Thanks to the wonders of modern electrical systems, lighting is something we take for granted. You walk into a room, turn on the light and you have instant illumination, but those dark corners and bookshelves are frowning at you from the shade, crying out for some feature lighting!
While standard ceiling lights brighten the room sufficiently, they don’t add any ambience or warmth, but the right feature lighting can add a real flourish to your home, illuminating the best and important bits.
Getting Started With Feature Lighting
There are four main types of lighting that you’ll see used around the home, ambient feature lighting, task lighting, accent lighting and decorative lighting. We’re going to look at each style of home lighting and how they work best in each room of the house!
- Ambient Lighting
- Ambient Lighting doesn’t really add much in the way of light to work by but it does give soft light to areas that would usually sit in the shade. The dark corners of your living room and your bedroom headboard are areas that would most benefit from ambient lighting, and bathrooms can also benefit from some subdued lighting, although that is one room that needs to stay light and bright.
- Task Lighting
- Sometimes you need a light to work by and for that bright task lighting is important. Your main ceiling lights would all be considered task lights, but this type of lighting should be concentrated in some areas of your home. The kitchen work areas are an important area to look at task lighting, as well as your bathroom mirror and any dressing area in your bedroom.
- Accent Lighting
- Homes are sexy, they have beautiful lines and interesting architecture and accent lighting is design to show that off to its full potential. Think about the areas of your home you’d like to accent and show up, and use lighting to put it in the spotlight.
- Decorative Lighting
- Decorative Lighting is often used in the bedroom and living areas of your home, just to add some decoration. Think fancy chandeliers, standard lamps and stylish fittings and add to the hallway, living space and bedroom to really show off your space to its full potential.
Adding the right feature lighting to your home can make it look bigger, not to mention the style and warmth it adds. The right lighting can change a large space into a cosy den, lighten the darkest bathroom, and give your kitchen the professional feel, and so getting it spot on with the spotlights is really important!
Because feature lighting can often by the final touch to a room it’s easy to overlook its importance, but choosing the right lighting when you do any home improvements is going to show your new features off to their full potential.
