Bright Ideas - A Guide to Lighting Each Room In Your Home

We homeowners go to great lengths whenit comes to decorating and furnishing ourdwellings. We spend ages choosing justthe right shade of paint, and just as longagain to ensure that curtains and carpetsperfectly complement our color schemes.Oddly though, we seem to pay far lessattention when it comes to lighting ourrooms to their best advantage, preferringto rely on existing light fittings to do theirjob without really considering how well-chosen and positioned lighting canaccentuate and enhance the mood of aroom. This simple guide suggests how youcan light each room in your home to best effect, creating a living environment that is practical,inviting and relaxing.

Lighting the Entrance/Hall

There are few sights as comforting as the cozy glow of a hallway seen from outside on a cold, darkwinter's night. The entrance to your home is the first place visitors see and should be lit as invitinglyas possible. Soft or diffused lighting such as that provided by wall lights, a lantern or a simplechandelier-effect light fitting and combined with a well-placed mirror can lend your hallway aninviting, homely, yet spacious feel.

Lighting the Living Room

Controllable light levels are key to creating the right mood for a living room; if you're watching TVyou don't want a floodlit room in which you can't see the screen for reflected light. However, ifyou're reading you want as much available light as is necessary to prevent eye-strain. The answer isto position one or more free-standing floor or table lamps in addition to the living room's main lightfitting. Operated independently of each other you can then set the lighting level and mood of theliving room appropriate to your activity. Although not essential, a main light source that is dimmablecan add to the ambiance of a living room.

Lighting the Kitchen

Appropriate, practical lighting is essential in a kitchen. Directional light fittings, such as spotlightswhich can be freely positioned are ideal for illuminating work surfaces and ovens. A number of smallhalogen lamps recessed into the kitchen ceiling provide a neat, modern and subtle light source andare an excellent choice to install if you're planning a complete kitchen renovation.

Lighting the Dining Room

Whether part of a combined kitchen-diner or a separate room altogether, the dining room is anotherarea that benefits from more than one light source. Ideally, the dining table should be situatedbeneath the dining room's main light fitting, and this should provide enough light that diners can seeeach other as well as what they are eating. However this light should not be so bright as to create asterile 'clinical effect; the dining room is a place of relaxation and enjoyment. Pre- or post-meal, soft,additional lighting in the form of wall lights or portable lamps can be used to create an informal andcomfortable mood.

Lighting Bedrooms

Ideally, bedroom lighting should be tailored to the individual needs of the occupants; independentbedside lamps are a must for a shared bedroom, to minimize the likelihood of one sleeper disturbingthe other. Bedroom lighting should not be harsh, and should contribute to an overall ambience ofunwinding and relaxation whilst remaining practical for tasks such as dressing, making the bed andso on.

Lighting the Bathroom

Bathroom lighting can be tricky as ideally it serves two purposes; it must be bright enough that wecan safely undertake all of our personal grooming regimes such as shaving or applying make-up, butat the same time it should not be stark, cold or unwelcoming. A bathroom mirror with integratedlighting is useful for grooming tasks, whilst recessed spotlights can provide maximum light withoutdominating the bathroom. For maximum effectiveness these may controlled independently, allowingsingle features of the bathroom such as a shower cubicle or sink to be illuminated, or adjusted via adimmer switch mounted outside the bathroom.

O'Brien's Lighting is a retailer of light fixtures and modern lighting

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