Lighting is one of those aspects of a home you often don’t notice when it’s good, but you will notice it when it’s poor. Lighting a room well can not only make it easier to complete tasks when the sun isn’t out, but also make a room or place in your home feel that much cozier. This even applies to your backyard, although oftentimes it’s best to get that handled by an outdoor lighting electrician.
Below we break down 5 ways you can light up your home to give it the feel and comfort you desire.
Installing Ambient Lighting in Your Home
Before you consider any other type of lighting in your home, this is the best place to start. Ambient lighting is designed to create a diffused, even light level in a room. While the term can refer to the entire lighting setup or theme, we’ll be focusing on specific sources you can put in.
Typically ambient lighting comes from ceiling lights as they are the easiest way to fully light up a room. Some good examples of this include a lone bright light, such as a ceiling or pendant light, or multiple lights, such as track lighting or recessed cans.
While warm lighting is a frequent pick, LEDs have enabled people to replicate daylight conditions more closely and avoid the overbearing feeling fluorescent light gives off.
Effectively Setting Up Task Lighting
Task lighting is focused on properly lighting workspaces and should be the primary light in a room. This means it should be roughly 6 to 10 times brighter than your ambient lighting. Unlike ambient lighting, the goal of task lighting is to minimize the need for overhead lights so minimal shadows are cast on a workspace.
Also unlike ambient lighting, there are a multitude of ways to effectively set up task lighting. Popular choices are often desk lamps or floor lamps that are aimed at a desk to reduce shadows when working. Halogen lighting is best for this as it produces clean, clear light that renders accurate colours.
Lighting Up Your Outdoors
When the term outdoor lighting comes to mind people often think of outdoor fireplaces or Christmas lights hung around their patio, but there’s much more to it. Ambient, accent, and task lighting can all be a part of your outdoor lighting layout.
However, we recommend getting the help of an outdoor lighting electrician to install it as it can be a little more technical to set up properly.
Securing Your Home With Security Lighting
Naturally, security lighting is designed to keep your home secure by deterring would-be thieves and lighting them up to be seen by any security camera you’ve also set up. However, it can also be functionally helpful in other ways.
For instance, motion lights can help you see better when coming back to your home late at night so you don’t stumble or fall.
It’s best to position them high enough – ideally, under the eaves – so they can’t be easily disabled or destroyed by intruders, and in a downward position so you don’t illuminate your entire block.
Setting the Mood With Mood Lighting
Finally, one of the last ways to complement your home lighting setup is through mood lighting. This aspect of lighting is perfect for setting, well, the mood of a room from the moment you turn on the lights.
Some great examples of this are fireplaces. They immediately add a feeling of coziness to a living room. Unlike other types of lighting we’ve listed, this kind of lighting is less functional and more about the vibe you want to give off. This could be as simple as installing a dimmer switch for your current lighting fixtures or adding wall sconces lower on your wall to make the ceiling feel lower and the room cozier.
Overall, there are a plethora of lighting setups to choose from to make your home feel like a comfortable place you can truly relax in.
