Home Lighting: A Room-By-Room Guide Using Light in Your Home

Many homeowners don't realize how important lighting is to individual rooms. Just like painting a room, lighting controls a room's mood, ambiance, and perceived size. The wrong lighting can create a gloomy or unattractive space or even interfere with the functionality of a room. Wondering how to achieve perfect lighting throughout the house? Read on to discover a room-by-room guide that will brighten a home in all the right places.

The Importance of a Well-Lit Kitchen

The lighting in a kitchen is critical because a home's occupants need to easily see what they're doing as they prepare, cook, and eat meals. Here are some tips to get better visibility in crucial kitchen areas:

• Kitchens with islands can be augmented with pendant lights to create soft pools of light that offer a gentle ambiance. With a diverse range of styles, it's easy to find the perfect match for any kitchen design.
• Use track lighting to add function and style to a kitchen. Since the fixtures can tilt in different directions, the lighting can be adjusted to illuminate the area needed, including hard-to-reach corners of the kitchen.
• Install LED lights under cabinets to add mood, ambiance, and function. Many come with dimmers to allow the lighting to be adjusted; some even come with remote controls.

Most kitchens have a light fixture centered in the room, especially for smaller kitchens that perhaps can't accommodate other styles. For these kitchens, LED fixtures are a safe bet. They're energy-efficient, the bulbs are long-lasting, and owners can choose the level of brightness based on the bulbs—some people prefer their kitchens to have bold, bright light, while others may prefer traditional soft white lighting. A lighting designer can also help homeowners explore the best kitchen lighting options.

Control the Living Room Mood with Lighting

Lighting in a living room creates a mood and essentially complements a household's lifestyle. Mix and match lighting styles to set the conditions for different times of the day or year.

• Use LED strips to light up alcoves or illuminate other areas to highlight.
• Recessed lighting is great for ambient, accent, or task lighting.
• Warm wall lighting softens a living room's edges.
• Install pendant lighting to add functional illumination to specific living room areas.
• Position floor lamps for function and style throughout the room.
• Include a ceiling fan with lighting to serve a dual purpose.
• A stand-out chandelier can serve as a room's centerpiece.

Remember to add table lamps to help illuminate areas for tasks, such as reading or board games, to ensure adequate light is available.

A Bright Bathroom Makes All the Difference

Bathroom lighting matters since it's a place where many people start and finish their daily routines. Dim bathrooms aren't appealing, so a goal should be to add light where it matters most. For small bathrooms, it's important to have bright overhead or vanity lighting to ensure all areas of the room are brightened when needed. Shower and tub spaces that may not get central or vanity light can benefit from recessed lighting. Depending on the size of the bathroom, additional lighting can be added to enhance a space and add a spa-like feeling. Larger bathrooms can incorporate a subtle glass pendant or chandelier light over the tub and sconces on each side of the mirror.

Use Lighting to Customize the Bedroom

Bedroom lighting is typically going to vary depending upon tastes. Many people like to add trendy lighting, such as neon, moon, or fairy lights, to highlight their bedrooms with a fun and whimsical aesthetic. It's important to consider function as well. For instance, wall lights can be used to streamline a bedroom and add reading capacity, and a center LED fixture or ceiling fan with lighting can add everyday functional use.

As homeowners think about customizing their lighting, one great option that fits any room is smart LED lighting. Not only is it one of many energy-efficient upgrades that increase home value, but it also adds great function and ambiance.