September 26, 2009
Using Illumination to Powerful Effect.
When you are considering the interior design of a house or area, lighting is almost certainly the most significant factor of the alterations to the interior decoration. After all, it is the factor that creates the atmosphere of the room. You can create moods from intimacy to bleak clinicism just by the power of your light bulb or turning a dimmer switch.
However, if you want to be in no doubt that the effect of the illumination is the one you are looking for, it is imperative that you be familiar with the four principal types of illumination.
Ambient lighting: This is the general illumination for the entire room. In most rooms it is the usual light in the centre of the ceiling be it a fluorescent tube or an incandescent bulb. It is suggested that you make use of one or more dimmers in order to gain more flexibility in creating effects for every occasion.
Local lights: These lights are used to enhance or even temporarily replace the ambient lighting. Local lights are most frequently standard lamps, table and wall lights and are normally used in order to assist such activities as reading, cooking, and shaving. The concentration of the light is local and it has to be properly worked out so it won?t strain the eyes.
Accent lights Accent lights are sources of light for displaying ornamental items, ordinarily placed so as to highlight an objet d?art . Quite literally to show it in its best light.
Natural light: This is the one we get free though skylights, windows and doors. This light is controllable for part of the day by shades, curtains, drapes, blinds or awnings, but clearly varies with the time of the day, the season and the weather. Some localities see huge variations in natural light according to the season, eg monsoon, snow, etc.
It is possibly easiest, if you consider a house room by room. Start off by analyzing what the room is used for. Retirees will probably want to take advantage of the daytime natural light for hobbies and reading, but a working couple with school-age kids, will be more active in the evening, when additional illumination might be more imperative. Write down what you do and where you do it. Do you have a favourite comfy chair for reading the paper, do you read the paper during daylight hours or after work? Be daring in your selection of lighting, but also bear in mind that lighting can have a powerful influence on our perception of dimensions, making a room look larger or smaller than it is in reality.
There are lots of methods to illuminate a room but they all come from one of two perspectives: the lighting is either practical or artistic. Yes, they are both used to allow you to see more effortlessly, but highlighting the pages of a book or a shaving mirror is not quite the same as using a low light to highlight a statue of the Madonna in an alcove.
In a short summary, you could use the few lines below to give you starting ideas when you are considering changing a room?s illumination:
i] Place a standard lamp behind armchairs: they ought to be between three and five feet high. ii] Use an accent light to high or even low light a work of art. iii] Use an accent light to underline the lines of bookshelves. iv] The ambient light should be adjustable. v] Use local illumination to swathe the walls with a low light or glow (can be recessed into the floor)
Filed under Interior Design by Mike James