Interior Lighting Guide for a Beautiful Home
Our interior lighting guide will show you the best way to light your home. The right interior lighting is vital for a beautiful home and to prevent it from feeling like an office.
The biggest mistake people make is overly bright lighting. When the overhead glare of your lights reminds your guests of their cubicle at work, you've got a problem.
Try to localize your lighting. This means having other sources of light such as:
- Floor Lamps
- Table Lamps
- Task Lighting
- Recessed Lighting
- Accent Lighting
By localizing your lighting, you can create the right kind of light at that moment. If you're entertaining guests in a large room, your overhead lighting will suffice. If it's a more intimate setting, a table lamp with the right lamp shade will offer plenty of light without the harshness of your ceiling lights.
Recessed Lighting
Recessed lighting can also be used as directional lighting, which can be pointed towards the wall, or in some cases even up the wall. By bouncing lights of your walls, it makes a room appear larger.
Dimmers = Can't Live Without It
Dimmers are the ultimate mood setters. It gives you control on how bright you want your room to be, plus they're very easy to install. Here's a simple guide on installing dimmer switches.
Dimmers give you versatility and the ability to have better control of the lighting in your home. They're inexpensive but make a big impact.
Different Bulbs For Different Needs
Choosing the right bulb for each room and light source is important as they all perform very differently.
Incandescent: The old light bulbs that produce a warm, inviting light. However, they're hot to the touch and are very inefficient. These are becoming very hard to find as they're being phased out by more energy-efficient options.
Compact Florescent Bulbs (CFLs): These bulbs are significantly more efficient than incandescent bulbs (75% more efficient!). They last significantly longer and emit a cooler light.
LEDs: As efficient as CFLs but have a much more direct and slightly harsher light. LEDs are best used for task lighting.
Halogen: These give off a bright white light. Many people choose to use these lights in bathrooms and basements, but they also work well for general task lighting.
Shake It Up With Shades
To easily invigorate a room, try replacing your lamp shade. Different lamp shades will be able to give you the type of light you need. For example, using a darker lamp shade in a bedroom can soften the light but still allow you to read in bed comfortably.
Image from John Cullen Lighting
