Lighting 101: The Do’s and Don’ts of Lighting – A Beginner’s Guide

Are you thinking of giving your home that unique and attractive look? If yes, this article is for you. While coming up with ways to follow in decorating your home, there are numerous factors you have to put into consideration.

Some of the approaches most people share in common when it comes to house décor include the energy and attention that they give to some other elements.

These elements include paint, rugs, and furniture. No doubt about it, all of these elements are important. Even with that, if the small things are not properly put in place or considered, they can make your home look incomplete.

It is not compulsory you make lighting the most important element on your list, but that shouldn’t make you underrate its value. For every room, lighting is regarded as the most important component.

No matter what your decorating styles look like, there are numerous options to fit the right choice of lighting into your favorite styles.

To bring your home to live, to give all the rooms in your house that complete appearance, all you have to do is ensure all the rooms and other spaces of your home are lit suitably.

The following are what to do (do’s) and what you shouldn’t do (don’ts) when it comes to lighting.

Do’s of Lighting

01. When coming up with a plan for your bathroom lighting, ensure you consider some necessary steps. Understand the type of bathroom you have, this will help you in coming up with the right lighting components or fixtures.

When it comes to bathroom lighting, it is important you handle this part with proper care. Also, there are some essential considerations that are solely applicable to the bathroom.

02. For every room, you can make use of various combinations of lighting. Some of the lightings you can combine in every room are ambient, accent, and task lighting.

03. Ensure you consider the lighting in or very close to all the available corners of your rooms or space. Also, know where to hang high and low lighting. The low lighting can be installed at the door, while the high lighting stays at a far end or corner.

04. Apart from a separate switching system, ensure you make provisions for a general switch for the side lighting. When you have a general switch for all the side lighting, it ensures you can turn on and turn off the lighting at a go.

With this, when laziness kicks in, you can still do the needful. The general control switch can either be placed on the wall, can be a remote control system, or a voice recognition system.

Apart from these listed systems, there are also other classy systems you can choose from.

05. For undercabinet fixtures, it is advised you make use of LEDs. When you make use of LEDs fixtures, they reduce heat emission from your sources and it also improves the level of efficiency when it comes to energy.

06. If you are considering the use of pendant, ensure you choose the appropriate pendant for the room/space.

07. At all time, ensure the lighting in the kitchen are bright and white. This will bring about ease of cooking your meals, and also the cleanings after the preparation of your meals.

08. Shifting the focus to the kitchen, ensure directional spotlights are properly positioned so as to be in check with the edge of your countertops.

09. There are some great combinations you can consider in different rooms of your home. A mix or combination of floor lamps, overhead fixtures, table lamps, and sconces are known to give a fantastic result.

It is possible you can’t have all of these components in all the rooms, but a combination of at least two is also considered or believed to deliver an excellent result.

10. For every table lamp and floor lamp you have in the rooms of your home, consider going for the right lampshade. Ensure you go for a lampshade that complements both the lamp and the room. Apart from reading about the things to look out for, also, make sure you trust your eyes while making those choices.

11. If you have the intention of decorating your room with chandeliers, it is important you follow the rules involved. Ensure you follow the necessary steps, starting from the point of purchase to the point of installation.

Before you go shopping, ensure you already have several options you can fall back on (more than one buying option). Also, ensure you really understand the design of the room where you plan to install or hang the chandelier.

12. Gone are the days when chandeliers are believed to be solely meant for dining rooms. Now, you can as well install chandeliers in those unusual places in your home. Some of these unusual places are the bedrooms and bathrooms.

13. Lighting should be considered as attractive decorations. When choosing your sconces, floor lamps, table lamps, and other lights fixtures, ensure you pick the ones that appear attractive when they are in use (on) and when they are not in use (off).

Dont’s of Lighting

01. You should never settle for just an overhead light. Ensure you have other sources of light in those small spaces. These small spaces can be the powder rooms and the entryways. So in these identified areas, sconces or a small table lamp are not just options to be considered, they are must-have.

02. Under no condition should the benefits attached to the installation of task lighting be overlooked. Ensure task lighting are installed in busy areas of your home. These busy areas are the bathroom, kitchen, and the home office.

03. Don’t underestimate the importance of dimmers in your home. If you can afford it, ensure every light in your home has a dimmer.

To create an entirely different mood, you can adjust the brightness to achieve that. When you make use of dimmer lighting, it brings about a pleasing feeling within the environment.

04. In the bedrooms, don’t make the use of down-lighters which are directly positioned over your bed. It is advised to avoid the use so as to prevent them from shinning straight into your eyes.

05. Also, do not make use of a downlighter which is directly positioned over the bath. This is to prevent the harsh and bright light that comes out of it.

06. Totally avoid the use of grade track and recessed lighting from contractors if what you have is a traditional room.

07. Light bulbs should not be completely taken out of the picture. The importance of having them in the rooms of your home should never be ignored.

Don’t go for light bulbs that are excessively yellow or excessively bright. For the best pick, consider going for a crisp white light bulb. And if the crisp white light appears excessively bright, that is when your dimmer happens to kick in.

08. Don’t place wall lights on the television wall, provided you have another choice of location or space. This ensures the unpleasant distractions that these lights bring while watching your favorite shows or reading your favorite book are completely wiped out.

In conclusion, when choosing lighting ranges and fittings, some of the essential factors or considerations to put in place are functional and practical. Recently, there have been some changes when it comes to home decoration.

The emphasis these days are placed on how lighting dramatically impacts the beauty and atmosphere of a room or space.

So, while making those decorating decisions about the furniture, the flooring, and the wall covers in your home, ensure you also give lighting the needed consideration.

Ensure you make the right choice in all aspects of home decoration. There is nothing as fitting as finding a balance.

What gives the architectural designs of your home that awesome look is the lighting. This shows how important lighting is in today’s home décor. If what you have are rooms with higher ceilings, ensure you consider going for taller fixtures.

In the end, if what you have are the right light fixtures, they enhance the beauty of your rooms and space by giving them that magnificent and eye-catching appearance.

In addition, if what you have in your home is the traditional or old architecture, going for attractive crystal chandeliers or brass and copper fittings would be the perfect call.