Room-By-Room Lighting Ideas To Create A Beautiful Radiant Home
Have you ever found yourself irked by a flickering light, constantly buzzing on and off? The discomfort it creates doesn’t only come from the repetitive pattern (Or the reminder that you need a new lightbulb), but also from the jarring back and forth between light and darkness. Lighting is an often overlooked element that can completely change a room’s energy and atmosphere. A beautifully designed room may not find the appreciation it deserves with limited natural lighting and a single, weak lamp. In a similar sense, fluorescent lamps perfectly suit the environment of a supermarket where you should see every product clearly, but they may prove too harsh for a bedroom. Let’s take a look at the power of lighting as a home design concept and find out how to elevate each room in your home with just lighting.
Understanding Lighting And It’s Different Types
All creatures dictate when to work and when to sleep based on natural lighting, a biological predisposition that highlights just how important it can be in our daily lives. When considering how lighting can affect your mood, vision, health, and productivity, it’s important to learn about its different types to help you implement them in your home.
- Ambient lighting: The general lighting that illuminates the space equally, be it natural lighting pouring in from the window or an overhead lamp or chandelier. This lighting is typically present in all rooms in the house and can be combined with other types.
- Task lighting: As its name suggests, it is used for specific tasks or purposes such as reading (desk lamp) or lighting a dark cabinet (in-cabinet LED strips). It is bright and direct and doesn’t have to be on as long as it’s not in use.
- Accent lighting: This lighting is used to draw attention to a certain feature or object, such as a small lamp hanging over a sculpture or artwork. It can be decorative and guiding in a visual sense.
- Decorative lighting: This lighting is like the cherry on top; A extra touch to your space’s design that is more for aesthetic purposes rather than function. A good example would be wall sconces or decorative lamps or a chandelier hanging over a dining table.
The Living Room
The living room is all about personal taste. It should have an inviting, comfortable atmosphere to serve its purpose as the “living” room where people can hang out and relax, but it ultimately should reflect what you want to see in your home. Living rooms are versatile, start with a basic overhead lamp for overall function and to enhance the inviting vibe. Got a TV mounted? Try out decorative LED strips around or behind the screen for added ambiance (you can sync them with the TV for an extra trendy touch). A tall standing lamp can double as lighting and decoration, and it can be combined with accent lights to create a dim, calm atmosphere that brings the focus to interesting designs in the room, giving you the option to switch up the room’s energy without changing the furnishing.
Take the picture above for example, minimalistic in design yet the plentiful natural lighting gives it a warm energy. The single lamp next to the TV is good for when the overhead ambient lighting is too much, keeping the room calm with just enough visibility.
The Kitchen
When it comes to the kitchen, natural lighting is king. It is usually paired with typical ambiant lighting for functionality, but you can also add in-cabinet LED strips for visibility and added charm, as well as some wall-mounted lamps to enhance both ambiance and functionality without eating up needed counter space. But because natural lighting isn’t always easy to achieve, especially in apartment living, you can replicate or replace its ambiance with bright overhead lighting paired with statement pendant lights over the island. The kitchen should be well-lit as it is a high-function room, so consider peppering around wall sconces, LED strips, and small lamps where overhead or natural lighting doesn’t reach. The photo above perfectly combines natural lighting with beautiful hanging lights adding an antique feel, and small hanging bulbs over the counter that are useful for the evening time.
The Bedroom
When curating lighting options for your bedroom, think comfort. This is the room you retire to after a long day of work and chores. It’s the room you lounge in on lazy days, so, in turn, its lighting should be warm and welcoming, going hand-in-hand with the design and colors of the room. Fairy lights (whether the small ones or chunkier bulbs) are a great option for inviting decorative lighting with decent functionality for keeping the room just bright enough. Because it’s not a very task-oriented room (unless you have a desk in it) focus on decorative and functional lights. Wall-mounted lamps, standing lamps, vanity lights, and tinted lamps all enhance the aesthetic appeal of the room while keeping a calm and cozy ambiance. An extra step that can give you more freedom with lighting would be to install lights with brightness levels. This could help a lot if you live in a small space and still want to play around your bedroom’s mood using lighting. The photo above is a perfect example of cozy, comfortable, and moderately lit. Not too dark that it strains the eyes, not too bright that it jolts your mind awake with harsh lighting and makes it hard to sleep.
The Bathroom
Because bathrooms are not always the biggest space, wall-mounted lamps and bright overhead lighting are the usual go-tos. When it comes to your main bathroom, focus on creating a well-lit space with soft accents to support your daily routines with a decorative touch. As for a guest/extra bathroom, you can go for a dimmer, cooler ambiance that replicates the lighting of an upscale restaurant’s bathroom or powder room in a cozy, homey way. Consider tinted lights and wall-mounted lamps to maintain functionality but boost the focus on the aesthetic appeal.
The right lighting doesn’t just illuminate; it invites you to experience the space in a whole new way. It’s like a secret ingredient that can make your home feel more alive and welcoming. Play around with your options, find out what works for you and emits the mood you want to create, and, most importantly, create a space that makes you feel at ease.
Written by: Samah ElBashir