Enhance Your Home with Light

By Radiant Lighting | 12 Dec 2017 | 0 Comments

We'll guide you on stylish, modern interior lighting for your home, laid out for you room by room.

Designer tricks and tips to help you find the perfect mix of lighting for your home.

“Light creates ambience, light makes the feel of a space, and light is also the expression of structure” – Le Corbusier, The French pioneer of modern architecture.

Using the right light in the right way will enhance your home and quality of life. Lighting can dramatically improve not only the look and feel of your home, but also increase your mood and productivity.

How to Light Up Your Home

To begin to understand lighting design, there are 4 Key Lighting Types that each provide different effects for different uses.

Type 1. Ambient Lighting

Ambient lighting, also known as ‘general’ lighting, is what provides an overall illumination so people can navigate a space with ease. The best way to create this soothing background lighting is with recessed ceiling lights, evenly spaced throughout the room.
Room Types: Bedrooms, Living, Dining, Kitchen, Outdoor

Type 2. Task Lighting

Task lighting, also known as ‘directional’ lighting, focuses on illuminating a particular area for a specific task. You would use task lighting in your study, above the kitchen bench top, in your bedroom, in your walk in robe and anywhere a ‘task’ will be carried out. For example, surface mounted ceiling lights over a kitchen island bench, as demonstrated in the Applecross Display by Signature Custom Homes or a linear LED pendant light over the kitchen island bench, as demonstrated in the South Perth Display by Pirone Builders.
Room Types: Kitchen, Bathroom, Scullery, Laundry, Linen, Pantry, Store, Study

Type 3. Accent Lighting

Accent lighting, also known as ‘focal’ lighting, is used to highlight a certain area or feature within a room. Accent lighting is used to accentuate architectural details and design elements within your home. This type of lighting adds drama to a space, for instance, recessed LED lighting to the underside of oak and marble stair treads, as demonstrated in the South Perth Residence by Zorzi Builders, designed by MMA Interiors.

Accent lighting must be brighter than the ambient lighting within a space, this type of lighting should have defined edge shadows, so that it creates contrast and in turn an amplified effect.
Room Types: All applications where you want to highlight

Type 4. Decorative Lighting

Decorative lighting fixtures are used to generate focus to the fixture itself. For example the dramatic pendant light over the stairwell in the Dianella Display by Webb & Brown-Neaves, notice that this light is not only decorative, but also acts as an ambient light source (one light can have more than one function).
Room Types: Any applications


Below are a few tips from the experienced Perth Lighting Designers at Radiant Lighting, to help make the most of the lighting in your home:

Tip #1 - Incorporate lighting at varying levels.

The way you light a room will completely change the space and having multiple light sources allows you to control ambience, mood and how you use the room.  Add depth and layering by combining different lighting types, for example, soft ambient table lamps and wall lights combined with recessed ceiling lights to provide overall illumination and to highlight certain areas or objects over others. Putting certain light sources on a dimmer switch where possible makes it easy to change up the brightness when you please.

Tip #2 - What is the function of the room?

Before lighting a room, consider the function. What activities take place there, and in what locations? For instance, if the living room is used for viewing the TV, you’ll want general illumination that can be adjusted to different settings, with recessed ceiling light sources that won’t reflect onto the screen. If you plan on using the space for reading, table lamps or floor lamps provide localized light and add design value.

Tip #3 - What style is the room?

Consider the rooms décor, if contemporary in style consider fewer table and floor lamps, focus more on built-in, recessed fixtures to enhance a minimal aesthetic. Table lamps, wall lights and ornate pendant lights are perfect for a more traditional style of home and can enhance the overall depth of illumination.

If your still stumped on the lighting of your home, please contact us for lighting advice or to book a lighting consult with one of our experienced lighting designers at our Perth lighting showroom, we are more than happy to assist you in making the most of the lighting in your home.

 

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