Jeff "King of the Castle"
Just like color, fabrics, and flooring, lighting plays a big part in interior design and decor. From ensuring a functional space to adding your style to living rooms, bedrooms, and more to evoking certain emotions, there are many reasons interior designers pay strong attention to lighting fixtures.
Dim, warm lighting creates a relaxed atmosphere, while bright, cool lighting is ideal for rooms with focus and high energy. Natural light, on the other hand, lessens feelings of stress and promotes your well-being.
In this handy guide, we offer tips on how to choose the correct lighting for ambiance, your lifestyle, and your decor. Whether highlighting architectural features, illuminating artwork, or creating ambiance, we have you covered. Read on to discover more.
Versatile Lighting
Roman shades for windows are equally stylish and functional. They boast a timeless, classic, and versatile design that complements almost any decor. These stylish blinds add an aesthetically pleasing style to your and boost your energy efficiency. How? Insulating your abode in winter and summer ensures that rooms stay cool and warm when required.
Another benefit? They lessen unsightly glare and UV exposure. What does this mean? Your furniture, flooring, and fabric accessories retain their original bright hues rather than fading due to coming into contact with harsh sunlight.
Roman shades can be purchased in several fabric styles, from cozy, rich velvet and linen textures to lightweight materials, such as polyester and cotton. You can customize your shades to your decor or mood. The best part? You control just how much natural light enters your home at any time of the day.
The Importance of Natural Lighting
Natural light impacts the ambiance of your home in a big way. When utilized to its maximum advantage, it creates the illusion of larger, brighter spaces.
It also adds a natural glow to various rooms at certain times of the day, creating a warm and cozy atmosphere.
Some of the benefits of natural lighting include:
- Enhanced visual appeal and a harmonious ambiance
- The illusion of bigger, brighter rooms
- Energy efficiency, as when you welcome natural light into your home, you don’t have to turn electric lights on
Ambient Lighting
Ambient lighting is perfect for those wishing to cast a soft, even glow around their homes, creating a safe, comfortable, shadow-free space. To embrace this lighting, invest in chandeliers, ceiling lights, and wall sconces.
This type of lighting is celebrated for setting the tone of your room and ensuring you can both relax and entertain in your home. This gentle, diffused lighting creates the base layer for layered lighting.
Accent Lighting
Accent lighting is an asset to those who wish to highlight artwork, a mural, or a fancy statement wallpaper. The result? The room becomes more visually engaging. This style of lighting can be used to highlight any focal point. Lighting fixtures include:
- Lights that illuminate textured wallpaper on walls
- Track lighting that showcases artwork
- Uplights that accentuate plants or sculptures
- Lighting for specific tasks, such as cooking, cleaning, and writing
Cooking, writing, cleaning, or reading? Choose task lighting. This targeted lighting source allows you to focus on tasks that require a clear line of sight without causing you eye strain.
Multi-Level Lighting
Small apartments often feature open-plan living, which means you use one space for multiple activities, such as cooking, reading, writing, working, and entertaining. With this in mind, versatile lighting fixtures are a godsend. When you add a mix of task lighting, ambient lighting, and accent lighting to your open-plan spaces, you can easily cater to all needs and lifestyles and various times of the day.
Dimmers are one of the most prevalent ways to achieve this style. Why? They enable you to change the direction and flow of your light sources and brightness. If you need to work, ramp them up. If you’re winding down after a hard day in the office, place them on the lowest level. Another benefit of dimmers? They help to lower your electricity consumption. Lighting accounts for around 15% of an average home’s electricity use.
Why are Bulbs as Important as Fixtures?
Picking the right bulb is crucial! LED bulbs are a top choice for the energy-efficient homeowner. Why? They help to cut energy costs while embracing task lighting. The result? Fewer shadows!
There are various bulbs available, ranging from halogen, which creates light similar to natural light. This is perfect for cozy rooms, such as snugs, bedrooms, and living rooms. Why? You get to create a warm, welcoming atmosphere.
As a homeowner, be sure to carefully select bulbs that complement your lighting fixtures, keeping in mind your desired ambiance.
Light Placement
When choosing lighting fixtures, consider the placement of specific light fixtures. This will help you to create the desired ambiance. When doing so, think about the following:
- Determine the size, brightness, and type of fixture needed for each area.
- Identify areas that require extra brightness or suffer from inadequate lighting.
- Ensure fixtures are placed at appropriate heights: too low and they may not provide sufficient illumination; too high and they’ll create shadows.
- Experiment with different lighting options before securing in place.
- Turn on lights and assess their effect on our room’s brightness and atmosphere.
The Bottom Line
From track lighting to table lamps, chandeliers, sconces, pendant lighting, recessed lighting, and more, the right fixtures can transform any space in your household.
Whether you necessitate lighting for specific tasks or to relax, when lighting is layered correctly, you can create the perfect environment for any occasion.
Using the above tips, you can focus on turning one room into a haven of relaxation and another into a task space. Otherwise, layered lighting will allow you to use the same room for multiple purposes.
