Imagine this: you have just completed a major renovation in your house – you’ve put in new, beautiful flooring, given the walls a fresh coat of paint, and perhaps you even swapped out some of your old furniture for some new and creative pieces! However, there is still a problem: the lighting feels awkward.

The lighting makes your new space feel more like a clinic than anything, or perhaps you have a few awkwardly floating pendants in your space. Your refreshed space could be the greatest thing since sliced bread, but it isn’t – yet. In this article, we will be looking at how lighting can be used to enhance and elevate the design features of your home!

Firstly, it is important to recognize that different types of lighting serve different purposes, and this depends highly on the room within which you are placing them. The three main types of lighting are ambient lighting, accent lighting, and task lighting.

Ambient Lighting

Ambient lighting is essentially the main light source of a room. This doesn’t necessarily have to be the big overhead light that has already been built into your space, but it certainly should be the largest source of light in a room, with other light sources only providing an accent.

The type of ambient lighting – in terms of brightness (measured in lumens) and warmth (measured in kelvin) – depends highly, but not strictly, on the room.

For example, rooms that are designated for relaxation, such as living and bedrooms, should be lit with warm lighting. The same could be said for the dining room, as this would create a warm and inviting atmosphere for your family or guests to feel relaxed in as well. The ideal hue would be warm white, as it is not overly yellow and is not blue and clinical like daytime light. This would be around 2700 kelvin (the higher the kelvin, the bluer the hue). Dimmable lights are always a great addition to any of these rooms, as it is always great to have the option to adjust the brightness of your room.

You also want to avoid sole reliance on your overhead light. It easily makes the space feel dull and does very little to enhance the unique design elements of your home. Additionally, it just does not add to the relaxing atmosphere of a home if that is what you’re looking to create. You can augment overhead lighting by adding layers. Ideally, you’d want to have lighting at a high level, middle level, and floor level. You can achieve this through the use of floor lamps, table lamps, strip lights, etc. This will elevate the feel of your home considerably.

Accent Lighting

The purpose of accent lighting is to enhance or highlight certain features of your home. This can be anything from artwork, shelving, or even molding. Accent lighting is great as it adds a natural layer to the lighting of your space and gives your thoughtful design choices the opportunity to shine. The use of sconce lights, or even pendant lighting to hang over a unique decorative feature like an accent chair, or a flooring light to draw attention to a sculpture (if you are so fortunate as to have one in your house) are fantastic ways that lighting can be used to enhance design.

Task Lighting

Task lighting is used to illuminate the spaces in which certain tasks need to be done. Task lighting tends to have less warmth, as you need to ensure adequate lighting of these spaces to aid your work, such as at a desk or in the kitchen, where your prepping is done. The recommended tone should ideally be around 4000 kelvin to make your space functional.

Though there are rooms in your home that are used to perform specific tasks, such as a home office or a kitchen, the task lighting does not need to serve as the ambient lighting for that room. Instead, smaller lights, such as table lamps on a desk or under cabinet lighting, or overhead kitchen pendant lights above an island, are again used as additional layers to your ambient light. We never want to trade utility for aesthetics, but there is always a way to balance both!

Other Useful Tips

Lighting can be a great tool to create zones in spaces where it is difficult to distinguish certain rooms or uses for the space, such as in studios, loft apartments, or large open plan spaces. The use of chandeliers over a dining table, floor lamps arching over a couch, or even slight variations in the hue of the light can be useful for anchoring rooms and distinguishing them as zones. Zones help make the best use of your space, maintaining organization, and helping your mind to create separations between spaces.

Also, don’t hold back from using decorative light fixtures! There are so many ways that lighting can be used as a decorative element in your home. The use of textured lamp shades can add to the overall aesthetic that you are trying to achieve – think cotton or linen for a farmhouse look, or a woven one for a beach house aesthetic.

There is also a myriad of shapes and designs to choose from that can act as real showstoppers in your space, as many have a sculptural appeal as well. You certainly don’t want to overload any one space with too many of these eye-catchers, as these can easily turn something beautiful into a room of chaos. Rather, balance dramatically artistic light pieces with more subtle ones.

Lastly, decorative lights do not need to be grand and expensive. Even simple string lights have the power to bring charm and magic to your space, and they are inexpensive and easy to install!

Conclusion

If you weren’t convinced before reading this article that lighting is the crown of your home, we hope that you have been won over now! At JG Contracting, every detail of your home’s appearance matters to us. Through thoughtful design and quality craftsmanship, we take your home renovation projects from printed plans to real-life results that leave you feeling in awe and inspired in your own home.

If you need anyone to switch out some of the light fixtures in your current home, or if you would like to bounce ideas around with someone who may know best, feel free to contact us at any time. We are always a call away from action!

📧 Email: jgcontractingyyz@gmail.com
📞 Phone: 437-259-9632
🌐 Website: https://jgcontractingyyz.com