Using Lighting in the Home

Our home is essentially a reflection of ourselves; it is the place we spend time with friends and family relaxing and creating memories. Anybody who enters your home will initially create an opinion of you. Different personalities prefer different designs and this is a massive part of your home. Along with this, how clean your home is allows any guests you may be entertaining to build a first impression of you and your personal upkeep.

We don’t create our perfect home simply for other people though; in fact your home should bring you a sense of achievement and pride. Along with pride comes your homes curb appeal and valuation. How you look after your home and the design and accessories you use are as strong as the layout. One accessory or feature that is sometimes overlooked by many homeowners is the use of lighting around the home and today I intend on explaining exactly how influential your lighting choices can be. While also giving you some specific lighting options you can use.

Adding a personality to your home through lighting choices

The lighting options you select have a massive effect on the mood, tone and personality of any room in your home. Think about particular rooms in your home, while you may need bright bold lighting in your kitchen you may want something completely different in your living room for winding down.

The types of lighting and their look are just as important as your decor, the lamp shade or light bulb you choose project the tone and mood to the room you want. Think about it you wouldn’t pick a large, bold coloured lamp to sit in the corner of your living room or bedroom if you’re looking for a natural, warm horizon of cosiness.

One good way to decide on which lighting options you will choose is to think about the purpose of the room before deciding on the type and style of lighting you want. Are you looking to revamp your socialising area such as your open plan kitchen? If so your lighting may want to be bright and with a higher Watt bulb compared to a corner light in your living room that will only be turned on at night time. It is worth noting that you can use more than one type of lighting option in a room, to cater for your specific needs.

Good lighting

You may not actually notice that your home is poorly lit; but you may recognise some of these symptoms… Headaches and sore eyes are one of the most natural symptoms of your lighting being too bright. On the other hand think about the times when you struggle to see what you’re doing in the kitchen, or that argument about who’s getting up to switch the bedroom light on. Getting your lighting options right will ensure your home feels spacious, welcoming and also clean.

The key to getting lighting right is that you want to be able to make your home adapt to different times of the day and also the difference in your mood. With simply the flick of a switch you should be able to transform your home from a bright, proverbial essence to a warm, rustic haven.

Various lighting options

There are many different types of lighting you can choose, some of which will suit different places in your home more than others. However there is no substitute for the quality that natural light provides a household with.

Natural light in the home

You need to think about the aspect of the room when you want to use natural light. All different facing rooms will provide a different looking natural light, they are as follows:

• North facing: cold and harsh rather than direct sunlight. Artists choose north-facing studios because the light gives truer colour rendition.
• East facing: bright first thing in the morning followed by long shadows and no sun later in the day. Use artificial lighting to control glare and maximise the available natural light in north- and east-facing rooms.
• South facing: warm light all day, although it changes throughout the day and year. The midday sun is usually so bright it flattens everything out. Choose south-facing rooms for the kitchen, main living areas and other rooms you spend a lot of time in.
• West facing: sunlight at the hottest part of the day, which can cause glare. In the late afternoon, you’ll get long shadows and softer light.

The source for this information was the BBC.

Lighting for occasions

If you are hosting a dinner, party or any other special event in your home lighting plays a massive contributing factor to the look and feel of the place. Using reflective objects such as mirrors placed opposite candles or even a window allow light to be bounced around the whole room. This allows the room to look and feel bigger than usual. Two little festive ideas are to use mirror balls or reflective baubles to add to the light bouncing around.

Lamp shades

If you are stuck with the difficult task of lighting a room with a high ceiling and ensuring it feels as cosy as possible you should look to add several types of small lamps. Cluster them together in corners of the room or on a centre piece such as a coffee table to create little pools of light. These allow the light to be lower than they would usually be.

LED Lighting

LED lighting is a very strong option; it will work best in a bathroom or perhaps a games room. They can also be used in the kitchen. They project high intensity bright lighting options that add to a bold, bright room.

Using lighting is the perfect home improvement; we can convey and portray a new feeling to a room by getting lighting right. You need to consider the mood, the feeling and also the uses of a particular room before selecting the right light options.

This article was provided by Ryan Hirst, Ryan is the marketing and media assistant at Eurofit Direct, an office and kitchen furniture manufacturer in the UK, His role within the company includes running the company blog and handling social media portals.