When decorating a room, most people put tons of time and energy into choosing the right wallpaper or furnishings, but forget that every one of those pieces can look better with the right lighting. Updating your lighting is also a quick and inexpensive way to freshen up the look of any room in your home.
Lighting in the home serves two purposes – it is practical, and it is decorative. You need to see what you are doing when you want to pay the bills or work on some knitting, but you also want your room to look its very best. The mistake most people make when designing their lighting is to expect one or two fixtures to take care of every possible lighting need, but most rooms require a little more finesse. Decorators divide lighting into three types – general lighting, accent lighting, and task lighting. So to best figure out how many lighting fixtures you are going to want, first analyze what purpose you want those fixtures to serve.
General lighting is practical, and is the first type of lighting you should address. This is the basic light that gets turned on when it gets dark outside, the one that will prevent you tripping over the dog or the ottoman when you are walking through the room. In many homes, the general light is provided by overhead fixtures. If this is the case, choose that lighting fixture first, because once it is properly installed, you are less likely to want to make changes to it. Coordinating the style of your other lamps with the main fixture will be easier that trying to do it the other way around. If you do not have or want an overhead fixture, place two or three (or more, depending on the size of the room) lamps spaced around the room so as to provide a balanced amount of light. Don’t worry about covering every inch of the room, you are going to address that more specifically later. Tall lamps work well for general lighting purposes, the higher the bulb is off of the ground, the more easily its glow will spread. If you are using several lamps at the same time for your general light, consider having them all plugged into one circuit, activated by one wall switch, so you can light the whole room with one touch.
Next, consider task lighting. If the kids do homework in one corner of the living room or you always sort the mail at the same desk, place a fixture there that can light your way while you are working, but be turned off when it isn’t needed. While you want every lighting fixture in your room to look like it belongs there, fixtures for task lighting can be a little more unobtrusive from a design standpoint. They are the workhorses in your room, and need to be able to handle steady use, and a high enough wattage of bulb that you can see what you are doing. On/off switches for task lights should be readily accessible, as they are likely to be frequently turned on and off.
Accent lighting serves a primarily decorative purpose. A well-placed lamp can draw attention to the perfect antique desk sitting in the corner, or to the beautiful lamp and shade itself. Other types of fixtures, like track or recessed lighting, can have their beams directed at a particular piece of art, such as a painting, print, or textile hanging on the wall, causing the visitor to focus their attention there. Experiment with different wattages of light bulbs, different types of light (fluorescent, incandescent or halogen) and even with different colors (using overlays or softly colored light bulbs) until you get exactly the effect you are looking for. Your home is the setting for your life; light it accordingly. You will be amazed at how the right lighting can add another level of interest to your home décor.
