Lighting plays an important aspect in any interior space and can be very powerful in setting the mood and ambience of a room or simply ‘bringing it to life’ and making it functional. Changing or updating the lighting in your home will give it an instant face-lift and dramatically improve the look and usability of your home. When renovating or decorating, it’s amazing how many people consider lighting as an afterthought, when it can do so much to enhance the character or functionality of a home.
Lighting can be categorised into four types. When re-evaluating or planning the lighting in your home, it is useful to look at each room/ space independently and figure out which of these categories the lighting in that room should fall into. By deciding what you want the lighting to achieve in each room/ space, and categorising it into one of the four categories, you will be able to decide on the right lighting for each room – should it create a relaxing mood, be functional or simply enhance the character or style of the room. The four types of lighting are;
- Ambient lighting such as recessed LED downlights. If you haven’t already switched to LED lighting in rooms such as loungerooms and bedrooms you really should prioritise it. They are much cheaper to run, are dimmable and a great way of creating ‘natural lighting’ in your home, particularly useful in rooms without much natural lighting. Also the quality and lumen output of LEDs today mean you only need a few for any room. For example an average sized bedroom may only need one or two.
- Task Lighting for rooms, or specific areas for reading, cooking, home offices, homework desks etc… This could be a combination of LED downlights that allow you to crank up the brightness of an area and even possibly lamps. In kitchens you can install recessed lighting under cabinets, that not only make food preparation much easier with direct lighting, but can add to the atmosphere of the room. When planning the layout of your home, think of where you might need more direct, high lumen lighting depending on your family’s needs. Do your kids do their homework at the dining room table? If so, you can still have your atmospheric pendant hanging in the middle of the table for dinner parties, combined with downlights on either side of it to turn on when you are making more practical use of the room. Another form of task lighting is using illuminating wall lights in bathrooms. Bathrooms are a perfect example where we need to use task lighting. Ensure globes selected for bathrooms are as close to natural light as possible.
- Accent lighting, can be used to highlight features in your home, such as artwork. If you have a piece of art or a print you would like to showcase, it’s add some accent wall lighting to either side of the painting so it makes it a focal point and highlights the art as a feature piece in your home. Adding accent lighting to your stair cases, can create beautiful character to your home, creating a gentle light source.
Accent lighting is a great way to add ambience to your outdoor areas as well; uplights installed near garden features or along pathways for example, or LED strip lighting on deckstairs and rails.
- Decorative lighting can add character to your home and allow you to showcase your unique style and compliment your home in so many ways. If you have an older style home, you can add elegance and old-world charm with a pendant chandelier, or example.
Are you based in Hornsby, the North Shore, Castle Hill or surrounds and need to update your lighting? For an obligation free quote or just a chat about updating your lighting, please get in touch with us today – we have a great team of local electricians ready to help you update your home with smart and stylish lighting choices.