Lighting 101 - Understand interior lighting
Home lighting design: here are the basic tools you need to understand interior lighting.
Lighting is most often seen as the least important aspect of our homes. However, interior lighting is as important as all the other design elements. Fact is: lighting defines the mood of a space. Now, of course, there are exceptions to that, but I will prove my point. You can choose a specific color of paint to apply on the wall in your room but if the interior lighting is not addressed correctly, you won’t see the results you expected and paid for. In other words, the type of light bulb and the color temperature chosen impacts the mood of the space.
The image above are identical spaces with identical wall and ceiling color. However the lighting is different.
Lighting is calculated based on a temperature scale. I'm not going to get too technical but I want to provide you with couple quick tips that may help you the next time you need to change your bulb or redesign a room.
**TAKE NOTE** K stands for Kelvin. It measures temperature just like Celsius and Fahrenheit. The cooler the temperature gets on the scale, the higher the temperature in Kelvin gets. This means if you want to get a cool type of lighting such as a "natural daylight" then you must look for a bulb in the 4100K-5000K range. If you want a warm feeling in the bedroom, look for the 2700K-3000K bulbs.
*It will be identified on the packaging box.*
These are the three different types of light bulbs that we generally used in our household. They can be used for Task lighting, Ambient lighting, Accent/Mood lighting and/or Decorative lighting. Most homes use the classic incandescent but it's not the only type of bulb.
Task lighting is used for work-related activities such as reading, writing, cutting etc. This type of lighting should be located between your head and work surface, Anything above the head will cause figure/body shadow to be reflected onto your work.
Ambient lighting generally gives that soft glow to your space. It has this effect which can also dim the mood your room. This type of lighting should be used in sources that will bounce illumination off the walls and ceilings. (Indirect lighting)
Accent lighting is used to highlight different elements or objects in a space such as a brick wall, stone structure, painting, sculpture, art, etc. Mood lighting is related to a soft atmosphere, such as a candlelight dinner.
Last but not least, decorative lighting. The name speaks for itself. It's used as decor to create a welcoming feel in a space.
There you have it... Your first LIGHTING 101 course. You’re guide “How to Use Lighting as an Interior Design Element” guide! Lighting is a very complex and amazing element which can be explained through in-depth research and experiments. Generally, this is the most you may need to know for your home DIY project so we can leave the technicalities to the designers.