Good lighting can make or break the ambience of a room
All rooms need a variety of lighting: ambient or background lighting, task lighting for close-up work or accent lighting to highlight special features. You can always update a room and improve the atmosphere with good lighting; equally, nothing makes a room feel dated and unwelcoming like bad lighting.
Think about a lighting scheme before you start to decorate a room. Where is the furniture to go? You can install floor sockets underneath tables or free-standing furniture, avoiding ugly trailing cords. How will you be using the room: is it primarily for use during the day or at night? For study or entertaining?
1 Downlighting is something people love or hate. I think it can be incredibly helpful and effective but, like everything, should be used in its proper place. During the day, rooms with good-sized windows will receive a fair amount of natural light. Yet in the evening, downlighters can help to create a soft overall glow that adds ambience. This is extra-useful in a reception or dining space.
2 Spotlights make a feature out of key possessions and architectural detail. They can also be interesting when used in the corners of rooms, where you would not normally have light. You can then install two different switches, so that any ceiling lights would be on a different circuit to spotlights. A dimmer switch can instantly change the lighting from dramatic to cosy.
3 Lighting is probably the most important aspect of a dining room. It should be subtle, yet sparkling. Bright overhead lights are inappropriate and pendants or chandeliers should be fitted with dimmer switches; you can experiment with brightness levels for different occasions. If it is too dark, you won’t be able to see what you are eating, but if it is too light the atmosphere will be spoilt. Wall lights are a good option and setting wall sconces into a mirror creates a dazzling reflective effect, although they would need to be installed by an expert.
4 You want to achieve different levels of light, which is where table lamps come in and picture/wall lights (depending on how much art is in your home). You can wire these to become either a picture or a wall light. Indirect lighting is an interesting way of adding atmosphere to a room. You can light up a display of objects in a bookcase by carving a track out of each shelf and inserting a run of LED lights. This provides hidden light that casts upwards and downwards, lighting the display without producing any heat.
5 A living room is likely to have different seating areas and each chair needs to have its own lighting. A sofa, for instance, might require a practical yet elegant swing-arm lights to provide good light for reading, while armchairs can be lit effectively with lamps.
6 Staircases are built around awkward angles, so spotlights from the ceiling can create insufficient pools of light and shadows in places, which isn’t very safe. By installing directional lights at floor level, you avoid this and create a more subtle, evenly distributed light . Stairs are also a great place to hang prints or pictures that mean something to you, so it’s important that they are well lit so you can see them.
