Not everyone is lucky enough to live in a house brimming with natural light. But despite lighting problems caused by things like small windows, low ceilings or shadows cast by tall buildings across the street, it’s still possible to use fixtures to light a home in a way that’s pleasing to the eye and functional.
Most interior designers agree that the key to good lighting in living rooms is balance-no overly lighted patches and no dark pockets or corners. One way to achieve this balance is to put light sources at several heights.
Teri Seidman, a New York designer, said, “You need three-dimensional lighting from at least three heights: low to the floor, mid-height and ceiling level.”
For low-level lighting, designers recommend putting an uplight-a can-shaped spotlight that sends light upward-on the floor behind a tree or plant. For mid-level lighting, the choices include table lamps, standing lamps, sconces and a small accent lamp that lights up a painting or an art object.
For the ceiling level, most designers opt for recessed lighting or track lighting (recessed lighting is sometimes not feasible because of a concrete ceiling, an apartment lease or condominium restrictions).
“We use track lighting with halogen bulbs that are spot bulbs, and we wash the walls with them,” said Robert Clark, a partner in the Manhattan design firm Clark/LeCuyer. He said that in traditional settings, he tends to paint all elements of the fixture, other than the bulb, so they blend into the ceiling.
When a lack of natural light requires lighting an apartment by day as well as by night, designers advocate making extensive use of dimmers for greater flexibility.
“You should be able to control all sources of light,” Clark said. “You want to be able to turn the light up so you can sit and read properly, or down for when you entertain.”
Keep in mind that older people might need more light to see and that rooms with dark walls or furniture, which absorb light, need extra lamps.
Like living rooms, bedrooms require general lighting and task lighting (for reading or working in bed). Small accent lamps can also be used to make the room feel more intimate.
For late-night reading, a three-way lamp or a lamp with a dimmer might be preferable to a small, bright light focused on the page with total darkness in the rest of the room.
Many designers are big fans of swing-arm lamps at bedside, which offer control over the light’s direction.
A dimmer-controlled chandelier over the table is a traditional choice for the dining room. But for a nice glow that guests can enjoy before and after the meal from, say, the living room, many designers suggest using dimmer-controlled candlestick lamps.
For years, the standard light bulb has been the incandescent bulb. Regular soft-white bulbs can last up to 1,200 hours, while the longer-lasting variety can add another 35 to 50 percent of that total.
Also on the market are energy-saving soft-white bulbs, which use 10 to 15 percent less energy than the regular soft-white bulbs.
Conventional bulbs are being edged out in some homes by halogen bulbs, which designers like for the brilliant white, intensely focused light that brings out the true color of objects.
