What You Need to Know About Lighting Design for the Home

Light is defined as a narrow band of electromagnetic energy, which stimulates receptors in the eye that enable vision. Wavelengths between 380 nanometers and 760 nanometers are referred to as visible light and are some of the many marvels of the universe that affects everything from science to design. In the case of the design world, light affects and controls color, specifically called hue. Hue is the characteristic of color perception denoted by what we call red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet. Simply put, light does not just control what color looks like, but in fact creates color based on how different casts of light interact. This is why you can purchase a throw pillow in a store, thinking that it will look perfect with that new violet sofa in your game room, and get it home only to discover that it is not even violet, but a strange shade of burgundy.

So what happened to the pillow? Did it magically change color just to spite you? The answer is no. So why did the pillow change color? It changed color because the lighting you have in your home is different than the lighting in the store! In most homes we have incandescent lights (which give off a yellow light) or in newer homes there may be a few halogen lights (which give off a whiter light). Add to that the time of day and how much direct natural light (has a slight blue tint) you have streaming into your living room. Now think back to the store where you bought the pillow, most stores use florescent lighting (which can give off a very blue or green tint) because it is very economical to install and power, and there were probably no windows. It is that simple.

The information above may seem like a science lesson, but I went into such detail to prove a major point; you can have the most beautifully designed home in the world, but without taking how you light the space into consideration, you are not getting the full effect.

So here are the basic types of lighting you need to know to get started:

Ambient Light- used for general or background illumination.
Object Light- provides focal glow and highlights a specific object or objects.
Accent or Sparkle Light- could be a sconce that accents the wall, a pendant, or chandelier that creates a sparkle in the room.
Task Light- usually a brighter light to help you to better perform certain tasks like reading, sewing, or writing.

Some of the types of professionals who can help light your space are lighting sales professionals from independent lighting stores, interior designers, or if you really want to showcase your home, there are specialized lighting designers. If you need to pull together a home with good lighting and highlight pieces of art, and help you figure out task lighting and ambient lighting just to add sparkle, an interior designer and lighting sales specialist can work with a floor plan and show you what to use where. The lighting designer comes in when you really have a sensational home and you want to do all of the above, use light to exhibit the house itself as an art form, as well as making that lighting work with advanced lighting technologies. Crestron is one company that takes lighting to new levels with electronic pads that look more like computers than lighting controls. With the touch of a button you can select entertaining, romantic, daytime, relaxing, or any other kind of mood setting you would like. The way it works is that a professional comes out and designs each individual mood, which then gets programmed into a wall switch or electronic pad, so that the lights automatically dim or brighten when you feel the need to change the lighting by selecting a mood.

All of this only begins to scratch the surface of the benefits of lighting design. There is so much to cover with lighting that this article could go on for ten pages, so for more specific questions, you may write to me. I will do the best I can to answer specific questions without being able to see your space.

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