Indoor lighting is a crucial element to every interior design! As humans, we are visual creatures and more often than not decide based on what we see and how it appeals to us.
However, lighting is an often underestimated part of the average home project. Not only does it have a profound impact on our moods, well-being, and emotions, but it also affects aesthetics and functionality, thus the quality of daily life.
At Realty WW we know that to implement an effective lighting strategy for your home, you need a lighting professional who understands electrical materials and products as the risk of injury or even worse, is just not worth it.
Apart from the required technical knowledge, an experienced professionals would be concerned with how lights affect your mood, aesthetics, safety, and the overall enjoyment you seeks related to the lighting of the apartment or house.
Below we share some lighting design factors you should have a professional take into consideration while installing new lighting to your home:
- Size and space
- Your age and preference
- Ceiling height and shape
- Colour of walls and furniture
- Shadows and reflections
- Daylight integrations
- Economics and energy efficiency
- Level of illumination (lux)
- Electrical codes, documentation, and specifications
No matter what your goal, whether you want a good night’s sleep or want to improve your productivity at home, a change in interior lighting may just be the solution. Weight on your options, do your homework to research, and only then proceed to action.
More ideas: What Your Bedroom Requires for Proper Sleep
Lighting fixtures to make your lighting design easier.
1. General or Ambient Lighting
This is the most common kind of lighting. Ambient light is a soft glow that blankets your space enough so you can function without a harsh glare. In décor, you create ambient light by making the room’s lighting as flat as possible.
You can use chandeliers, ceiling lights, and pendants to create the charming sense of ambient lighting. Having one big piece ads grandeur, while smaller but multiple units can help you fill empty space throughout a room.
2. Task Lighting
Task lighting serves you well when you are working.
It is a smaller, concentrated beam of light, also known as your regular office lighting. Task lighting helps you see when you work on projects that you need a finer illumination. It works well when used as a contrasting light. Task lighting helps naturally stimulate your brain, thus focus and ultimately help you achieve better results.
Pendants, swing arm lamps, and vanity lights work best as task lights.
3. Accent Lighting
Accent lighting is a highly concentrated light meant to draw the eye to its focal point. It adds style and drama to your interiors. It workes great for artwork, bookcase displays, collections, and general architecture of your home. This kind of lighting is able to create a sophisticated atmosphere and thus enhance the looks of any property, be it commercial or privately owned.
Wall lights, track lights, and landscape lights are used for accent lighting.
Here is a lighting guide for interior rooms:
1. Entryways
Lighting in the entryway should ensure a clear and safe passage from the entry to other areas of your home.
Make sure the switches to these lights are easily accessible and near the entry door, so people coming in can easily use. When coming home after a long day you don’t want to reach out too much, more you want to make a mess if you can’t see what is where.
A functional idea stands for motion detectors, however not al people want to turn on the lights when coming home, right?
2. Stairs and Hallways
According to my friend Jane Wilson from Modern Housewives, the stairs and hallways should be well lit to provide safety to people who are using them. Consider installing fixtures every 4-6 feet to light the area effectively.
When onto the installation itself, remember how difficult repairs could be in the future. The goal is to place things in a way that is easy to dismantle and reinstall when needed. Otherwise, you’re risking watching lights partially go down and a hefty bill to take things apart.
3. Utility Rooms and Garages
These areas will want plenty of ambient and recessed lighting.
Add colour and illumination to your utility rooms to focus on things like sorting, mending, and fixing. Lights in the garage need to be strong enough so no silly hits or falls happen. Whether you have a workshop going or not, you’ll have to look into lighting strong enough to support your work.
7 DIY Ways to Freshen Up Your Garage Door
4. Living Rooms
This is the part of the house where you, family and people in general spend the most time. We recommend installing track lighting and adjustable recessed lighting to highlight sculptures and artwork or just allow you to set the mood for any occasion you’d like: romantic, a movie, a good old-fashioned dinner.
Minding the right furniture arrangement is crucial to how lights work. Remember that. All elements of interior design need to work together for results to shine.
5. Kitchens
According to kitchen unit designers & experts KitchenIN, you need lots of ambient light supplemented by task lighting in the kitchen. Use under-cabinet lighting to provide task lighting for your counters. This way lights both stay outside your eyes while hands buzz to do your do’s.
6. Dining Room
Dining rooms should have the most beautiful light fixtures. Use a chandelier or some kind of pendant light above the dining table to create a soft glow.
When we feed we need strong and well-lid room as poor light could hurt your meals in the long term. Of course, it’s great to hide stains, but that’s poor lighting is not the best way to do it.
7. Bedroom Lighting
Take the size and scale of the bedroom into consideration while choosing lights for this space. Use ambient lights combined with task lighting for this area. If possible, install dim red lights for use during the night. Red light doesn’t wake you up as regular bulbs do. That’s why modern science recommends having these around your bed alongside regular lights.
8. Bathrooms
You should have bright, shadow-free lights in your bathroom for safety purposes. Make sure strong and neutral light is directed to your face when you stand in front of the mirror.
However, the trick with bathrooms is moisture and installation should mind that. Wiring and control units need to be humid-proof, or at least as much as that’s possible.
5 Simple Hacks To Make Your Bathroom Stand Out
9. Offices
Choose your office lights wisely as they affect your productivity levels.
Get a mix of task and accent lighting for your office space. Wherever possible, leverage natural light with mirrors and white surfaces, but when the Sun goes down, soft, yet healthy lights can go a long way for productivity. The popular choice is LED due the efficiency and warmth of the spectre.
Final remarks
While you’re installing lights in any part of your home, keep electrical safety in you’re a top priority and install relevant electrical safety equipment as diligent as you put your focus on interior and aehstetics. Looks matter but so does safety.