In these modern times of designer homes lighting plays a very important part in making your home more appealing and comfortable. There was a time in the 20th century when lighting meant just choices between bulbs and tube lights. At the most if a person wanted to decorate any space in his house specially it used to be the living room and the fixture used to be a Chandelier.
The 21st century saw the advent of the latest technology in interiors lighting in the shape of the LED Lighting. LED lighting has revolutionized the residential lighting. Firstly it can save you a lot of money on the monthly electricity bills and secondly with the use of different colors and intensity of LED lights you can create special effects for various spaces in your house.
Light comes in two different formats soft and harsh and every single space in your home has its own requirement of lighting, be it harsh or soft. Lighting a home has now also become a professional challenge. With the different types of designer lights and lamp shades available in the market deciding on the lighting fixtures in your home can be a very lengthy and costly exercise. The lighting of your home is also becoming more important because it can influence the inner rhythm of your body and its well being.
Each different part of your home has its own lighting requirements. We will now take a look at the different types of living space in your home and its specific requirements.
Living Room/ Drawing Room
The most difficult to light up is the living room of a house. This is the part where a lot of activity generally takes place in a home. Socializing, watching TV, Reading even work from home in case there is no study room or office space. Each activity requires a certain type and level of lighting so it is necessary to take the activities into consideration before deciding on the lighting. The space where you can entertain and chat with your guests needs indirect and diffused lighting. The area where you relax in an armchair with your favorite book needs to have a floor lamp at the back to throw light on the material you are reading. For the times when the kids are playing the requirement is for ceiling lights. So the lighting for the living room space has to have a fusion of these three types of lighting fixtures.
Kitchen Area
The kitchen is the second most important area of a home and a major portion of a housewife’s life is spent in the kitchen. The kitchen should be divided into two different types of areas. One for the working area and one for the dining area. The working area again is divided into two areas. One the preparation area and the cooking area. For the preparation area a hidden wall unit with indirect lighting combined with interspersed direct lighting. For the cooking are there is a need for direct overhead shadow free lighting which does not offset the color of the food.
The area where the dining is going to take place requires both overhead direct lighting on the table area and some very soft lights on the walls.
The Bathroom
The bathroom is another area which needs two sources of light. There needs to be diffused lighting in the entire bathroom and one bright light over the mirror. The light above the mirror is more important than the other light. The direct lighting source must be filtered through an opal diffuser to avoid throwing shadows on the face during the shaving process or putting on the makeup.
The Bedroom
The bedroom is another area which needs the utmost care in lighting as this is the place where the lighting should be designed to contribute to your relaxation and unwinding process. A bright harsh overhead light will create the opposite effect.
A bedroom normally demands the lighting to be diffused and soft. A soft yellow light on the walls combined with a bright ceiling light in front of the wardrobe is the norm for lighting up a bedroom. A dimmer in the bedroom and living room is a very practical and important fixture. This allows you to change the intensity of the light in the room as per your mood.
The Common area of the house like the corridors and the entrance area need to be well lit with brighter lights.
