Interior Design Lighting Tips For A Better Home

By Wade Robins

A major element in interior design that most homeowners overlook is lighting. Interior design lighting can spell the difference between a mediocre room and one that is truly impressive and dramatic.

Whether it's intentional or not, some homes retain very dim and somber lighting that does not at all contribute to the attractiveness of living space. These are places where interior design lighting has been taken for granted, and no matter how expensive your furniture or accents may be, they'll lose their appeal when situated in a room that is poorly lit.

Although interior design lighting is done with functionality in mind, it can also create atmospheres that set the mood, depending on its placement, coloring, and combinations.

Many old homes are notorious for being dim and plain because of the limited possibilies for modern interior design lighting. The main setback encountered by most interior design lighting professionals are existing wiring that may not be accessible or would simply take too much stripping to renovate.

However, if interior design lighting could not be easily managed via overhead lights, there are alternatives to revitalizing mediocre-looking spaces by making use of modern techniques that weren't available a few years ago.

Making Use Of Track Lighting

Track lighting is a welcome boon to the interior design lighting industry. They are sleek, easy to install, and very functional. Most new condo units have provisions for basic track lighting fixtures and can be easily moved from one place to another with simple re-wiring.

Houses that were built without standby wiring but with overhead lights or ceiling fans may still benefit from track lighting as their existing wiring may still be tapped for the track lighting apparatus.

Track lighting is best used for focusing light on various room areas – on paintings, artwork, sculptures, or any item you wish to focus on. You can also use track lighting to focus light on a desk or on countertops where you work on.

If you're stuck with a cookie cutter home with limited interior design lighting options because of its inimal electrical outlets, you can depend on track lighting to fulfill your more sophisticated lighting needs.

Professional-grade interior design lighting can now be easily achieved with track lighting because of the many varieties of lights available. There are different sizes, colors, shapes and designs which are both functional and aesthetically pleasing.

Older homes which used to be dingy and unwelcoming instantly become vibrant with strategically placed track lighting. These fixtures help by reaching places which could not otherwise be lit.

The kitchen is another room where interior design lighting is crucial. Because it can be a hub of activity, specially designed track lighting works perfectly for kitchens with many different work areas.

There are simple straight tracks, U-shaped tracks, and just about any design imaginable. Interior design lighting professionals can show you a wide range of selections, depending on whether you want the fixtures to blend with the ceiling or stand out and make a statement.

You can also "play" with your interior design lighting by using your track lights as mood lighting. These are commonly equipped with dimmers that can soften or intensify the light. Different-colored bulbs can also be used for a festive effect.

Indeed, interior design lighting has come a long way from the plain and somber light fixtures of the yesteryears. Today, the possibilities in interior design lighting are only limited by your creativity.

Lighting and your Kitchen - How to Design a Lighting Plan that Cooks!

By Paul Forte

Your kitchen, more than any other room in your home, needs a good well thought out lighting plan. Today's kitchens have many more functions than just cooking a meal. For many families it is the most frequently used room in the house. Besides the obvious preparation of meals, kitchens today are also a place for the kids to do homework, parents to pay the bills, reading, eating and watching TV. For this reason it is important that the light not only be adequate but flexible.

The first place to start in any room when devising a lighting plan is to address general lighting. This is the light that will be used most of the time. In the case of a very small kitchen, one light in the center of the room will provide the general light. With most of today's kitchens being larger, a single light fixture in the center of the room probably won't satisfy your lighting needs. The most common solution is recessed lighting. Depending on what part of the country you are in they may be called high hats or pot lights or can lights. All these terms mean the same thing. Recessed lighting is a good way to provide general lighting in a kitchen in a neat and clean way.

The placement of the lights is very important. When designing a layout for the general lighting in a kitchen, we want to take into account the areas where tasks will be done. This includes counters, islands and tables. In most cases, by designing the light to illuminate these areas, the rest of the room gets a good spread of general light as well. Try to have the recessed lights fall out on the ceiling so that they are directly above the outside edge of the cabinets. The key here is getting the lights close enough to the work area so that you don't create a shadow with your body. Putting the lights to far away from the counters is a sure formula for shadows. Don't overlook any nooks that may be dark.

Islands can provide a great outlet for adding a decorative fixture or fixtures to the room. There are a multitude of pendants to choose from that can really enhance the room. I find it is probably one of the most commented on aspects of a kitchen lighting plan when the homeowner sees the finished product. Simply installing 2 or 3 pendants in line over an island can be quite stunning.

