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Getting Started with Indoor Lighting

Properly lighting your home is one of the most important things you can do to make it look its absolute best. Good lighting makes any space look warm, bright, welcoming and comforting. Implementing the best lighting possible inside your home is easy, too! It's all about knowing the four types of lighting and then layering them so that your lights do what you need them to do. Before you can layer your lighting, you need to know the four types! Here they are:

1. Ambient lighting is the general lighting in a room. This is the most important of the four light functions, but is often overlooked or forgotten. Good ambient light is provided by sources that bounce illumination off the ceilings and walls. Don't try to provide ambient lighting with just table lamps—table lamps will not provide the most ideal illumination. Types of ambient lighting include, but are not limited to, floor lamps and chandeliers.

2. Task lighting is lighting for times when you need just a little more light: reading, doing work in the kitchen and so on. An ideal task light is placed between your head and the surface you need to light, not from above, since that will create harsh shadows. Types of task lighting include table lamps and wall lamps, especially ones you can adjust to direct light more exactly where it needs to be.

3. Accent lighting is directed lighting that highlights things in your room like art, decorative objects, plants or other small accents. Good accent lighting is all about being subtle. If you do it right, people will notice the object you're illuminating and not so much the way it is lit. Types of accent lighting include track lighting and LED tape light.

4. Decorative lighting can't provide usable illumination all by itself, but is like lighting jewelry—decorative lights help a room to sparkle and shine. Types of decorative lighting include wall sconces and chandeliers.

Here are four problems that can arise if you don't layer your lighting properly.

  • Cloudy-day effect: when everything in the room has the same value without any depth or dimension.
  • Glare bomb: when a light fixture is too intense and not balanced out by other sources of illumination, thus making everything uncomfortably bright.
  • Museum effect: a problem caused by using just accent lighting. Without any other lighting, everything in the room that isn't accented falls into darkness. (Interestingly, a lot of museums are moving away from this lighting scheme and providing more even, comfortable lighting for patrons.)
  • Veiling reflection: when your eyes get fatigued from trying to adjust for the contrast between black text and white paper. This is caused by directing task lighting straight down from the ceiling, which creates glare.

Now that you know the four types of lighting and some problems that arise from not layering them properly, it's time to illuminate your space. When layering your lights, you do need to consider what happens in the room because that will inform your layering strategy. Where do you spend the most time doing things like reading, watching TV, paying bills, etc.? Do you want to show off some items that mark your unique style? Do you feel like your favorite room could be better-lit?

Tailor the four types of lighting to your personal needs and tastes. Then, craft the layering that you will love. That's how you make indoor lighting work for you.

Do you need advice? Call our trained lighting specialists at 1-866-688-3562 or find us on social media!

Emma Harger-Young - Lights Online