Lighting

The Simple Guide: Home Lighting Design Basics

Lighting plays such an important role in home design. It can turn an ordinary room into a designer looking one. Lighting can change how a room feels, making it look more spacious or making it feel cozy and relaxing. This post goes over lighting design basics, from the different types of lighting you’ll have in a home and design tips to safety and security lighting ideas.

The 3 Types of Home Lighting

There are three types of lighting you can add to a room (or your garden):

Ambient Lighting is general lighting in a room. This is usually in the form of ceiling and wall lights.
Task Lighting. If you have a specific task that needs to be done in a room, then you’ll want to have lights dedicated to the area. For kitchen lighting design you could have lights specifically for the countertops, the sink, or cooker. In the living room you might need a floor lamp near the couch for reading, or reading wall lamps in the bedroom. And in the bathroom you’ll have specific lights around the vanity and mirror. Outdoors you’ll want to have lights by the front door, leading up the drive way, and by any steps and stairs for safety.
Accent Lighting is for highlighting decor pieces or design features in a room. If you have a painting on a wall, or even just a nice texture, a ceiling light can be point down onto it. If you have a recess in the wall, then a little light can be fitted inside of it to display a decor piece. Shelving lighting is another form of accent lighting. And outdoors you can put lights under trees or bushes, or add lights to a pond to highlight these areas.

Creating Balance

You’ll want to avoid just using one type of light fixture to light up the whole room. For example, a room that is just lit up with ceiling lights can be a bit dull. By using different light fixtures you create different lighting effects and layers, resulting in a well designed space.

So mix and match using ceiling lights along with wall lamps, or floor and table lamps. There are also other ideas such as cove lighting and pendant lights that I go over below.

Different Types of Light Fixtures

Here is a quick list of a few light fixtures and terms:

Recessed Lights: This is the go to choice when adding lights to a modern room. Recessed lights are fitted inside of your ceiling, so that all of the fittings are hidden out of sight. You are then left with a clean, minimalist, and modern look in the room – just like the living rooms in pictures (3) and (4).
Pendant Lights: Pendant lights hang down from the ceiling and help bring light closer down to surfaces. These are ideal for kitchen islands, countertops, dining tables, and for desks in home offices.
Cove Lighting is when you install a false ceiling, and hidden away are some lights. These lights then softly bounce light off of the ceiling and walls and into the room – just like in the bedroom in picture (5) or the living room in picture (3).
A Door Jamb is a little fitting you can fit on the inside of your closet or cabinet doors. And when you open the door a light will automatically come on.

Vanity Bathroom Lighting Design

There is one particular area in the house that needs special attention when it comes to lighting, and that is the bathroom vanity. If you were to just use ceiling lights over your mirror, you’ll end up with harsh shadows on your face – making it harder to groom.

If you’ve ever seen the backstage of a fashion show or a theater production, you would of seen those mirrors that have lights all around it. This creates even lighting on the face.

To recreate this in your bathroom you really only need 3 lights. One horizontal light attached to the wall above the mirror, and one vertical light on each side of the mirror.

Safety and Security Lighting

Here are some areas around the house that could require specific lights for added safety:

If you have any steps or stairs outdoors either in the garden or leading up to your front door, these areas would need lighting
The same applies to outdoor landscape pathways
Having a light on the front door not only deters intruders, but also makes it easier for you to see your keys when coming in at night
When driving out at night you’ll want to be able to clearly see the front of the garage, the driveway, and any pedestrians on the sidewalk, or cars on the road
If you have kids, they might get up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom. There are portable battery powered night light lanterns that they can take along with them to the bathroom. Or there are motion sensor stick on lights you could stick to the bathroom walls.

For more ideas and for some photos on outdoor security lighting, have a look at my post here: Home Style and Safety with Outdoor Security Lighting.

How To Make a Room Look Larger Through Lighting

To make a small room look bigger, you are going to want to make sure the entire space is well lit. This means making sure that light reaches all of the corners in the room. Recessed lighting is the way to go for its modern and clean look.

Home Design 101: How To Make a Room Look Bigger [coming soon]

How To Make a Room Feel Cozy and Relaxing Through Lighting

Here are some steps to take if you’d rather create a more relaxing and cozy space:

Avoid using the ceiling lights (you can put them on a dimmer switch to have full control of them)
Instead use fixtures that bring the light closer to the ground – such as table and floor lamps, or even string lights
The ultimate way to create relaxing lighting is to use candles. You can always put candles inside of a lantern for added protection. Or how about filling a bowl with water and add tea lights which will float. You can also get battery powered candles that mimic the real thing. There are ones that are remote controlled and will even flicker to mimic a candle.

Have a look at my lighting page to find ideas specific for each room in the house, and outdoor lighting ideas

image credits 1/2/3/4/5/6

May 28, 2016 in Lighting, Online Interior Design Course

A Bright Safe Space: Modern Outdoor Lighting Ideas

A modern home is a well lit home. This includes the outdoor space. You’ll want to make sure all of the exterior areas are well lit: from the front door and driveway, to the garden and around any steps. The modern outdoor lighting ideas in this post will help you light up the outside of your home with style

What Kind of Lighting Fixtures?

The first thing to decide with outdoor lighting is whether you’ll want to go with solar powered or wired lights. Solar powered lights are cheaper, and are easier and faster to install. Wired lights are more expensive and do require you to possibly dig up your garden to lay down the wiring, but they add more value to your house than the solar lights.

Outdoor Living: Modern Patio Design Ideas

Uplights: These are lights that point upwards, usually onto a wall or can be placed around trees. They add decorative ambient lighting, and help highlight different features in an outdoor space.