The next step is the task lighting. In a kitchen this is the light directly over the counters, stove and sink. Having one or two small recessed lights on a separate switch over the sink is both attractive and useful. The stove these days is almost always lit from a fan hood or microwave but if it is not it should be addressed. The way the counters are illuminated is with under cabinet lighting. This can be in the form of simple fluorescent fixtures on an economical level. A very nice effect is to use low voltage linear track. These can be dimmed and provide very good light to the counters. There are also xenon fixtures and halogen fixtures. If you can try and stay with xenon as they burn cooler and have a longer bulb life than halogen.

After you have your general lighting and task lighting covered the last thing to consider is any accent lighting. On some kitchens where there is a space above the cabinets, lighting on top of the cabinets can look spectacular. Tray ceilings with crown molding can also benefit greatly from this type of lighting. Using either a low voltage type track or rope light, you can add that extra touch that makes your kitchen unique. For more lighting tips and lighting design help visit the links below.

Paul Forte has been in the lighting and electrical field for over 25 years. He has helped countless homeowners across the country with their lighting needs through his website. He will be appearing on an upcoming episode of "It Takes a Thief" on the discovery channel installing some security lighting.

Home Lighting Design - Daylighting Design

By Ralph Pressel

This article develops a unique, extensive home lighting design Daylighting Design Schedule to address code and a whole lot more. Home lighting design policy for most any home these days: let the daylight in with qualifications - maybe not too much, not too little, depends on where, depends on how, how about when, depends what it's shining on, etc. This is about a Daylighting Design Schedule.

Home lighting design code: IRC 303.1 presents effectively and round-about that for daylighting design, at least in a sleeping room, "aggregate glazing area" should be not less than 8% of that room's floor surface area. (CABO's tougher, fewer exceptions.) [Please note that this presentation has no direct connection with emergency egress.]

Home daylighting design practice? Who knows. The author has had reactions from "exactly, right" to "not so important around here" to "what are you talking about" from building authorities having jurisdiction. If considered at all by others, it'd be for sleeping areas only is my expectation.

AGGREGATE GLAZING AREA

To start, the term aggregate glazing area – otherwise undefined – is interpreted to mean translucent surface – glass, clear plastic, etc. and not associated frame, sash, muntins, trim, and the like. What Marvin Windows and Doors defines as "Lite", Pella as "Visible Glass", Loewen as "Exposed Glass Area," etc.

Note, please, that if some folks weren't interested in these surface areas, the big players in windows wouldn't work it out in print. This custom home designer's interested.

THE HOME DAYLIGHTING SCHEDULE FOR DAYLIGHTING DESIGN

A home lighting Daylighting Schedule, or Illumination Schedule, achieves four ends.

First, it defines the proportion of aggregate glazing area to interior surface area in each major space of a residence, including habitable rooms, halls, walk-in closets, utility spaces for workshop and laundry and such, garage(s), etc.

Second, it compares actual aggregate glazing area to calculated code target for each major space and presents the difference either in square feet of glazing area or, increasingly likely, in percent of glazing area target – the latter seems easier to usefully understand.

Third, it comments selectively by suggestion, indication, and definition about daylighting aspects of importance as designers' opinions warrant.

Fourth, it provides an opportunity to identify persistently darkish spaces or parts of spaces sufficiently distant from a natural light source so as to be considered unlighted, or not penetrated, by a natural light source, e.g., a space considerably back from the daylight from a covered porch, an exceptionally deep interior space.

The structure of the schedule presents as a table of several columns. From the left, let's see: a give space; its surface area in square feet; 8% of that surface area in square feet; aggregate glazing area of that space in square feet (usually to one decimal); the arithmetic and percentage difference between the 8% and the aggregate glazing column; and comments as appropriate. Comments can include, among others, modulate, dark, code compliant (for sleeping areas), etc.

Home lighting experts put definable limits on the extent of useful daylighting that can penetrate a space. These limits can be found in, for example, Lighting Design Basics by Mark Karlen and James Benya, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2004, p.34 and Interior Lighting For Designers 4th Edition by Gary Gordon, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1957, p.53ff. While this daylight penetration aspect of daylighting analysis can be judgmental, consideration of related adjustment to natural illumination is, in the author's opinion, well worth the effort as a pre-emptive design alert to convenience and safety.

