With the ability to largely affect the mood of a room, getting the lighting plan right is critical. Lighting is one of the most important elements to consider when designing a space. In fact, you can change the color of your room just by brightening or dimming it!
In addition to altering the mood of the occupants in a room, lighting can transform the room in shape and size.
In a space that is small, painting the walls a light color and having extra lighting reflecting off the walls and ceiling will help the room appear larger. Choice of light fixtures is also important. Recessed lighting can add a soft glow to a room without protruding into the space, which can also help the room appear larger.
In a residential setting, the most important factor in lighting your home is what you yourself prefer. However, one key step everyone can take to create a calm, pleasing environment is to mimic outdoor lighting during the day and soft glowing lighting at night.
In residential settings, I like to use lights that feature warmer color temperatures – those that fall in the 2,700 to 3,000 Kelvin range and lower the intensity with dimmers. Lowering the intensity of lighting creates a much more relaxed, intimate environment. I suggest having dimmers installed or the use of automation for all lights to create flexibility in the light intensity and temperature in both interior and exterior spaces.
When lighting for a home, the purpose of each area being lit comes into play. The kitchen, a work space, demands brighter, high CRI (color accurate) light while the living room calls for more mellow, warmer lighti
ng. Art lighting is ideally 2700 kelvin CRI 95 light which brings out dolor and detail to the best level.
Natural light — or daylighting — provides the stimulation needed to regulate human circadian rhythms, or the internal body clock. Research suggests indoor light should mimic the color of light we experience outside by seeking similar gradations over time: “…cool light in the morning, to white light at midday, to warm light in the evening.”
We recently specified LED “skylights” that imitate the look of a window and the sky in a retirement home we designed. These “skylights” shed light that is the same temperature as natural light — offering an open, airy feeling during the day and helping the residents to feel more positive and energetic and develop more regular sleep and wake patterns.
Taking the time to get the lighting right is important to the overall success of any design. With continued research and innovation in lighting, homeowners and designers have many options when it comes to selecting the right lighting to set the right mood for their space.
With its versatility in brightness levels and light colors, designers continue to turn to LED lighting. Advances in LED technology have led to several new fixtures, including LED skylights that imitate the look of a window and the sky. These “skylights” shed light that is the same temperature as natural light — offering an open, airy feeling and helping the room’s occupants to feel a more positive vibe.
With continued research and innovation in lighting, homeowners and designers have many options when it comes to selecting the right lighting to set the right mood for their space.
Linda Price-Bennett
Currator of The Good Life ™