Bad lighting can completely ruin the mood of a room.
It’s hard to curl up with a good book if there’s bright light blinding you from every angle, and it’s hard to eat dinner on the back deck if there are only one or two dull lights. But if you install custom lighting throughout your house, you won’t have to worry about things like that.
Take a look at these quick tips on how to improve your home interior with custom lighting.
Living Room Lighting
Don’t just stick to one kind of lighting. Lighting the room with only floor lamps or only ceiling lights is boring and doesn’t light the spaces thoroughly. Think about putting a variety of lights in a variety of places, including some close to the ground and some high up the walls.
But don’t get too carried away. You don’t want every corner of the room to be as bright as the others.
This can lead to light fatigue, or an overwhelmingly bright, shadowless room.
Keep the brightest lights on the main sections of the room or to give attention to pictures or objects. Other lights in the room should be dimmer for depth.
Kitchen Lighting
The most common lighting mistake in the kitchen is putting the majority of your lights in the middle of the ceiling.
People need light on the counters where they’re cutting and cooking. Light on the roof doesn’t light up much more than the floor directly under it.
Consider putting directed light on the countertops and islands. You can also install strip lights in the small spaces between cabinets and the floor. This will give the kitchen a nice glow even when you aren’t cooking.
Bathroom Lighting
This is the only room in the house where you can stop thinking about light fatigue, especially around the mirrors. In this case, you don’t want any shadows on your face when you’re getting ready for the day.
This means putting lights above and on both sides of the mirrors. Of course, you’ll also want more lights in other parts of the bathroom, especially if the room is large.
There’s nothing worse than stepping into the shower and realizing the curtain blocks most of your light. So make sure there is plenty of light near the bathtub as well.
Outdoor Lighting
If you have a grill, you need task lighting. If you have stairs, you need step lights.
But again, don’t add too much light. It’s nice to have some ambient lighting around the deck or front porch, but you don’t want to completely overtake the natural beauty of the night.
That said, if you live on a large property, you may want to choose some trees or other plants a distance away from the house and light those as well. That will help break up the big, sometimes creepy wall or darkness around the house.
Choose Your Own Custom Lighting
If you don’t have time or money to make all these custom lighting changes right now, the best thing you can do is install dimmer switches for all your lights. If you want the room a little dimmer, you can create your own ambiance by adjusting the brightness.
Need some help finding the right lighting for your home? Check out our custom lighting services.