The home Daylighting Design Schedule presents several bases of or inputs to home design analysis – 16 in all.
1. Of itself for natural light, in the house's compass orientation and, possibly, its adjustment and in personal assessment of infiltration and adequacy in daylighted spaces.
2. Ventilation as a quality control cross-check in cross-venting of sleeping areas and longer occupied rooms, plus sizing and indicative siting of both supplies and returns.
3. UV intrusion indicator of where it may be determined as less welcome and its power diminished.
4. Natural heat-build indicator for HVAC professional attention and various design means to lessen.
5. Daylight glare definition especially in areas, such as stairways, where glare threatens safety.
6. Qualification for code-compliance of aggregate glazing area to space surface area in sleeping areas, notably more problematic in such spaces within story-and-a-half structures at L2.
7. Suggestive guide to artificial lighting throughout, particularly ambient lighting and lighting controls.
8. Definitive cross-check on window and door size and site in elevations, plan view(s), and window schedule (and, possibly, door schedule).
9. Excellent perspective on the consequences of exterior design on interior functionality, occasionally leading to design changes ranging from marginal to major.
10. Guide to increased layering in low-daylight spaces.
11. Guide to continuous service rating in no- and very low-daylight spaces.
12. Guide to altering fenestration dimensions.
13. Guide to altering fenestration siting.
14. Motivation in single-storied deep spaces with exterior covers to penetrate those covers with niches in the roof, sunscreen, skylight, clerestory, etc.
15. Motivation in single-storied deep spaces with or without exterior covers to add clerestories and light wells by way of dormers and other fenestration design modifications.
16. Motivation, particularly in story-and-a-half designs, to necessarily add dormers, skylights, skylight tubes, clerestories, light wells, and other fenestration design modifications.

Comment: Note, please, that latter-day fixing of major mistakes to attain convenient and safe sizing and siting of windows, exterior door composition, luminaires, and light-reflecting and -absorbing features can be a remediation expense and physical inconvenience bigtime.

Living Room Lighting

By Tracey Aldous

Lighting is an important feature in home décor. It highlights our surroundings and enables us to perceive colour and texture. Valuable time is spent selecting colour, furniture and accessories for the living area. Choosing the right lighting is essential to maximise their impact.

Lighting plans for a living area or family room must always take in to account what activities will occur there. Most people will want to include general lighting for watching television and entertaining, accent lighting for artwork, plants and interesting architectural aspects and task lighting for reading or sewing.

For ambience in the living room, use a combination of overhead light fittings, table lamps, floor standing lamps and wall mounted fittings. For an increased level of ambient light, use translucent shades on table lamps instead of opaque.

Small living rooms can be made to feel bigger by lighting an entire wall. This can be done by using recessed light fittings that are mounted on the ceiling. They will need to be and equal distance from the wall and each other to get the best effect. This idea can also be used to highlight walls with interesting textures or features.

Brick or stone fireplaces can be emphasised by installing recessed downlights in the ceiling above the mantle creating a charming grazing effect across the surface. The use of wall sconces on either side of the fireplace will draw attention to the area as well as providing general lighting for the living room.

Task lighting can be accomplished by placing a floor standing lamp either side of the reading chair. The light should come from behind the reader’s shoulder and the bottom of the shade should be located at eye level to avoid glare.

Paintings can be highlighted with low voltage halogen picture lights. They are usually frame mounted and provide bright, white light across the painting.

Large houseplants can be accented by using up-lighting floor lights behind the plant, creating a silhouetted feature which will brighten up any dull corner.

Glass cabinets with collectables make a sparkly feature to any living room when the right type of lighting is used. For the best effect try using recessed adjustable light fittings with low voltage halogen light bulbs.

To make your living room seem larger, carry the atmosphere outdoors by lighting gardens, shrubbery and water features that are visible from the windows in the room.

Contemporary Ceiling Lighting Options

By James T. Allen

It seems to me that too few of you consider ceiling lighting when looking for light fixtures nowadays. It may be a bit presumptuous of me, but I consider myself fairly average and I too am often guilty of overlooking ceiling lighting options such as chandeliers, pendant lights, mounts and even track lighting. So I guess I'm lumping whoever's reading this in with me. I apologize in advance for that. If you are one of the few who are "in the know" as far as ceiling lights go, then you probably don't need to keep reading. You are free to pursue other productive uses of your time like needlepoint, stamp collecting or learning Latin. As for the rest of you, read on and we'll explore the wonderful world of ceiling lighting and how you can use these versatile fixtures in your home or apartment.

