8 Secret Tips to Create a Home Lighting Design Plan

home lighting design

Nothing turns a house into a home like the perfect interior design.

No matter what design style you choose, you have to know how to make all the elements of a room come together to create the best look and feel possible. This includes everything from the color theme to the furniture materials to the wall accents and even the lighting. Every little detail has to look just right if you want to pull off the design vision you have in your mind.

For help creating the ultimate home lighting design, use the tips provided below.

1. Understand Your Levels of Natural Light

The secret to making the most of your artificial lighting design is to use it in harmony with the natural light available to you. Make note of how much natural light filters into each room at each part of the day.

As you do, think about the shades and window treatments you plan to use in order to block the heat and prevent shine. Then, start thinking about how artificial light can balance everything out. Think about the kind of lighting you’re going to need throughout the day and how your lighting design can provide good solutions.

2. Balance Aesthetics with Function

As much as you want the natural light and artificial lighting to look good, everything needs to function properly. The function is the main thing to focus on in a room despite the design style you’re going for or the details you’re working on.

Take the kitchen, for example. When you’re going to the pantry for a midnight snack do you want to light up the entire kitchen or be able to light one part of the room? In the bedroom, do you want a ceiling light for your reading nook or a dimmer on the wall?

These are just a few of the questions to ask yourself when you’re thinking about lighting in terms of function. Picture what you plan to be doing the most in each room and how that activity relates to the home lighting design you’re creating.

3. Give Yourself (and Your Guests) Choices

A great way to achieve the function and the look you’re going for is to give yourself choices. There aren’t many rooms in the house that can function with one light or one kind of light.

Most rooms are going to be a mix of natural light, ceiling lights, wall lighting, and/or floor lighting. It’s nice to have ceiling lights in the living room as well as lamps on the end tables and maybe tall lamps in the corners, too. Multiple lights also make sense in the home’s larger bathrooms and in the dining room.

They provide choices as you’re going in and out of one space to turn the lights on in one area then off in the other. They also allow you to create all kinds of cozy, intimate settings as well as upbeat entertainment areas. Put simply, the more lighting variations in a room, the better.

4. Include a Dimmer Wherever Possible

One way to give yourself options without going overboard with the lights is to set up a dimmer. Dimmers allow you to create just enough light for any given situation.

A light that’s controlled by a dimmer in the bedroom can help you wake up in the morning when at its brightest and unwind in the evening when used on a lower setting. It helps in the kitchen when you want to dim the lights and split a bottle of wine at the island or turn them up and have many people serving themselves at once.

These are only a handful of ways dimmers add style and function to the home. When you think you’ve completed your lighting design, make sure you have all the dimmers you need.

5. Note the Various Levels of Light Placement

Another thing to keep in mind is the level of light. Ceiling lights are going to be in pretty much every room, but what about wall lights and lowlights? There’s also the various shelf and cabinet lighting to consider in the bathrooms, the kitchen, and the home office.

It’s not enough to have all the lights you need in the right place. The more important thing is to understand how they all work together. The placement should create various dimensions and bring some life to the room, without feeling over the top or too complicated.

6. Research Different Kinds of Bulbs

Once you have the light placement figured out, focus on the different kinds of bulbs. You want lights that give you the right level of brightness without straining your eyes or feeling too bright. You also want to invest in energy-efficient bulbs if you can.

More than that, note the color of each bulb. Some will give off a bright white light while others have a calmer yellow color to them. The lifespan and energy intake are good to consider, too.

7. Plan the Wiring

Don’t forget about all the wiring that goes into a home lighting design plan.

The last thing you want is to have everything set up on paper and all the items bought just to realize your ideas can’t be executed. You need to be able to wire the lights properly and support large light fixtures like low-hanging pendants and heavy chandeliers.

It’s good to get someone who knows more about wiring and installation than you do if you want to make sure everything is right. Call a professional to help you before you start installing your new lights.

8. Establish a Sense of Consistency

Last but not least, try to create a consistent use of lighting throughout the house. This is especially important for homes with an open layout and lots of natural light. It should feel natural for someone to turn the lights on/off and to use them at any point of the day.

It’s hard to do this when the placement doesn’t make sense or when a person can feel a stark difference between one room and the other. The more consistent you are, the better everything flows.

Create the Ultimate Home Lighting Design

You can’t read about home lighting design all day if you actually want to get something done! Start putting these tips to work as soon as possible and notice how much progress you make. Before you know it, your new home design will be complete and better than ever.

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