How do you decide on the right type of lighting for your home?

Sunita Vellapally Sunita Vellapally
2 BHK at Chandivali, Mumbai, A Design Studio A Design Studio Modern living room Wood Wood effect
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Lighting is an essential element in the design of a house as it can influence our mood. Have you noticed how a room filled with natural light makes us feel happy and comfortable, whereas one that is dark and poorly illuminated has the opposite effect? While designing your home, it’s important to invite as much natural light as possible by installing windows, glass-panelled doors or skylights, but due consideration must be given to artificial sources of lighting so that your home looks good even at night.

Besides natural light, you can choose from several types of lights, including accent lights, spot lights, chandeliers, halogens, fluorescent, incandescent and LED, among others. Some of these are suitable for the general lighting in the room, while others help to improve the aesthetics.  Ideally, you should use a combination of two or three types of lighting to bring a balanced look to each room and make it more interesting. Nowadays, with the focus on increasing energy efficiency and saving power costs, homeowners are replacing old incandescent bulbs with LED lighting. The white effect of fluorescent lighting too is not as popular as it once used to be as LED lights offer energy savings, last longer and come with the options of white, yellow and other colours.

Today, we present ideas on the different types of lighting that you can use to make your interiors stunning.

A balance of functionality and beauty

Using just one type of light, such as LED ceiling lights for the general illumination of a room can make it feel boring after a while. Instead, you should have a few types of lighting so that you can increase or decrease the brightness or even highlight a few features in the room to add to its beauty. In-built LED bulbs in the false ceiling are perfect for general lighting, but you can get creative and combine it with decorative floor-standing lamps or table lamps. Additionally, use LED strip lighting to create ambient lighting, by placing it behind the television or a feature wall to add interest to the room’s décor. LED lights cost around INR 300 for a small bulb, but it can go up to a few thousands depending upon the type of fixture and the size of the panel. Although they are more expensive than incandescent bulbs or fluorescent tube lights, they are cost-effective as they last much longer.

Get inspired by these amazing false ceiling designs.

Mood lighting

By playing with the brightness inside a space, you can change the mood in the room. Using dimmer switches for the general lighting, spotlights that highlight a few elements such as the entrance area or a prized piece of art, or wall washers that make the walls glow, can add a feel of cosiness to the room. You can even create a romantic ambiance by dimming the brightness in the room.

Consult an interior designer for using lights to create the perfect mood in your room.

Innovative solutions

You can think outside the box and have fun with the type of lighting that you use in your home. For instance, instead of conventional bedside lamps that serve the function of providing additional illumination for reading, you can have sleek hanging lights dropping down from the ceiling on either side of the bed. This can work just as well in a living room, where it can replace a floor standing lamp to save space in the room.

An artistic feature

In a house with minimalist design, the lighting can serve as a décor highlight in the room. LED down lights installed in a corner of the false ceiling can create beautiful patterns on the wall to add a lovely feature to the room. Another idea for creating this effect is to use spotlights that focus on different sections of the wall.

Focus on beauty

In decorative niches where accessories such as sculptures or collectibles are displayed, installing LED down lights above the niche helps to bathe each piece in light, creating an interesting play of light and shadow.

Classic beauty

A chandelier is a classic lighting element that can bring brightness and beauty to any space. Nowadays, you can find chandelier in several design styles, including modern and minimalist, so all you need to do is to find the right one for your home. Chandeliers are best installed along with other general lighting solutions, so that every corner of the room is well-lit.

You can easily find beautiful chandeliers in lighting stores or online at prices starting from INR 4,000 upwards. Get ideas on how to use dazzling chandeliers to bring sophistication to your decor.

Task lighting

Tungsten lights are making a big comeback. In recent years, with the industrial design style gaining popularity, these lights are seen more and more in modern houses. While they have a stark beauty that is typical of the industrial design style, they are perfect as task lighting to provide brightness over work areas such as desk tops. Similarly, LED lights placed under kitchen cabinets can provide additional illumination on the counters to help prevent accidents, while working in the kitchen.

Backlit LED panels

Another idea for creating a stunning highlight with lighting is to use backlit panels. LED panels can be installed to create a feature wall in the living room to put the focus on the television. It can also be used as an innovative headboard in a bedroom. Backlit panels can even be used on the ceiling. The latter especially works well in a small room as it draws the eyes upwards, distracting one’s attention from the size of the space.

Lighting the stairs

In every house, the stairway needs to be well lit to avoid accidents. However, instead of installing basic lights, you can get creative to blend functionality with style. Wall sconces with up lights and down lights can bring an interesting element to the walls. Another option is to have LED strip lighting fixed under each step so that it is lit up all the way to the top. LED lights can also be built into the wall to make the area brighter.

Outdoor lighting

For lighting up dark corners in a garden or any other outdoor space to enhance the security in your home, halogen lights are the best option. While they are more functional than beautiful, you can enhance the key features in your garden by focusing halogen lamps on them. LED lights are also used in outdoor spaces where they serve as decorative accents for lighting up pathways and highlighting water features, green walls or other aesthetic elements. If you have a swimming pool in your home, then you can use either halogen or LED bulbs to light up the pool in the dark. If you live in a passive house that is designed for sustainability, you should consider installing solar-powered lights in the garden.

You can work with a landscape designer to pick the right mix of lighting elements for your outdoors spaces.

Don’t restrict your lighting solutions to just one type as it will get monotonous after a while. Using lights as decorative accents is an excellent way to enhance the minimalist style that is popular in most modern houses. However, combining the right type of lighting in a room is not an easy task and is best left to professionals, who can recommend solutions for adding highlights, playing with light and shadow or even changing the mood inside a room.

Which of these ideas will you use in your house? Let us know in the comments.

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