Lighting: The Decor Tool That Can Change Everything

Lighting

There’s much to take care of when you’re redecorating or designing a room. Between picking the furniture, painting the walls, and selecting those small additional details that’ll bring the room together, you might not give too much thought to the lighting. However, this would be a mistake. Too many people underestimate just how big an impact the right lighting can have. Indeed, it can be the difference between a room looking good and a room looking great. If you’re lining up your next home improvement project, make sure you’re paying enough attention to those bright and mood-setting lights.

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Time-Saving

It’s worthwhile playing around with the lighting before you even start a home decorating project; you might just find that it saves you a lot of time and money. It’s much easier to switch out a light bulb or add a table lamp than to find and select a new paint color scheme, for instance, and by doing so, you might find that you have completely changed the look and feel of the room. As well as costing less time and energy compared to a significant overhaul, it can also make a big statement.

Relaxing Spaces

We spend a lot of our time unwinding (or trying to, at least) in our living rooms, and as such, it’s important that we pay extra attention to the light sources in those rooms. You should be selecting your lighting needs based on three different criteria: the functional, the task, and the mood. The functional is simply just that: light to guide the way. If your living room receives a lot of natural light, especially late in the day, then it might not be necessary to have a large overhead light, but most people will find them necessary. The task lighting will depend on what you like to do in your living room; for example, watching television or reading. That involves a spotlight for reading and angled lighting that won’t interrupt the brightness of the tv. The mood lighting is exactly that: setting the mood so that the living room is cozy and welcoming. Go with dark lampshades, and spread the lights evenly throughout the room.

In the Bedroom

All aspects of our bedrooms need to be on point. While the lighting might not be one of the first tips for creating the perfect bedroom design that you think of, it does play a crucial role. It’s not just about the decor of the room, either. Our bedrooms are made for multitasking, and you’ll want to ensure that you have a variety of lighting types so that you can dress, read, relax, and have a well-decorated place to sleep. Before you begin buying your lights, try to make the most of any natural light that the bedroom receives. A net curtain is particularly recommended if a lot of light gets in, as they remove the harshness of the bright light yet maintain the privacy of the room, all the while basking the room in a light glow.

Of course, those rules only apply to adult’s rooms: children’s places of rest play a different ball game. The emphasis there should be on safe, playful lighting that keeps your child content at night.

Light Cooking

It wasn’t always the case, but recent decor trends have placed a greater importance on the lighting in the kitchen, and indeed it’s usually one of the more challenging areas of the home to light correctly. You’ll need to have lighting that is practical (finding those old spices can be difficult), functional (spotlights for cooking), mood setting (for eating), and ambient, for relaxing and as a decor piece. The main light and spotlights for cooking are relatively straightforward; it’s the mood and ambient lighting you need to pay attention to. If you have a modern kitchen, then a dimmer overhead light and LED lighting around the edges of surface tops and in cabinets will create the tones you’re looking for.

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Trick of the Eye

There’s no greater way to demonstrate just how much of a difference lighting can make than by looking at its effects on perception. If you have a small room that you want to look bigger, avoid having one central overhead light, and instead place lights around the room. You should also opt for lamp shades that make the room feel more spacey and airy than it is, like those with soft colors and light materials.

Conclusion

When it comes to designing or redecorating a room, play around with the lighting. You’ll discover it plays a pretty big role in how the room looks!

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