When you are considering the interior design of a dwelling or room, lighting is most likely the most important aspect of the changes to the interior decoration. After all, it is the element that generates the mood of the room. You can create moods from intimacy to austere clinicism just by the power of your light bulb or turning a dimmer switch.
Still, if you would like to be sure that the effect of the illumination is the one you are looking for, it is essential that you be acquainted with the four principal kinds of lighting.
Ambient illumination: This is the general lighting for the entire room. In most rooms it is the typical light in the centre of the ceiling be it a fluorescent tube or an incandescent bulb. It is suggested that you make use of one or more dimmers in order to enjoy more flexibility in creating effects for each occasion.
Local lights: These lights are used to supplement or even temporarily take the place of the ambient lighting. Local lights are most frequently standard lamps, table and wall lights and are ordinarily used in order to assist such activities as reading, cooking, and shaving. The concentration of the light is local and it has to be correctly worked out so it won?t put a strain on the eyes.
Accent lights Accent lights are sources of light for showing off ornamental items, normally placed so as to highlight an objet d?art . Quite literally to show it in its best light.
Natural light: This is the one we get free though skylights, windows and doors. This light is controllable for part of the day by shades, curtains, drapes, blinds or awnings, but clearly varies with the time of the day, the season and the weather. Some locations see huge variations in natural light according to the season, eg monsoon, snow, etc.
It is doubtless easiest, if you take a house room by room. Start by thinking about what the room is used for. Retirees will probably want to take advantage of the daytime natural light for hobbies and reading, whereas a working couple with school-age kids, will be more active in the evening, when additional illumination might be more imperative. Write down what you do and where you do it. Do you have a favourite armchair for reading the paper, do you read the paper during daylight hours or after work? Be courageous in your selection of lighting, but also keep in mind that illumination can have a strong influence on our perception of dimensions, making a room look larger or smaller than it is in reality.
There are numerous ways to illuminate a room but they all come from one of two perspectives: the illumination is either functional or artistic. Yes, they are both used to allow you to see more easily, but highlighting the pages of a book or a shaving mirror is not quite the same as using a low light to highlight a statue of the Madonna in an alcove.
In a brief summation, you could use the few lines below to give you initial ideas when you are thinking about changing a room?s illumination:
i] Put a standard lamp behind armchairs: they ought to be between three and five feet high. ii] Use an accent light to high or even low light a canvas. iii] Use an accent light to emphasize the contours of bookshelves. iv] The ambient light should be modifiable. v] Use local illumination to swathe the walls with a low light or glow (can be recessed into the floor)
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