We spend a lot of our waking time in the living room, so getting the lighting right is vital to add ambience to a space where we relax, chat, watch TV or read a good book. It’s also a place where we showcase artwork and other possessions.
The overall light levels in a living room do not need be bright. It’s more important that you focus the light where your customer needs it, whether that’s for reading or for highlighting a picture or object.
Adding interest
What you don’t want to create is a flat one-dimensional lighting scheme. It needs to combine general or ambient lighting, feature lighting to highlight interesting objects and add depth and interest, and task lighting for specific activities.
You can provide ambient or general lighting using a combination of downlights and wall lights or table lamps. Another way to provide gentle glare-free ambient light is to use LED strip lighting set on top of any tall cabinets or shelf units.
Layers of light
Feature lighting is what creates the atmosphere and adds a touch of glamour. Consider LED strip lights under shelving and spotlights with tighter beam angles to pick out artwork or areas of interest.
You should supplement this with task lighting, which might be tabletop or freestanding reading lamps. Remember to install enough socket outlets around the room, so the homeowner can choose where to plug these in.
Lighting control
Dimming control to adjust the brightness according to the time of day and to alter the mood is a good idea. Some LED fittings even allow you to mimic natural light sources by creating progressively warmer light as you dim it; so, while 3000K at 100% brightness is ideal for everyday use, you can dim the fitting all the way through to 1800K at 10% brightness for a cosy and intimate feel while watching a film at night.
We want to help you banish boring one-dimensional lighting in the home. Download our guide, Lighting Design for the Home, to help light your customers moment
