Home Lighting Tips and Ideas: How To Choose The Right Lighting

November 18, 2010 Filed Under: Lighting

Good lighting plays a key role in efficient design and goes a long way toward defining the personality of the room. With the proper fixtures, in the proper places, you can avoid working in shadows. Install several different lighting circuits, controlled by different switches, and you can change your atmosphere easily. Lighting falls into three broad categories:

• General, or ambient, lighting illuminates the room as a whole and helps to create a mood.
• Task lighting focuses on work surfaces like sinks, countertops, ranges, eating areas, and other places where you need to get a really good look at what you’re doing.
• Accent lighting brings drama and architectural flavor. Accent lighting controlled with a dimmer switch can also serve as general lighting.

For an effective lighting scheme, plan a mix of these three types, in the amounts specified in the chart. Bear in mind, though, that several factors affect how much general and task lighting a given room needs.

Choosing The Right Lighting (1)

Choosing The Right Lighting (2)

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Choosing The Right Lighting (4)