Home Lighting Design

How To Best Light Your Home

You don't need to be an expert on home lighting design to adequately light your home but getting some of the basic tenets under your belt certainly helps.

Filling your home with light can be accomplished in a variety of ways and like anything else, can be done well or poorly. If you've ever been in a space with a poor lighting design you'll understand the difference.

Good lighting stems from good design concepts that involve the right kind of lighting, congruency with how the space will be used and consideration of lighting controls. In other words, good home lighting design involves more than just the lights you choose.

Sticking a few lamps in a room might keep you from bumping into things but there's a whole lot more that you can do with lighting.

Where To Start - Understand The Basics

Tackling a broad subject like home lighting design might seem a bit intimidating but you don't have to become a lighting designer to achieve good results in your home. Understanding the basic principles of lighting and how it's used effectively will get you off on the right foot.

The Basic Concepts Of Home Lighting

Using "Layers" Of Light
Lighting professionals often use the term "layering" when referring to lighting design. In more practical terms, you can view light layers as describing the different functional categories of light: Ambient, Task, Accent and Decorative.

Knowing the effects these layers have and how they can be used will help you achieve a balanced and effective lighting plan.

• Ambient light refers to the general fill light that is necessary to function in a space. It's source can be from any one or more of the various types of lighting - by "types" we mean the various physical lighting fixtures that are available like recessed cans, track lighting, etc.
• Task lighting is used in areas where specific tasks are performed with the main purpose of providing illumination for those functions. Examples include lighting over the sink for doing dishes, under the cabinets for preparing meals on the countertop and next to an easy chair for the purpose of reading.
• Accent lighting is used to highlight certain feature...