Top 5 Lighting Tips For Your Home

Lighting is potentially the single most important factor in creating any kind of environment, which is why any hotel or restaurant will have a strong focus on lighting (remember all the different lamps and light switches in all of the places you have ever stayed in and you will get the point!). Lighting can make or break any environment, and the home is one place where lighting should be prioritized, but often isn’t. Today we are going to go through our top lighting tips for your home, to make your environment as good as possible.

1.) Natural light

If you are lucky enough to have a source of natural light in your home, either through bay windows, floor to ceiling windows, or even just windows then it is important to make the best use of them. Clean windows regularly to keep that flow of light coming in and place furniture so that the light is either behind you or to the left or right of you (not in front of you) when you are seated. Natural light coming through windows is best minimally dressed, to give the effect of being outside (even though you are inside) as this will create a fresh, clean and lively effect on your home, even when the weather is poor. If you don’t have any source of natural light in your home, look for where it can be added. Bear in mind that natural light coming through ugly or unkempt windows and frames can be awful – so if you can update and upgrade, do so.

2.) Central light

Most rooms in a home will have a central, main light source in the room and this is most commonly the centre of the ceiling, or some other fixture on the ceiling that the room mostly depends on for its primary source of light. If you are still lighting your room from a single bulb hanging from the ceiling, then you are wasting a great opportunity. The best form of lighting is diffused light, which is basically light that is coming from multiple sources, all over the room. When light is diffuse it highlights every area equally in a soft lighting, instead of focusing light (often yellow light) on once central area of a room, creating shadows all around the rest creating the sensation of small or shrinking space and darkness. Another way to distribute light is through the use of good lampshades, or lighting fixtures that create the effect of light coming from multiple light sources to help things along.

3.) Dim light

Not all light is best for all times of day and all activities and this is where you will need other light sources to create the effect and mood that you want in a room. Dimmer switches are good for rooms that require a simple dulling down at a certain time of day (such as a kids room or a living room for example). For more effective mood lighting, lamps are a very good investment. Lamps can be pretty and they can also change the look and feel of a room completely. Like with other good lighting techniques, light coming from multiple sources and not just one single source is better as you don’t want a spotlight, you want more of a glow effect.

4.) Up lights

Up lights are excellent in bedrooms and bathrooms and are most commonly found installed in the bed frame, desk or mirror. Up lights are fitted into the base of a unit, so that when they are switched on the light in coming up from a source below. This will naturally diffuse the light, focusing the harsh light on the bottom and the soft light above, creating a nice glow that highlights areas of a room, and getting rid of room size reducing shadows.

5.) Decorative lights

Another great way to create an atmosphere in a room is to use lighting that doubles up as decoration, and for this lanterns, lamps and other similar types of light fixtures can work fabulously. You don’t have to limit yourself to one lamp, one light source, or one lighting fixture – you can use as many as you want to create an effect. At Christmas time, everyone is happy to use multiple light sources in the form of fairy lights, candle lights, fires and other decorative lights, and can recognize the lovely effect this kind of effort has – but as soon as Christmas is over, away go all the lights and we are back to the single light source in the centre of the ceiling. Rather than leaving all of the imagination and creativity to Christmas alone, look for ways to incorporate this creativity into day to day aspects of your home’s lighting.

Greg is a light and decor expert who recommends Speedy Services for tool hire. Helping people create the home of their dreams is his passion.