Top Interior Lighting Tips for your Home

It may be easy to overlook, but one of the first things you should pay attention to when renovating or remodeling your living space is the interior lighting situation. Everyone has different taste and preferred level of lighting for their home, but we have a few expert home lighting tips that can help put your house in the best light.

What Do You Envision as Your Overall Lighting Goal?

An ideal lighting design goal ultimately creates an overall glow, casting a flattering light while still providing enough functional wattage to see what you are doing at night. These illuminating ideas regarding various lamps and their placement, different fixtures, and bulbs, along with various room-by-room tips, will light the way to a speedy and effective renovation.

What Kind of Lighting Works For Each Specific Room?

In order to create the ideal level of light for a home, different elements must be considered in contrast to public places. There are two basic rules of thumb to keep in mind: Keep a mix or assortment of light sources at varying levels, as this keeps the most flattering ambience and level of light. Also, depending on the various activities you do in different spaces, appropriate and specific task lighting is necessary for whatever you want to do in that space (reading, makeup, cooking dinner, getting dressed). Below are some tips to help you figure out how to choose a light fixture or lighting scheme for your home.

Living Room

Three of the four corners should be lit, focusing one of those lights on an object you would like to highlight, whether it be a piece of art, a beautiful plant, or a statement furniture piece like a bold chair or reading nook. Keep a variation of table lamps and floor lamps to cast light in different angles. Some of the lights should have a downward glow and while others shine upward. Keep the option of reading in as many seats as possible in the room by using numerous down-glowing lamps on three-way switches. If you have an overhead fixture, put it on a dimmer, as this allows you to change the level of light depending on your activities or mood.

Dining Room

When entertaining a dinner party or a holiday event, place your table in the brightest spot in the room. Use a chandelier or a beautiful hanging fixture above the table, keeping the wattage at 100. For the rest of the room, indirect lighting works best—it’s relaxing and flattering. For a subtler ambience, place small table lamps along the sideboard or wrought iron sconces along the wall to lend the space a subtle glow. If you own a glass-front china cabinet, battery-powered votives can add a nice touch. When hosting a dinner, use votive candles.

Kitchen

Focus on overhead lighting (usually having a dimmer that you can adjust while cooking), as lamps on countertops and surfaces can take up unnecessary space and add clutter to a room that is generally pretty full and busy. Lower sources installed under counters can work nicely to illuminate work surfaces. The same applies to under-cabinet lights. If you have a nice lamp that provides ample lamp for the kitchen, keep it on the middle of the table and far away from any sink.

Bedroom

Since it is your personal abode for cozy comfort, aim to create an insular atmosphere. This can be achieved by placing reading lamps or sconces by the bed so they may be used when you want to read in bed and relax. Avoid pointing the lamps directly at the bed. If your room has track fixtures, keep them angled away from the bed and pointed toward the dressing area so the light will be optimally used. If you own a low bedside table, place a demure, intimate lamp with a tinted low-wattage bulb to imitate candlelight.

Bathroom

The best thing to do for spaces you apply makeup or need the mirror close-up is to utilize sidelights, such as a pair of sconces flanking the mirror. An overhead light helps remove shadows from your face and also provides full light for the room, which is quite useful when scrubbing tiles and more. For a large space, use an overhead light directly over the counter and shower.