How to Create the Perfect Lighting in Your Home

Lighting your home seems like an easy enough task, but there’s actually plenty to think about. Here’s our quick and simple guide to getting it right.

Determine Your Lighting Needs

The first step is the most important: you need to decide what your lighting goals are. Essentially, lighting needs can fall into two categories:

• Task: Task lighting is used to illuminate workspaces. You’ll generally want a strong amount of light coming from behind you to let plenty fall upon the task at hand. For example, a desk will usually have a small lamp to illuminate whatever is on its surface, while a kitchen counter used for food preparation is usually lit by overhead fluorescent lighting.
• Accent: Accent lighting provides a practical function, but it is also used to highlight focal points in each room and improve the look of your home. For example, a dining room may be illuminated with a chandelier; that chandelier will still provide light, but it will be softer and less direct than task lighting.

Usually, you’ll use multiple light sources for one space, so rooms will generally combine task and accent lighting. Determine what you want and where you need it to avoid having too much of either.

Break Up the Room

Since you’re going to be using several light sources, you can also use them to break up the space in larger rooms, such as living rooms and conservatories. There will probably we certain areas in these larger rooms that you use for certain activities.

A living room, for example, could include a space for entertaining and a comfy armchair for reading. Use different lighting options to break them up.

Use LED Lights

LED lighting used to produce an odd glow, but they now replicate the appearance of traditional incandescent bulbs. However, the main reason why you should use them is down to their unbeatable value.

That might seem like an odd statement since they tend to be more expensive than other options, but it’s worth remembering that they can last for decades. With the average energy bill of medium-sized house in the UK coming in at £1,098, it’s always worth finding ways to cut your costs. Remember, LED bulbs can be used for anything, even a fun lighting option such as fairy lights.

Lighting makes a huge difference to your home, so it’s well worth taking the time to get things perfect the first time around.