Home lighting is a key feature that has the potential to dramatically change the appearance and atmosphere of your home.
With clever planning and the correct choice of lighting solution for each room in the house, you’ll be able to create the right kind of ambience, adding both style and value to your home.
Choosing the correct type of lighting and lamp bulbs for your home is an important aspect in creating a practical yet comfortable feature in all rooms of the house. Each room has to be looked at from a different viewpoint and includes the style of light you will choose to the effect of light the fitting will create.
Lighting is often overlooked when people look at interior design, but when considered carefully, it can add tremendous impact to the home environment.
It will enhance the colour of your décor, provide warmth and atmosphere and can be used to separate and easily identify different zones within your home. There are essentially three types of lighting that, when combined correctly, will create your optimum lighting solution.
Good lighting can make our homes comfortable, functional and fun places to be, where art and architecture look great, and friends and family love to visit. Our lighting can be both effective and efficient.
Effective so it can evoke a mood, light a task or provide security. Efficient so we can use the least amount of energy and still get the effects we want. Effective and efficient residential lighting requires a mix of artistic and scientific skills.
So, what makes a room comfortable, a home inviting or a landscape interesting? How does light affect colour? What types of fixtures are used for which areas?
How do you determine energy efficiency and the costs associated with various types of lighting? What are all the questions that need to be answered to create good home lighting?.
This Home Lighting Design Guide is an updated summary of the previously published Home Lighting Design Guide and is intended as a handy resource for homeowners, builders and designers.
It answers common lighting questions and incorporates proven design techniques with energy efficiency opportunities throughout all areas of a typical home.
Basic Types Of Lighting
The single most important concept in creating a good lighting plan for the home is to use an array of different types of lighting. “My best advice whatever you’re doing, whatever you want to achieve, is to create three layers of lighting-ambient, task and accent of the Lighting Research Center. Too many people make the mistake of expecting one type of lighting to do it all. Each type meets a particular need.
Ambient
Also called general lighting, ambient lighting provides overall illumination for a room and is intended to create a uniform light level throughout a space, independent of any special lighting that may be needed in targeted areas of a room.
In most home settings, when a person steps into a room and flips on a switch, ambient lighting illuminates the space.
Ambient lighting takes many forms, including ceiling-mounted or recessed fixtures that direct light downwards; wall sconces or floor-lamp torchieres that wash the walls with light; cove, soffit and valance lighting that bounces light off ceilings and walls.
Task
Targeted to a particular area of a room, task lighting is intended to illuminate a specific function. Areas of a home that require task lighting include kitchen counters where food will be prepared; living room seating areas where reading will take place; and home office desk surfaces where paperwork will be done.
In a kitchen, under-cabinet lighting provides task lighting for a countertop; in a living room, a table lamp is often used for task lighting to accommodate reading.
Accent
Also called highlighting, accent lighting draws attention to a particular object, such as artwork, sculpture, plants or bookcases.
Accent lighting is often used outdoors to highlight a beautiful tree, plant or water feature or to draw the eye to a particular area of the landscape. Recessed or track lighting is often used for accent lighting, with adjustable fittings that allow light to be focused precisely, even on a small object.
Steps To The Perfect Lighting Scheme
It’s a tricky formula that we’ve all tried to master – to create a warm and inviting (while still functional) atmosphere in our home.
And of all the elements that help to achieve this goal, lighting is perhaps the most important. It provides ambience and helps homeowners perform necessary tasks.
And, in a timber home, it’s also important to highlight the stunning architectural elements that make it so unique.
Our first tip for lighting such a space: Don’t rely on one ceiling fixture for the whole room’s illumination. Instead, include several light sources in each room, and spread them out to create three or four layers of light.
Three watts per square foot should sufficiently illuminate a room. As you’re planning your timber home’s illumination scheme, consider incorporating the following types of lighting:
Track Lighting Highlight different aspects of a room by installing track lighting or rail systems on walls, ceilings or beams. Some systems are more versatile than track lighting. Rails, for example, can bend around corners, and they’re available in wavy lines and geometric shapes.
Uplighting To increase ambient light in a room, think about using uplighting. If you have a low, light-coloured ceiling, consider bouncing light off of its withstanding floor lamps.
To brighten cathedral ceilings, add uplights at the 9-foot level to keep the light from getting lost in the rafters and showcase the timber trusses in the process.
Wall Fixtures Fixtures attached to walls can add soft lighting to a room. Wall washers that highlight art are a good option, and wall sconces will bring the light down to the human level in a sprawling timber-framed space. An added benefit: Side lighting flatters the face; overhead light can cast unattractive shadows.
How To Choose Light Fixtures
In many cases, a fixture is chosen simply because it looks attractive. However, if it is very inefficient or does not direct the light where it is required, it is not the best choice.
Light fixtures allow us to control glare, direct light where we want it, provide a place for ballasts and transformers and provide attractive aesthetics.
Another important consideration when choosing light fixtures is the colour produced. The Colour Rendering Index (CRI) is a scale from 0 to 100, which describes how well colours are rendered under a particular light source.
The Correlated Colour Temperature (CCT) of a lamp describes the mood created by the lighting – how warm or cool space feels. We use the Kelvin temperature scale to rate light sources; the higher the Kelvin number, the cooler the light source.
