Even the most lavishly furnished and spacious home can be let down by a failure to get the lighting right. A space with huge potential can easily be made to feel dank and dingy. In most cases, however, it doesn’t have to be this way.
Let’s take a look at a handful of choice tips that will help you get the best from your lighting and maximise the potential of your home.
Utilise Natural Light
The best kind of light is the kind that comes directly from the sun. It’s free, for one thing, and it’s of a quality that human beings are naturally inclined to enjoy. You can bring the maximum amount of light in by deploying lightweight curtains and blinds, placing a few mirrors, and getting rid of any large, shadow-casting objects.
By filling the room with natural light, you’ll eliminate small shadows and ultimately make the room feel larger.
Layer Your Lighting
When light comes from one source, or even just one kind of source, then you’ll risk creating lots of unpleasant shadows. In most cases, what’s required is a combination of ambient lighting, task lighting, and accent lighting, as each give a different effect to a room. Ambient lighting fills the space, giving it a warm and full feel. Task lighting tends to illuminate a focus point to draw attention to that area. And accent lighting creates more of an abstract, visual interest in the room.
You might do this in a home office with the help of overhead downlighters for ambience, a lamp on your desk for focus, and some strip lights to draw attention to photos and paintings for visual effect. You can control these lights depending on what you’re doing in the room at any given time.
Incorporate Versatile Lighting Fixtures
In some cases, you might find that certain kinds of light can fulfil different roles. For example, a dimmable lamp can provide both ambience and task lighting. Incorporating stylish lanterns can add both character and functionality. You might even set up a system of timers to ensure that your lighting conforms to your schedule.
This approach means that you’ll spend less, ultimately, and you’ll also get the freedom you need to make adjustments. After all, you’re unlikely to arrive at a perfect lighting setup on the first attempt; it’s all about experimenting to see what works.
Use Light Colours and Reflective Surfaces
Different coloured lights can help add visual interest to the space. You might think about using reflective objects and surfaces to distribute the light, too. Smart bulbs are a great way to introduce colour to a space and to offset the natural hue of the room. Get it right, and you’ll be able to dial in exactly the right shade of warm white!