Friday, September 17, 2010

top 5 tips when thinking about lighting in the home

My aunty Sue was wondering....

"Sue Nimegeers said...

I need help with my lighting....give me your top 5 tips when thinking about lighting in the home!!?? "

I kinda love this topic so I'm gonna write a quick response while I'm on my lunch break!

#1. YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR
 - If you see 2 bulbs that look the same by the label other than their prices, always go for the more       expensive one. You will get better quality light, colours that are true, long lasting equipment, and you will be happier for it!

#2. Always use more than one light source .... so, have your task lighting (lamps or wired-in lighting for particular tasks), your accent lighting (accenting art, an alcove, etc.) and your ambient lighting (most of us think of it as a ceiling mounted light). Referred to as "LAYERING light", it makes a room individual and interesting. Put it in in that order, using the ambient lighting to balance it out. But make sure there are still "pockets" of light, and its not over-lit, which destroys the whole purpose of layering light. Which brings me to ....

#3. BALANCE the values in the room. Yes, you always want light, medium and dark values in a room and light can help with this. Note: everybody reacts differently to different uses of colour in a space, but everybody reacts the SAME to lighting. Everyone will always look first at the brightest thing. So, if you want everyone to notice the circle of light attached to your ceiling first, make that your brightest spot. : D ... but that's not the "brightest" design idea...hehehe!

#4. I will say, for environmental purposes, use CFL (compact fluorescents) instead of incadescents. This is where you will DEFINITELY get value for money, and the colour rendering, warmth, etc. is no longer
 inferior to that of incandescent. I promise you. Also, people who say they get headaches and such from fluorescents are wrong. They get it from the glare that comes from the way they're being used. Improper lighting techniques can not be blamed on the bulb used!

#5. If you have Halogens or BR-Lamps or PAR-lamps (R38/PAR30/20 commonly used if you have recessed or "pot" lights), do not touch them when installing. They'll burn out fast (and they're innefficient incandescents to start with!).

And another note, because it drives me crazy when they are done wrong: bathrooms or change rooms (retail especially) should have more than 1 light source. The absolute worste thing to do is stick a light right above your head shining down on you. It creates big shadows that highlight under eye circles, cullulite, and everything we hate about our bodies! If you HAVE to have a light straight overhead  then at least have another one that is wall-mounted in front of you (think behind or beside the mirror) or on a wall to the side of the mirror, to counteract all those terrible shadows. Swimcois the absolute WORSTE for this! Their sales would probably double if they lit their change rooms properly!

Hope this helps! See-ya later!

3 comments:

Wade and Tara said...

those are som epretty good tips! by the way you never commented on my blog and I am a little hurt! anyways you should help me out with my design problems as well..although you might want to call me because I have a lot of questions :D

☼Shanna said...

I will bookmark this and save it for later... awesome info!

Robin said...

Cool! Which instantly I though of Old Navy because I was there yesterday and I looked in the mirror and thought wow I look pretty good for being up since 445Am and it was 9pm and then I walked into Reitmans.....AGH! I was scary. :s