Add to this a wide choice of colours, finishes, locations and types, and the selection can be overwhelming. It is useful to sort fixtures into the general type categories of surface, pendant, recessed, track, portable, landscape and fibre optic.
- Surface-mounted fixtures are exposed but remain close to – or flush with – the ceiling or wall and are popular in hallways and bedrooms.
- Pendant fixtures are suspended by a cord, chain, cable or other means and are popular over tables, kitchen islands and in higher-ceiling areas.
- RecessedRecessed lighting, usually in the form of downlights (or spotlights), is typically found within a ceiling cavity. Recessed lighting can be used in virtually every room in the home; however, it should not be used to provide all the layers of light required in a design.
- Track lighting answers the need for flexibility in location, quantity and aiming angles. Track lighting has become much more sophisticated in function and appearance, with multiple circuits and voltages, finishes, colours and styles and can be surface mounted on walls or ceilings or suspended.
- Portable fixtures are defined typically by their cord, which can be plugged into any available electrical outlet. Desk and bed lights, pole lights, torchieres and some picture lights fall into this category.
- Landscape lighting refers to outdoor-rated fixtures used to accent trees, walkways and flower gardens and often includes deck lighting.
- Fibre optic lamps provide thin, clear fibres, which emit colour-changing light out the ends. The fibres carry only light – no electricity – so they are completely safe in any location.
First Steps To Follow When Planning The Perfect Lighting For Your Home
Establish the budget
It might seem like an obvious step, but it’s amazing how quickly home projects-big or small-can put a serious dent in your bank account. To avoid a monetary setback, decide how much lighting you need, and designate the items you might want to splurge on and other areas where you know you need to be more conscious of cost.
Pick a Theme, Genre, or Design Type
Just as you would stick to a colour scheme when decorating a space, so should you consider the style and theme of the fixtures you’re wishing to install.
Since lighting is such an integral component of creating the mood and tone of a space, find products that speak to you and the particular space. If you have a signature style, the lighting should follow suit.
Layer lighting
The basic principle is to layer three types of lighting: ambient, accent and task lighting. Ambient lighting is concerned with creating general illumination, occupying a more functional role.
Accent lighting is often where decorative fixtures come into play, like chandeliers, pendants, and linear lighting.
Task lighting also comes in many forms, providing focused lighting for workspaces throughout your home. Once all of these elements come together, the interior becomes a well-rounded (and well-lit) space.
Start with the statement light.
Once you have a theme in mind, start with the most visible item that will define the space, like a modern chandelier or pendant (this could be one of the splurge-worthy items).
From there, choosing the remaining lighting in the same style as that fixture will help narrow the search.
Consider the requirements of each room.
Since each room has its own function, some areas should naturally be more ambient, and others more task-oriented.
For example, the bedroom would do well with more accent lighting, since it’s a space for relaxation and sleep. The kitchen is the area for careful tasks like food preparation-so that space demands bright, functional lighting before anything else.
Be precise with measurements.
Luckily, there are general and specific guidelines for sizing a fixture for space. Once you have the basic dimensions of the space and its function, the math for finding the correct sized fixture is easily done.
For example, kitchens and living rooms have different requirements; planning the lighting above a kitchen island is very different from choosing a large enough fixture to fill a living room.
Get creative
We’ve talked about specific types of lighting for each room, but sometimes it’s okay to break the rules. Think outside a product’s normal function and try unexpected applications-perhaps a pendant for a bedside lamp or an adjustable wall sconce as a task lamp in the kitchen.
For a simple, low-cost bedside reading light with a dash of industrial style, Bernier ran a standard-issue cord set through a vintage clothesline pulley, which he picked up at a flea market, on Thibault’s side of the bed. “If she ever wants it to be higher, she can easily adjust it,” he says.
For a simple, low-cost bedside reading light with a dash of industrial style, Bernier ran a standard-issue cord set through a vintage clothesline pulley, which he picked up at a flea market, on Thibault’s side of the bed. “If she ever wants it to be higher, she can easily adjust it,” he says.
Stay educated about new technology.
Let’s face it, LED lighting is more common than ever these days, and there are different rules when it comes to installing LED fixtures in your home. With that said, consult your contractor or electrician for the proper voltage and dimming options required for LED fixtures.
Consider multi-functional lights
Now that we have decorative lighting covered, it’s time to get down to the nitty-gritty and discuss architectural lighting (i.e. recessed, dimmers, controls, and wall plates). Since we live in the digital age, we rely on many devices that require charging.
These days, there are many sophisticated wall controls and outlets that allow for efficient energy consumption that can also power our mobile devices.
An unassuming little helper is how young Danish designer Mads Sætter-Lassen modestly describes his desk lamp, Buddy, designed for Northern Lighting.
The multifunctional design includes a holder to keep pens, keys and other small objects that are easily lost. The flexible shade, available in five matte colours, can be rotated in any direction.
An unassuming little helper is how young Danish designer Mads Sætter-Lassen modestly describes his desk lamp, Buddy, designed for Northern Lighting.
The multifunctional design includes a holder to keep pens, keys and other small objects that are easily lost. The flexible shade, available in five matte colours, can be rotated in any direction.
Start designing!
The last and final step is to dive right into your home’s lighting design. Getting the planning process going is often the hardest part, but with these helpful tips, you’ll be installing a unique lighting scheme in no time.