Motion Sensor Lights: These are usually used for security floodlights, hanging above the garage door. But you can also put them around the garden or by the front door.

Outdoor Wall Lighting: Look for ones that have a clean and sleek design, just like the light fixtures in the Amazon window above. And make sure you have enough wall lights to light up the whole space – just like in picture (5).

Path Lighting: These lights will be low down to the ground, and are especially needed around staircases and steps for safety. Picture (5) shows some lights lighting up some steps. And for a cleaner and more modern look, see if you can have these lights built into the wall so that it hides the light fixture.

The Beauty of the Flame

These days you can find good looking and modern tiki torches. They will usually come in a sleek metal casing (get yours in the Amazon window above).

Or how about a modern outdoor fireplace? Create a straight edge fire place to house a gas or ethanol burning pit – just like the ones in pictures (6) and (7)

And for the tables, look to get some modern candle lanterns or stands. Just like the candle stand featured in the Amazon window above.

Here are some other outdoor posts to get ideas from:

image credits 1/2/3/4/5/6/7

April 19, 2016 in Lighting, Modern, Outdoors

Vintage Kitchen Lighting Ideas: From School House Lights to Chandeliers

It’s all in the details. When it comes to designing a room, it’s crazy how much you need to plan and how pretty much every piece in the room needs to be hand selected to set the style you want to go for.

There are quite a few options when it comes to vintage kitchen lighting ideas. In this post I have broken I’ve broken it down into different sections, to make it easier to select the right light fixtures for your vintage kitchen.

The Different Vintage Light Fixture Styles

There is the pancake style light fixture, seen in the kitchens in pictures (1) and (2).
There is the more industrial style lights (3). Search for nautical light fixtures or industrial guard. These can be found as hanging ceiling lights or wall lights.
There are also the traditional school house light fixtures, seen in picture (4). You can get more colorful decorative bands – like mint, or baby blue, creating a more vintage style in the kitchen.
Gooseneck lights are ideal if you need to hang up wall lights. You can find these in the pancake style, seen in picture (5). Or there are more industrial, barn style gooseneck light fixtures.
And if you want to create a bit more of a refined vintage look in your kitchen, then use more modern light fixtures. Just look for ones with brass fittings.

Framing Your Lights

Ceiling medallions use to be a symbol of secrecy. These days they are used to decorate the ceilings of rooms. They can be used to frame chandeliers, pendant lights, or even modern recessed lights. Have a look at my post for ideas and pictures of them being in use: Design Ideas for Decorative Ceiling Medallions.

Decorating the Kitchen With Hanging Lights

Pendant lights are used to bring light closer down from the ceiling onto countertops and work areas – making it easier to see what you are doing. Some of these areas include:

Kitchen island lighting
Over a kitchen table (Style Guide: 10 Vintage Kitchen Table Ideas and Designs).
Over countertops, a cooker, or a sink.

Some go to styles here include pancake pendant lights, or school house lighting.

Or how about hanging up an iron chandelier, or a glass crystal one – just like the chandelier in the kitchen in picture (6).

Adding A Table Lamp: A table lamp can be useful on a countertop or kitchen island to add light closer to the work surfaces. Go with a pastel lampshade, or a more traditional curved lamp shade. Have a look at my post here for some examples and ideas: Style Guide: Vintage Lighting Ideas.

Here are some more vintage mood board posts where you can find more ideas and inspiration:

image credits 1/2/3/4/5/6

March 24, 2016 in Kitchen, Lighting, Vintage Design

Style Guide: Rustic Lighting Fixtures and Ideas

Rustic Style Lighting

The general style for rustic lighting fixtures, indoor or outdoor, would be wrought iron lights with cream/tan glass work just like in pictures (1) and (2).

You could go with the general rustic wrought iron lights, or there is the more stylized Mission lighting design. Mission lighting uses rustic dark woods blended with patterned colored glass. You’ll know it from the clean lines and angles – the kitchen in picture (3) is using Mission pendant lights over the kitchen island. One name brand for Mission style lighting is Franklin Iron Works – you can see some of their lights below along with some other rustic lighting ideas.

Putting the Rustic Charm on Display

Recessed light or downlights can be pointed towards and highlight any textured walls you have (stone wall, wooden walls) – this is called accent lighting (4).

You can even get uplights that point up towards the ceiling, highlighting any woodwork going on up there. Check out the cove lighting in picture (5), that creates a soft glow on the ceiling and in the room (The Beauty of Using Cove Lighting: Design and Ideas).

Blazing Beauty

A rustic home is a cozy home. You have the warmth of the wood and stone surrounding you. Then there are the crackling fireplaces. Other ways of adding some soft glowing flames include using table lanterns to protect candles. You could also fill up a bowl with water and use floating candles. You can also find flameless battery powered candles – some of them will even flicker, and can be turned on by a remote – get them here.

Lighting For Different Ceiling Heights

Since most rustic homes have heigh ceilings, you’ll find a lot of long hanging lights that bring the light closer down to the living area. You’ll see long rustic pendant lighting and chandeliers. You can also make use of wall lights to mix up the rustic light fixtures.

Mixing it Up: To create great lighting design in a room, you will want to mix up the type of rustic light fixtures used in the space. For example you don’t want to just have pendant lights everywhere in a room. Mix pendant lights along with table and wall lights. By mixing up the type of light fixtures you have in a room, you create different effects and layers – making the space look better.

More modern rustic homes will have recessed lights mixed in with the lighting of a room – just like in the bedroom in picture (6). These recessed lights would also work well in a bathroom.

More rustic mood board posts:

Image Credits: 1/2/3/4/5/6