Interior lighting design plays a huge role in how your home looks and feels - and too many people overlook how dramatic a role it plays in both the practical and aesthetic aspects of every single room in your home. Good lighting design makes a home functional; great lighting design, on the other hand, can completely define your living spaces.
When choosing lights for the inside of your home there are all sorts of factors to consider - most important one, though, is the size of the room you intend to light. Very few of the rooms in a normal house will be suitably lit with just a single light. The size of the room typically determines the number of lighting sources you’ll need to achieve the kind of result you are looking for.
Another crucial factor when planning your indoor lighting is what you’ll be using the room for – a kitchen has very different requirements to a bedroom. Lighting a kitchen in the same manner as a bedroom would make it very difficult to work in. Likewise, the successful blending of artificial light with natural daylight is also a crucial consideration for all rooms of your house.
Aside from basic, general lighting, there are two main types of lighting that you should take into account when completing a lighting design:
- Task lighting – Specific tasks, such as reading and cooking, have specific lighting requirements. Often task lighting is brighter than general lighting, is focused on specific areas, and offers a cooler output.
- Accent lighting – If you have an item or piece of artwork that you would like to highlight in your home, accent lighting can light the object to draw attention to it.
Bathroom lighting
Bathrooms require good task lighting for practicality and safety, but it needs to be designed in such a way as to avoid glare from mirrors.
Living and dining room lighting
These areas can be lit however you choose, and give you a great deal of freedom to do interesting things with light design.
Hall and foyer lighting
These areas are the entrances to your house, so the lighting should be warm and inviting. They can also make use of referred light.
Bedroom lighting
Bedroom lighting is typically warm and relatively basic. Your lighting design here really depends on what else you do in your bedroom!
Kitchen lighting
The lighting design in your kitchen will make a vast difference to how comfortable and safe it is, as well as to how good it ends up looking. Learn the right way to plan and arrange lighting in your kitchen.