love. Therefore we offer you 6 take-away tips to get you on the right track.
1. Lighting for different purposes
Every room in your house has its own function, and this function determines the type of lighting it requires. Some activities require more intense and focused lighting, whether others ask for a softer type of lighting. For example, you need more powerful lighting while cooking dinner than when you are enjoying a movie in your living room.
2. Fluorescent lights ideal for task lighting
For activities like cooking, writing, crafting, etc. you need a bright lighting. Fluorescent lighting are recommended in these situations for the following reasons:
- They can provide soft and equally-distributed lighting.
- The so called stray light that fluorescent lights emit, results in little shadow generation. And shadows can be irritating as hell during work activities.
- Finally fluorescent lights are an ecologically fine choice as they can operate for many hours without consuming a lot of power.
3. Find a balance in intimate and general lighting
We can divide lighting into two categories namely general lighting and intimate lighting. Well, actually four categories when including task lighting and accent lighting but let’s forget these for the moment.
First of all it’s important to supply every room with enough general lighting. General lighting is needed to enable safe passage and usage of a room, this is in other words functional.
Intimate lighting on the other hand is not directly intended for the functionality of the room, it is needed to turn a room into a charming and atmospheric place.
4. Height of the lamp determines the atmosphere
The height at which your lighting is mounted, determines the way in which the space of a room is experienced. The higher your lighting fixtures are mounted, the more spacious effect you will get. This is important when there are many people in a room.
The lower the light is place on the other hand, the more intimate effect you will get. As we have already said, it’s important to find a balance between those two.
5. Avoid too much contrast
A room needs equally distributed lighting to be comfortable for your eyes. Too strong dark to light transitions can be tiresome and irritating for your eyes. Think about watching television in a pitch-dark room – this is far from pleasant. Therefore it’s a good idea to place a small light behind the television or just supply the room with enough soft general lighting to prevent too much contrast in lighting.
6. Different light colors for different interiors
Just like there are differences in light sources and lighting fixtures, there are differences in light colors as well. In your search for lighting you mostly come across three main light colors which are cold white, neutral white and warm white.
Warm white light is creates a more homely and cozy atmosphere, this is why it is often chosen for atmospheric lighting purposes.
Cold white light at the other hand gives a more modern impression. Therefore cold white light is usually placed in rather modern and sleek homes.
The newest type of lighting, LED lighting, is available in many different light colors, where traditional incandescent and halogen lights were only available with a warm white light color.
Leave a Reply