Getting the lighting done in your new living room is one of the most important final touches that you’ll have to carry out. The ideal lighting for a room depends on the function of the room in question so, for your living room, where you will be doing a variety of things, you should be aiming for something that’s flexible.
Perhaps you’d want to go for powerfully bright glass ceiling lights? Ultimately, it’s down to your personal taste combined with a certain amount of practicality – along with the effect you want to achieve.
This guide has been written to help you consider how best to light up your living room.
Home Lighting Don’ts
Your living room is going to have to be lit from a variety of sources, ultimately. You should never, ever choose to light the room from just one central source.
Creating pools and different areas or accents of light around the room will result in a flexibly, diversely lit, comfortable living space. There will be a means of lighting the room to suit the occasion: dim for watching a movie or a party; brighter for everyday living.
You’ll want to utilise a variety of table lamps, floor lamps, ceiling lights and so on.
Impacts on Lighting
Before you make a list of all the lights you want in your living room, you’ll have to consider issues like how much natural daylight the room receives, the location of your play sockets, how big the room is and which direction it’s facing. These all have major impacts on what lighting you can achieve and how much lighting you will need to generate to avoid living in gloom.
You have to understand and anticipate the differences in natural light the room will receive when the seasons change.
Lighting up your living room
Given that the function of your living room is to spend your leisure time in it, the light should therefore easily adaptable to your mood. Usually, people get at least one alternative source of lighting to the main ceiling light. But going for more can really add character, opting for stylish floor-standing lamps or table lamps for living room use will give your living room a sumptuous feel.
As for the ceiling lights, complete the potential for personalisation by getting dimmers installed, so you can adjust the light when you’re relaxing or watching a film or television.
Different lighting effects
If you prefer a gentle, more ambient feel, you might want to go for something less harsh than halogen lighting. Accent lighting is used in order to highlight certain functions of the room in question, such as a certain wall display.
Task lighting, on the other hand, will highlight certain work surfaces or areas, such as your coffee table or book shelves. For this purpose, you’ll probably require a halogen lamp.