Let's start with the granddaddy of ceiling fixtures, the chandelier. If one lighting fixture has truly evolved over the course of its existence, it's the chandelier. Once a status symbol hung in many a dining room and atrium in decadent Victorian homes, these early chandeliers were odes to extravagance and overindulgence. And they were huge. Monstrous, really, some were probably larger than most modern day studios and lofts (not really). One can still find chandeliers that harken back to those days, ornate, almost to a fault, and big enough to need their own zip code. On the flip side, contemporary chandeliers are often very understated and sleek with simple designs and a wide range of sizes. Really, the only thing these modern chandeliers have in common with their predecessors is the name. For the most part, however, their uses remain the same - entryways and dining rooms is where they work best.

Perhaps the hottest form of ceiling lighting currently is the pendant light. Pendant lighting has invaded everything from retail shops to your neighborhood Starbucks, and is slowly making its way into more and more homes. The versatility of pendants makes them ideal for any size room. Pendant lights are generally small and feature adjustable cords, so they work with a variety of ceiling heights. The best part about pendants is how customizable they are, as far designing your own formations and varying the cord heights to create your own unique look. Pendant lights work almost anywhere, but are ideal for kitchens and dining rooms.

Not as hip and sexy as pendant lighting, but perhaps more practical and useful, are ceiling mounts and track lighting units. There are plenty of flush and semi-flush mounts on the market that break from the mold of the boring square or circular models. Also, track lighting units have undergone some style changes as well, with many featuring curved or wavy bars and a wide variety of contemporary shades.

Interior Design - Light Sets the Mood

By Michael Russell

So you want to redecorate, you want to create a home with a personal touch, one that can always say "welcome", ease your worries, render you happy, chill you or calm you down.

You can do it: with the right light.

Stop skimming through fancy magazines. If you don't have the money and the skills to replicate those wonders, you'll end up with an interior that lacks your personal touch. Instead, use your imagination. Design the interior of your home according to your special wishes.

Let's say you like blue, but you already have some new white furniture and it makes no sense to replace it. Or maybe you just want to avoid the hassle of selling it (and get way below its value) and buying new. Whatever your reasons, you can still get the "blue" mood your desire through light: controllable light.

We are not talking dimmers. We are talking full color control options. We are talking LED lights and mood lights.

LEDs are no longer the kitschy, flashy annoying lights that were used a few years ago to catch our attention towards a new product. LEDs are no longer used solely for traffic lighting and automotive lighting. LEDs are now used in light therapy, mood lighting, accent lighting, landscape lighting, building illumination and so on. Because LEDs are economic, environmentally friendly (they do not pollute: there are no UV emissions, no IR emissions - unless built so - no noise emissions) energy saving and provide for flexibility of design, but, above all, LEDs are controllable! RGB (red, green, blue) LEDs, based on what engineers call "the three chip technology" are able to display over 16 million colors - more than human eyes can see. LEDs are wonderful and their light. beyond description!

The best part is that you can choose from thousands of LED products the one you can afford and still have exclusive, somehow unique illumination to astonish your guests and to create the right mood in your home.

For example, look for controllable LED cubes - not those you can use as ice cubes for your cocktails (yeah, that's possible too!), but those you can use to replace your coffee table. For example, NeoNeon offers LED mood light cubes you can use as chandeliers, while My-tronic offers LED cubes in different sizes, for several uses. While Traxon is the "real deal" when it comes to mood lights, they are still a little too expensive. Many other companies offer similar products for affordable prices. You just need to browse the web and order what best fits your design expectations: LED tubes, LED stripes, LED spots, LED wall panels or, why not. LED ropes (Think Christmas! - Think safe lighting!). Just remember to search for "controllable" LED light sources.

Why? Because you want to CONTROL light, to set the light color you want: blue to relax, red to create a romantic, appealing atmosphere, green to bathe a room in the color of hope, purple, violet or pink. You want to be able to dim the light or make it brighter. You can even create the rainbow with a controllable LED light source, or any other light effect! You want a light source for the years to come, one that can look different every day.