Before spending time lovingly decorating your home, perhaps you should consider the huge range of lighting available to you. No longer are fancy fittings and modern eye catching designs purely in the realm of the wealthy. A trip to our local DIY store is all you need to open your eyes to the possibilities for lighting in your home.
Many people still abide by the rules of a fluorescent light in the kitchen, batten lamp holder in the bathroom and pendant lamp holders in the lounge and bedroom. This can be improved upon.
Modern light fittings use a variety of new lamps that were not widely available twenty years ago. There are low voltage energy saving bulbs, halogen bulbs and LED lamps among others.
Dimmer switches can now be purchased for less that five pounds. Halogen lamps can usually be dimmed. However, low voltage energy savers can’t. You should always check the box when buying LED lamps. Most cannot be dimmed, but there are some that can, and some others need a special dimmer switch.
Let’s take a look at a few rooms in your home and a few lighting suggestions for you to consider.
Kitchen
Do away with the fluorescent in the middle of the ceiling. Replace it with a smart track light or spot lights. The use of purpose made LED fittings over your worktops - attached to the underside of your wall cupboards - provides a stunning effect. These lights tend to give off a cool, crisp, light LED lighting is common in shops and boutiques for it’s clean, modern feel. It reflects well off shiny surfaces and fittings.
Living Room
Spending money to get the fitting you really love for the centre of your ceiling is recommended here. A more relaxed feeling will be achieved if it uses dimmable lamps. A selection of table lamps around the room will enable you to experiment with different lighting effects. Table lamps don’t have to stand on furniture. Try standing them on the floor in a corner somewhere. Use warm coloured bulbs in them such as orange or yellow. You may need one functional lamp near your favourite chair for reading the tv guide. Installing fire rated downlights into a floating shelf gives an interesting and modern effect.
Bedroom
Bedrooms are best illuminated by bedside lamps. Use warm coloured bulbs, or shades. A LED light fitting above the dressing table mirror will give a good quality light for applying make-up, etc. Shadows add interest, and mirrors can often help to ‘bounce’ light around the room. Candles give a romantic feel to any room in the house especially the bedroom. The gentle flicker causing movement in the shadows is very soothing.
Bathroom
Recessed ceiling lights are probably the most popular in the bathroom. However, they should not be installed above your bathroom mirror as they create shadows. Task lighting for grooming is best achieved with lighting on either side of the mirror. A shower cubicle may have it’s own recessed lighting also, but it should have the correct IP rating for safety. LED lighting makes chrome bathroom fittings gleam.
The above suggestions may give you a place to start from when considering your home lighting project. You will, of course find your own style and balance through trial and error. Changing lighting methods can give a room a different feel instantly. That is why I believe you can never have too many table lamps. Good luck with your efforts and I hope you found this illuminating.
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