The quality of the light around us defines space, enhances colour and makes our surroundings visible. Besides, it also helps to relax, create intimacy and points of interest, heighten atmosphere and enhance decoration. In short, it can transform your home.
Many people choose lights on the basis of the appearance of the fitting alone. But good lighting involves the quality of light itself, its colour, direction and intensity. This article hopes to introduce practical strategies to make optimum use of light in your home.
Living Room
The living room needs to combine functional and atmospheric lighting for entertaining guests, reading, listening to music, or watching television.
For this room, first build up the background or ambient light. This might include ceiling recessed lights incorporating eyeball fittings. The latter gives the flexibility of directional beams. While filling the room with light, it also softens the shadows on people's faces so that they look their best!
The ambient scheme can be boosted with wall sconces, table lamps and floor-standing lamps called torchieres. You can put halogen bulbs in spotlights to illuminate paintings or sculptures and to even pick out decorative cornices.
Huge and unusual fittings, suspended from the ceiling or standing on the floor look intriguing. Order can be achieved by using a pair of standard lamps on either side of the sofa.
Add plenty of sockets around the skirting. This means greater flexibility, so that when you move furniture, you will also be able to move lamps. Your room should look inviting enough for people to relax and converse.
Dining Room
The dining room lighting should focus entirely on the tabletop. One sure way of making a dining area feel grand is to find a glittering chandelier to cast a gentle, general light across the table. A light raft suspended over the table can also be used. If you choose a bright central pendant, make sure it doesn't bounce harsh light off plates and a polished tabletop. Also, ensure that it is not so low that it obscures the view across the table.
Try dinner by the candlelight, produced either by a series of candles or one large candelabra, for intimacy. Richly coloured walls and even a dark painted ceiling will add to the effect.
Kitchen
A highly functional workspace, the kitchen requires diffusive light, combined with a task light for the working areas. Light falling on work surfaces and also for cooker tops, hobs and sinks should come from just above and slightly in front of you and not from behind. It is while working in your own shadow, that accidents happen. For general lighting, install a large fluorescent striplight. For task lighting, wall or ceiling mounted spots concealed behind a baffle works well. An all-white kitchen is going to require dramatically less light than a kitchen with dark wood cabinets.
Bedroom
An average-sized bedroom could incorporate a basic scheme of dome light, table lamps, and illumination for the dressing mirror. For dark furniture and rich colours, supplementary lighting could add highlights for pictures and architectural details.
It is best to use a couple of tall floor standing lamps or contemporary-style uplighters in room corners. Wall-fixed, movable reading lamps are a great idea because they can be angled depending on whether you are sitting up or lying in bed, and swung out of the way when not in use. Best of all are a pair of lights fitted above the middle of a double bed where the light beams point outwards. This allows one partner to sleep without being troubled if the other light is switched on.
Lighting in wardrobe, not just at the rail level (so you can see your clothes) but also at the lower level, where you store shoes or smaller items, is a good idea.
Children require generous light for playing safely and reading without eye strain. A table lamp dedicated to the desk should, thus, be used. Night lights are also a good idea. If you have infants, a low level of illumination is needed for night-time feeding or nappy changing. Older children may also find a degree of light reassuring in the middle of the night.
Bathroom
Ceiling-recessed fittings with white opal diffusers are both practical and appealing, providing plenty of ambient light in the tub-shower area. Bathrooms are likely to have highly reflective surfaces such as tiles, mirror, marble and glass. To prevent harsh glare, you can soften lighting with a baffle or a panel of translucent glass.
Good illumination must be provided adjacent to the wash-basin and mirror. Avoid recessed downlights directly over the sink; this will cause long, dark shadows under your eyes and nose-bad for applying makeup or for shaving!
Instead, have lamps on at least, both the sides. This will cast a clear light on your face. Today’s fluorescent lamps are flattering to skin tones, including the newer compact fluorescent which provides excellent colour rendering and illumination equal to a 60 watt incandescent bulb. As such, bathroom lighting need not be very strong.
