Lighting is often an underrated aspect of interior design. Of course, if you don’t know much about lighting, you’re unlikely to put much though into it when decorating your home.
However, understanding how to layer your lighting is vital if you want to transform the atmosphere in each room. But what exactly is layered lighting and how do you achieve it to receive the right results? Read on to find out more.
What is layered lighting?
Layered lighting is essentially mixing and matching different types of lights within a room, such as wall lights and ceiling lights.
The purpose of layered lighting is to provide yourself with different types of lighting for different types of activity. For example, when watching a movie, you might not want your bright ceiling lights to be left on but you might not want to be sat in pitch black.
In this sort of scenario, you’ll require a lamp. The next day, you might want to sit in the same room while helping your child with their homework, so a lamp won’t be bright enough and you’ll need something stronger.
Before you put together a lighting plan, take the time to truly think about how you’re going to use the room, as this will help you determine what sort of lights you’ll need.
Different types of lighting
Generally speaking, a good lighting plan will combine the following three types of lighting:
Ambient lighting
Ambient lighting is the main light in a room, such as spotlights or other type of main ceiling light.
Accent lighting
Accent lighting is the second layer which allows you to highlight certain points of interest in a room, such as a fireplace or piece of art.
Task lighting
Task lighting is, as the name suggests, designed to help you complete a task, such as a desk lamp in your study.
Install a central control device
If you are incorporating layered lighting into your home, you may also want to invest in a central control device. We have one in our home and it’s brilliant.
It allows you to control all layers from one place so that you can change the mood of a room with minimal effort.
It’s also handy if you’ve rushed out the door and forgotten to turn the lights off, as you can control them via an app on your phone! I do this quite often!
Share your thoughts
I’m lucky in that my hubby is really into planning the lighting in our home. He’s got all the layers sussed out already so I don’t have to worry about it too much. I’m looking forward to being involved in planning the lighting in our new home though!
What about you? Have you given the lighting in your house much thought? Please share your comments below.
Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post in collaboration with Inspyer Lighting.