Guest Blogger: 5 Tips to Achieve your Home’s Best Interior Lighting

Guest Blogger #938, Entry #2339, April 25, 2013

Interior lighting can make the difference between dark, cave-like rooms of years gone by and the bright, modern rooms we enjoy today. The right kind of lighting can drastically alter the feeling of a room and make it far more pleasant to spend time in. When you’re installing or replacing lighting, it’s good to know some basic facts about lighting to make smart decisions.

There are three types of basic lighting: ambient, which is background lighting that keeps a room from being too dark in general, task lighting for close-up work or hobbies, and accent lighting to highlight important and unique features in your home. A mixture of these types of lighting is important to maintain in a well-lit home. Here are five tips on home interior lighting.

Staircase lighting here is for safety and ambiance

Image via: Bryant Hill

1. Staircase lighting is important

Though often neglected and left to last on lists of new lights to purchase, staircases need to be well-lit for obvious reasons. They tend to be built in corners and have angles that make them hard to light, so spotlight lighting placed in the ceiling isn’t enough – angles block the light and you will block it when you stand between the spotlight and stairs. Directional lights on every few steps at floor-level will aim the light where it needs to go.

2. Spotlights can light up corners and features

If you have any architectural quirks to highlight in your home or want to brighten a corner, a spotlight is a good choice. They can be installed with a different switch so they aren’t on the same circuit as ceiling lights in your rooms. Periphery lights can be attached to a different circuit, and you can leave just the peripheral lights on when watching movies or for mood lighting.

Add spot lights to important features in your home

Image via: Virtual Imaging Real Estate Photography

3. Kitchen lighting is important for safety

In the kitchen, you need to be able to chop vegetables safely but you don’t want to be blinded by reflections on shiny surfaces like pots and pans. An overhead light on a dimmer is a great choice so you can keep it soft or turn it up based on your activities such as cooking, homework, or eating. Lower sources can be installed near each work surface, and pendants and under-cabinet lights fill in missing spots.

4. Bathroom lighting covers different activities

In the bathroom, you will need lights around the mirror in order to apply makeup, shave, and do other closeup tasks, but these bright lights are overwhelming when you’re trying to relax and wash up in the bath. Use sidelights or sconces on either side of the mirror plus an overhead light, and consider softer sconce lights on the walls near the bath.

Provide bathroom lighting in a variety of areas

Image via: DKOR Interiors Inc.

5. Mix up the light in your living room

Most living areas have different seating areas that should be lit differently. Sofas can use swing-arm lights like libraries might have to provide reading light, and armchairs are usually bright enough with a nearby lamp. Of course, most living rooms require a lot of light in different areas and too many lampshades will make a room look funny. Make sure you choose the right lampshades to avoid this!

Interior lighting for your home can turn it from a frustrating, gloomy spot you leave as soon as possible in the morning to a place to relax and lounge on weekend mornings. If you find yourself squinting a lot in your house, it probably needs better lighting choices.

Anne McKenna has extensive experience in interior design. Her articles mainly appear in home design blogs. Visit the www.keslighting.co.uk site for more ideas.

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