Light Your Room Like a Designer: Advanced Guide to Lighting
The secret to a beautifully lit home is layering three types of light: ambient (overhead), accent (mood), and task (functional). Most homes fail because they rely on a single overhead fixture. By combining these three layers with the right color temperature and CRI ratings, you can transform any room from flat and uninviting to cozy and professionally designed.
We all have seen beautifully designed houses with that effortless cozy look. As much as we try, sometimes our houses don't have that effect. I'm here to teach you about one of the most important and sadly overlooked part of the design: the lighting!
What Are the Three Types of Lighting Every Room Needs?
Three important points make the lighting setup look high-end, and create those Instagramable corners in your living room or work area.
Ambient/General Lighting is the foundation of your lighting scheme. This includes overhead lamps, chandeliers, and recessed lights that fill the space with overall illumination. Think of it as your "base layer" that ensures you can see and navigate the room safely.
Accent Lighting is one of the most important parts in the design of any room. It gives character and atmosphere to your environment, turning a simple room into an inviting, comfortable space. Think of candles, picture lights, spotlights, and indirect LED strips. Accent lighting also helps attract attention to features you want to highlight while visually camouflaging what you would rather not show.
Task Lighting is pretty straightforward: lighting that helps you complete a specific task. Whether it's a table lamp on your desk, a floor lamp near your sofa, or a bedside pendant lamp, they all have one specific function: to help you complete your tasks more comfortably without straining your eyes.
This is the basis of interior lighting, but there is a lot more to cover if you want to make sure everything looks as if a designer carefully planned it. By the end of this guide, you should be able to create seamless transitions from day to night.
Should I Use Warm or Cool Light Bulbs at Home?
Cool light or warm light? People often have a dilemma about which one is best. The answer is both, depending on the intended use.
Cool-toned lights have been proven to increase alertness and improve focus while reducing drowsiness, making them the best choice for offices, classrooms, and spaces requiring precision. However, cool lights disrupt your circadian rhythm by suppressing melatonin levels, so they are not ideal for home use, especially in the evening.
Warm-toned lights help increase melatonin levels, preparing the body to relax and sleep, making them more suitable for residential use.
If you want to create a balance, use cooler or neutral tones for your ambient lighting and warmer tones for accent lights. This creates depth and visual interest while keeping the overall atmosphere cozy.
How Does Lighting Position Affect the Feel of a Room?
Lighting can strongly influence how a person feels within a space. You can create intimate spaces by using low-level lighting with a small perimeter and diffused distribution, keeping the surrounding space darker. The complete opposite effect is achieved by highlighting the walls and ceiling, which makes the space automatically feel larger and brighter.
See below how different lighting affects the same space. Good or bad lighting can cause drastic changes when transitioning from daylight to night.
The chart below from the Illuminating Engineering Society (IES) shows the effects of different lighting on the human brain.
| Psychological Impact of Lighting | Lighting Effect | Light Distribution |
|---|---|---|
| Tense | Intense direct light from above | Non-uniform |
| Relaxed | Lower overhead lighting with perimeter accents, warm tones | Non-uniform |
| Work/Visual Clarity | Bright task light with less perimeter lighting, cooler tones | Uniform |
| Spaciousness | Bright light on walls and ceiling | Uniform |
| Privacy/Intimacy | Low light at activity space with minimal perimeter lighting | Non-uniform |
What Is CRI and Why Does It Matter for Home Lighting?
Besides the tone and overall brightness, we also need to consider CRI (Color Rendering Index). Each lamp has its place on the Color Rendering Index chart, which measures from 0 to 100. The higher on the chart, the more accurate the rendering of colors will be, always comparing to the sun which has a CRI of 100.
With a high CRI, your environment will look bright and vibrant. With a low CRI, everything will look dull, even if that lamp is technically brighter than one with a higher CRI.
| CRI Ratings Guide | Score | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Excellent | 90-100 | Most accurate color rendering |
| Good | 60-85 | Acceptable, may have some distortion |
| Poor | 0-55 | Distortions in color are obvious |
How to Use Statement Lamps as Decor Pieces
Who said lamps are only meant for lighting? Choose lamps that speak to you and express your personality! A well-chosen statement lamp can become the focal point of an entire room.
Don't shy away from mixing and matching! Play with different heights, colors, and materials. Have fun with your home design. If it doesn't make you happy, you're not doing it right.
Book a free consultation and let our designers create the perfect lighting plan for your space.
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