When you are building or remodeling a home, picking the
right type of lighting can completely change the look and feel of the
room. Those who choose a more subdued
light may be looking for a certain mood in a room, while bright lights may
improve the functionality of a room. In
your home, you will most likely have all three types of the basic types of
lighting. Each of them works together to
accent your home and focus the attention where you want it to be. But before you choose the lighting for a
specific room, you must understand the difference and the function behind each
type of lighting.
Ambient Lighting
This type of lighting is also known as general
lighting. This provides the overall
light in a room. For example, a modern flush mount ceiling light or over your kitchen table would be considered ambient
lighting. This type of lighting gives
off a comfortable amount of brightness without adding glare to a room. Ambient lighting is also necessary to help
you see and walk around safely through a room or a hallway. In smaller rooms, like closets and laundry
rooms, this type of lighting may also serve as the main light in the room. Having a central ambient lighting source in
every room is a big part of having a functional light plan in your home.
Task Lighting
This type of lighting helps you perform certain tasks. For example, you may use a reading lamp for
specific light in a certain area, or puck lights under your cabinets to help
you see when you are cooking or cleaning.
These lights are good for doing homework, playing games or doing other
simple tasks while balancing your checkbook.
Along with lights that are hooked to your cabinets or walls, you can
also use floor or desk lamps to achieve this type of lighting and provide
illumination in the area you are performing your task.
Accent Lighting
This type of lightings adds drama to a room. It can be used essentially as a decoration in
and of itself. These lights provide
lighting on a specific area. For
example, you may install lamps over paintings or pictures you’d like guests to
focus on. These lights can also be used
to highlight the texture of a wall, a houseplant, a sculpture, or anything else
that is really important to you. These
lights are also used outdoors to highlight landscaping or patio areas. You can use this lighting to highlight
anything you’d like, but it does take up to three times as much light to be
effective.
Combine The Three
A good lighting plan for a home or a room will combine the
three types of lighting and make all three work together without being too bright
or providing a glare. In each room, you
will likely have examples of all three types of lights in order to make the
room the most functional. You can also
add accents such as candles or tea light candles
to any room in order to manipulate the light and mood of the room. Manipulating your light is a great way to
change any room in your home to what you want it to be.
I like the ideas on lighting. I think I will get some of the beautiful tea lights for my place. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteThis is a good summary of the variety of lighting needs.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the ideas! My 60's home lacks great lighting and I need all the ideas I can get.
ReplyDeleteI love the the tea lights you display here! I love candle light and those are so cute and attractive! Thanks for the great tips
ReplyDeletewow thats really cool i like the ides of the lightning
ReplyDeleteThanks for the information - my kitchen is being remodeled and I have been thinking about lighting and how I can best choose the correct fixtures.
ReplyDelete