When thinking about the flow, ambience and atmosphere in your home, lighting can be one of the most fundamental elements. Brighter lights can make you feel alert and awake, whereas dimmer, softer lights can be relaxing and sleep-inducing.
Here are some tips on how to use lighting effectively to make your home feel bigger and warmer.
If you’re starting from scratch or redecorating a room, create a mini brief or lighting plan that tackles the essentials. Think about what activities take place in each room (eating, relaxing, working), key features of a room you want to highlight and what architectural boundaries you may need to take into account. Consider style, scale, output and even color temperature of lights before you go rushing into design decisions. Early planning makes for less headaches and rushed last minute decisions.
Take a layered approach to lighting with different light sources across different levels to create ambience and interest in a room. Use lighting to make the most of a room’s size and shape: uplighting makes a room feel larger, low hung pendants will create an illusion of height and clusters of lighting make large rooms seem more cosy.