Lighting in interior design
It is not unusual to have inefficient lighting. We often do not have enough bright spots and we also tend to place the lights too high, which generates a less inviting space. However, when placing lighting in different heights and using more lamps in the same room, the illumination automatically becomes more varied with more shadows creating an interesting play between light and shadows and thus a better and more pleasant atmosphere. This is sometimes referred to as making ‘islands of light’.
“Once you have experienced real lighting, life is filled with new values.”
Ambient lighting is the overall lighting, where you use a warmer light in for example table lamps, pendants, recessed lights, uplights etc. to create a tranquil atmosphere.
When you are reading, cooking, fixing things or doing something else that requires your concentration, you need a more clear and downward directed light, so you can see what you are doing. This is referred to as task lighting or functional lighting and the sources used are often table lamps, but also floor lamps, wall lamps and pendants.
Pay attention to electricity consumption
Back in the day, we chose our light bulbs based on the wattage. If we wanted a lot of light, we would buy a high wattage bulb. For less light, we would choose a lower wattage. Wattage is however, a unit of measure for energy use, and for a long time more energy meant more light. But, then new and more efficient lights bulbs, for example LEDs, came along and changed everything. In fact, lumens are the unit measure for light output. In other words, wattage is the amount of energy or electricity that the light bulb uses per hour. The higher the wattage, the more energy or electricity it consumes.