There are many reasons why lights are one of the most important components in your home. For starters, lights can affect the quality of your sleep, your energy levels, and even your brain power. Lights can also impact the value of your property and overall theme of your home. Thus, it’s understandable that you want your home, and every room in it, to be well lit. After all, this is where you’re going to spend most of your time.
As there are several styles and designs of lights to choose from, do you know what to choose? Do you know which kind of lights is suitable for a specific room? Let this article be your guide in answering these questions.
All types of lights basically have the same purpose – to light up a room. However, different types of lights create different ambiances. While some lights allow you to relax, some can help you focus better. To ensure that you’ll be choosing the right lighting for every room in your home, take note of the following tips:
- Consider the function of each room: Each room in your home will have different functions. Your bedroom is made for comfort and relaxation, the living area for welcoming guests, and the dining room for eating meals. Using one type of light in your home doesn’t only adversely affect your daily routines and functions, but doing this can also impact the aesthetics of these rooms. This is the reason why you should always consider the function of the room first. This will enable you to narrow down your search to determine which type of light to use. Generally, lights fall into three categories:
- Ambient or general lighting: This is considered as “natural lighting” and can illuminate all areas of a room. Once installed properly, ambient or general lighting can create a relaxed and laid-back environment, perfect when you just want to talk to a friend after a stressful day at school or work. This kind of lighting also allows you to accomplish tasks faster without any obstruction in view. You can achieve ambient or general lighting by using chandeliers, track lighting, pendant lights, and wall sconces.
- Task lighting: If most of your daily activities involve writing, reading, or sewing, opt to have task lighting in your home. This can also become your office lighting if you have a workstation at home. Unlike ambient or general lighting, task lighting provides brighter lights in specific areas of your room. Desk lamps and under-the-cabinet kitchen lights are two of the most common examples of task lighting. Pendants and track lighting are also good options for task lighting.
Accent lighting: When you want to highlight a particular area in a room, say your bookcase or paintings of famous artists, accent lighting works best. This type of light creates a shadow around the object you’re trying to highlight in order to create drama and sophistication. Its primary goal is to draw the eyes to a focal point to provoke emotions and appreciation.
Before choosing which lighting technique to use for a certain room in your home, it’s important to assess how you’re planning to use each of these rooms and if there are actually pieces that you want to highlight. Once you’ve ticked these off your list, try out the following general suggestions:
- Living room: Ambient or general lighting is the obvious choice for this room. If you want to focus on an object, like a piece of art or furniture, add in an accent light.
Kitchen: Just like the living room, ambient or general lighting should be used in your kitchen. Adding task lighting installed on top of your counter space or sink is an excellent idea as well.
Bedroom: Task lighting is a necessity in every bedroom. Ambient or general lighting can also be added just as long as it’s aimed in the dressing area.
Bathroom: You’ll be doing several different things in your bathroom that will require different types of lights. You want to add task lighting in your vanity mirror and ambient lighting to light up the entirety of the room.
- Choose the right bulbs: Choosing the right light for the right room in your house doesn’t only involve selecting the lights; you should also consider the bulbs you’re going to use. Bulbs can impact the amount of light in each room and affect your energy bill costs, too. Here are some of the most common bulbs you can use today:
- Incandescent: Although one of the most traditional bulbs, incandescent bulbs are slowly phasing out. This type of bulb is now being replaced by energy-efficient options. When installed properly, incandescent bulbs create a glowing, warm light.
- Compact fluorescent bulbs: Aside from being energy-efficient (uses 75% less energy than incandescent bulbs) and durable, compact fluorescent bulbs (CFLs) also emit a cooler tone. This bulb comes in a variety of brightness levels and temperatures. One major setback it has is its mercury content. You have to dispose of this bulb properly to avoid any chemical and safety hazards.
LEDs: LEDs are just as energy efficient as CFLs, but they last longer – up to 50,000 hours, to be exact. Although LEDs are usually used for task lighting, different styles and designs are now available that mimic the incandescent bulb. LEDs are less hot to the touch and provide direct light.
- Pick your fixtures: Now that you know the functions of each room in your home, how bright you’d want these rooms to be, and what temperature you prefer, you can now pick a lighting fixture that fits the bill. The lighting fixture you choose can help tie all of these factors together, optimizing the lights in every room. To give you an idea of your lighting fixture options, consider the following:
- Ceiling mount: This is the standard lighting fixture when it comes to ambient or general lighting. You can use a ceiling mount in the hallways, bedrooms, and stairways.
Chandeliers: Chandeliers can be used as ambient or general lighting in your dining area or bedroom. Adding this lighting fixture to any room can create a luxurious and elegant feel, but you should consider the size of the room and the height of your ceiling before installing one.
Track lighting: Track lighting is basically your go-to lighting option as you can use this in any room. This lighting fixture is versatile as you can point the light in any direction you want. Track lighting is an excellent choice if you want to highlight some art pieces or if you just want to illuminate a room in a unique way. Banno Lighting is a trusted company that offers track lighting for different uses.
Table lamps: Table lamps are on the list of task and accent lighting. Use this as task lighting in your bedroom or accent lighting in your living area.
Recessed lighting: This is one of the most versatile lighting fixtures. You can use recessed lighting in any room for any purpose. The choice depends on the level of brightness you want each room to have.
Times Are Changing
Gone are the days when lights are solely used to light up a space or room. Today, lights are used as accent pieces in order for a property or home to stand out. While interior designing might be innate to some people, others will usually have a hard time deciding which light goes to which room. If you’re one of the latter, start scouting for different sources to help you get the job done. The more adept you are in what you’re going into, the easier the decisions will be.
