Lighting Your Home - Keys to Success
Lighting your home is one of the factors that determine the appearance of your home. To get adequate lighting, it’s essential to understand the characteristics and basic needs of each room.
Firstly, take a look at the orientation of your home, the measurements, and the size of each room. You’ll also need to consider the location of windows and natural light, the distribution of furniture, and the tones and textures of any decorative elements.
You should also think about what you plan to do in each space. This will affect light sources, as well as the types of lamps, for example.
Then, you’ll need to choose appropriate places to put light bulbs. Where you place them is just as important as the type of bulb you use. For example, the quality and color of light will affect the appearance of the room.
Lighting your home – a good location for lights
From the outset, you should keep in mind that it’s better to have too many lights than not enough. Proper lighting placement is critical to creating a comfortable home. However, this is one of the most difficult things to plan.
Firstly, it’s very important to think about the electrical installations in your rooms. You need to decide this early on and always before painting. In addition, you’ll also need to know where you’re going to put certain furniture, such as the sofa, a reading corner, or bed.
By planning ahead, you’ll be able to make sure you have enough light. You can also include plugs for lamps. By doing this in advance you’ll avoid ruining the paintwork or paying for costly installations.
Additionally, the technological advances today mean that you also take into account what technology you want to incorporate into your home. This means you need to think long term and consider more than just the lighting and outlets.
Lighting your home – types of light
In general, we advise that you use three types of lighting in all rooms of your home:
- General. These are lights that completely illuminate a room. They should be powerful but spread out.
- Atmosphere. These should be spread out and help mark out areas. You should be able to get light without creating shadows.
- Spot. This is direct lighting oriented to specific areas.
The choice of lighting will depend on the size of the room and the height of the ceilings. A general rule is you want 20 watts per 10 square feet.
Light up the whole house
Whether you opt for lighting that is indirect, overhead, or spot, each type has its use and appropriate place within the home. You can choose and distribute the lighting in your living room with different types of lights in mind. For example, you can have a central light combined with indirect lights. You can also light up a corner or highlight a decorative element with lighting.
On the other hand, in the bathroom, you should combine light and color. Expand decorative ideas while not distracting from the functionality of the room.
The kitchen always requires clear lighting to facilitate food preparation. For example, you can consider combining general lights with halogen lights to achieve a cozy atmosphere.
You’ll also need different lighting for rooms of your house dedicated to working. Consider flexo lamps. You can easily move these lamps around and they offer a concentrated light beam.
In hallways, it’s best to opt for recessed spotlights. These create a lot of light but don’t overwhelm these narrow spaces.
We must also mention sconces. These fulfill a specific mission in lighting your home. Sconces offer great light and can help define your home’s aesthetic.
We hope that we’ve helped you figure out some of your questions about lighting your home! As you can see, it’s an important task.