Lighting is one of the most effective ways to make a dramatic statement in any room of your home. And many times the great effect lighting can have on the overall atmosphere of a home is often given too little attention.

The right lighting can have a huge impact on the ambiance of your home. You can easily make a large room feel more intimate or a small room feel more open with the right lighting. Create a warm, relaxing mood with soft light or a bright energetic mood for entertaining with brighter light. With the right lighting techniques, you can switch from one mood to another to fit the occasion.

The Importance of a Lighting Plan

It’s no less important to design a lighting plan for your home than creating a plan for furnishings and flooring. Placing a high priority on the lighting for each room will go a long way in helping you achieve the overall ambiance you want for your home.

The basic starting point is to think about the important elements you want to highlight in each room. To help you determine what type of atmosphere you want to achieve in each space, ask yourself a couple of important questions, “What will the room be used for most often?” and “Who will use the room most often?”

Many rooms will, of course, serve multiple purposes and will require more than one type of lighting.

Lighting and Color

Choose lighting that will reflect and bring more light to a light colored room. Darker colored rooms absorb the light, which will make your room feel even darker. So it’s important to choose lighting that will enhance your spaces.

A fresh coat of paint and well-placed lighting can do wonders to change the overall feel of any room. A new room color can bring new light into a room. You can either complement your lighting fixtures or provide a new opportunity to update fixtures and lighting accessories for your room.

Consider Lighting Categories

An effective lighting plan will combine all three kinds of lighting to bring functionality and style together.

Accent Lighting

Using accent lighting such as track lighting, recessed lighting, or wall-mounted sconces creates interest and adds a dramatic effect in your rooms. You can use spotlights to accentuate paintings, sculptures, or collections. Accent lighting, to be most effective, requires at least three times as much light to be effective as the general lighting of the room.

Task Lighting

Task lighting provides specific lighting for activities such as reading, writing, arts and crafts, homework, and playing games. Task lighting can include recessed lighting, track lighting, pendant lighting or lamps. The object of task lighting is to cut down on eyestrain by avoiding shadows and glares.

General or Ambient Lighting

General lighting provides an easy comfort level of lighting in your rooms. Types of general lighting include ceiling mounted fixtures, wall mounted fixtures, recessed or track lighting, and chandeliers. Choosing the right level of lighting can have a dramatic effect on how comfortable your rooms feel.

Lighting Controls

Don’t overlook one of today’s greatest options for lighting flexibility – control switches. You’ll find different types of controls that let you choose the amount of light you want for different times of day and different activities. With just the touch of a button you can change the whole mood of a room and lower the light level to conserve energy and release less heat when the weather is warm.

Making wise lighting choices in the planning stages of your building or remodeling project can save energy and money in the future. It can also provide a much higher level of comfort and efficiency you will be proud of when your project is complete.

DirectBuy carries a variety of lighting for your home such as kitchen lighting, bathroom lighting and outdoor lighting in various styles at wholesale prices. A one-sop shop for your entire home remodeling and decorating needs, DirectBuy has virtually everything – including the kitchen sink – to make your DIY projects as easy as possible.

Tags: Accent Lighting, Kitchen Light Fixtures, Kitchen Lighting, Task Lighting

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 2nd, 2008 at 4:17 pm and is filed under Lighting. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.