Let Your Style Shine: Using the Right Lighting

When designing any space it’s important to keep in mind the type of mood and reaction you want to create. With that comes one of the most important aspects of interior design – lighting. Poor lighting can lead to avoiding a space, while the right lighting can make that area the go-to spot in your home.

Boost Your Mood with Natural Light

Natural light is always the best option for interior design, since it can impact how the room is perceived, how people feel, and even the cost of utilities. When working with lighting design in your home, it’s essential to layer in different types of lighting – natural, ambient, task and accent – since one light fixture can’t do it all. From a space standpoint, letting in sunlight helps make a space appear larger than it is, and also highlights the beauty of the space you’ve put so much time and effort into designing by reducing eye strain.

Natural light can provide a huge boost for peoples' moods too, increasing serotonin levels to help with productivity and happiness, while also decreasing overall anxiety.

Finally, leveraging sunlight can help reduce energy costs, since you will be using fewer light fixtures and sunlight can increase the in-home temperature throughout the day, depending on which direction the windows face.

Set the Mood with Ambient Lighting

Although natural light is always the first recommendation, it’s not always possible, which is why we also need ambient lighting. Also known as general lighting, ambient lighting illuminates the entire room as evenly as possible, cutting down on glare and ensuring all aspects of the room have good visibility. It also serves as the base for your lighting design to build on; after you have the ambience set, you add in additional features for particular tasks or accents in the room.

In order to create effective ambient lighting, homeowners should keep in mind the lighting location, the size, and amount of light needed, and a look that feels cohesive with the rest of the room. If you’re starting from scratch, recessed fixtures throughout the space easily provide a balanced lighting source that can be controlled from one location. If you are changing current light fixtures, consider unique ceiling-mounted or wall fixtures for added style.

Light for Your Tasks

After creating base lighting, it’s time to build it out further through task lighting. Be mindful of the activities that will take place in the room and what lighting functions are needed.

In home offices and other workspaces, a stylish desk lamp is a perfect option to direct light in particular areas that require demanding visuals tasks like reading and writing. Adjustable and swing-arm sconces are great for bedrooms because they allow you to shift the position of the light to reduce glare and eye strain if you’re a before-bed reader without having to worry about it hanging over your head at night.

Drawing Attention with Accent Lighting

The last layer of lighting is accent lighting. It draws attention and creates visual interest in a room or outdoor space. For indoor spaces, key visuals could include wall art and sculptures, as well as prized possessions and family heirlooms. When outside, directing attention to landscape features like a water fountain, a particularly beautiful tree or unique wall textures can add ambiance to your space.

Accent lighting should be several times brighter than the lighting around it in order to make the accented piece truly stand out. Sleek track lighting is a perfect option for indoor spaces, since it allows you to customize the angles where light hits the focal object and allows you to be versatile around the room. For true drama, indoors and outside, look for hidden lighting features like string lighting behind paintings or well lights for spotlighting trees.

No matter how to you decide to light your space, remember to start with the basics, plan for function and show off what makes the area truly unique!

We’d love to see some of the unique ways you’re lighting up the rooms in your home! Share photos with us by using #LLStyle on any social media platform.