Lighting is a design element that you rarely notice. Because of the simple and elegant look of a contemporary room, good use of light is extremely important. The use of light in contemporary design can influence the overall look of a room just as much as the use of color. While the design of the lamp is important in any home decorating style, in a contemporary room the illumination of light itself is an essential design element.
One of the most common types of lighting in contemporary design is recessed lighting. Recessed lighting offers many different benefits. Recessed lighting can illuminate an entire room without disturbing the flow of the room. Adjustable recessed lighting can also be angled to highlight design elements such as a painting or other focal point.
If you have a dark corner that can’t be illuminated without interfering with the design of the room, consider using an adjustable uplight. These lights are designed to sit on the floor, with the light illuminating the darkened area.
Other contemporary light fixtures such as lamps and chandeliers can be used in a couple of different ways. You can choose light fixtures that have a simple design, so as to blend in with the rest of the room. Light fixtures that are designed to be a focal point, such as those with a dramatic color or shape, can add a creative pop to an otherwise streamlined room.
No matter what type of lighting you choose to use in your home, a great way to customize it for any occasion is to install dimmer switches. By using dimmer switches, you can create the perfect lighting for anything from an intimate dinner to a festive family gathering.
Much like color, light itself has different qualities and can create different moods. The most versatile and clear light is halogen. Halogen works very well with contemporary design because of the bright and simple quality of the light it creates. Halogen light is very bright, so should always be used with a dimmer switch. Incandescent, or traditional, light bulbs will cast a softer, warmer light that is flattering to the skin. Using incandescent light in the bedrooms and dining room can create a more comfortable and intimate mood.
Each room should be lighted based upon what the room is used for as well as how often it is used. The rooms where your family gathers every day to eat, talk and play should be more brightly lit. Brightly lit rooms create an energetic and positive mood. Rooms that are designed to unwind in, such as a bedroom or sitting area should be more softly lit in order to encourage relaxation and comfort.
Rooms that aren’t used often should have variable levels of lighting. Soft lighting will illuminate the room nicely while it’s not in use. Using minimal lighting in rooms not in use can also keep children and pets from being drawn to the room.
Light, when used properly, will be something that you barely even notice. Using the right type of light in each room will make the design of your entire home come together.
By: B Williams
Posts Tagged ‘Dimmer Switches’
Lighting in a Child’s Room
February 25th, 2010
In considering the lighting needs in a child’s bedroom or playroom, safety is at the top of the list. Ceiling lights that provide enough light to fill the room are among the best bets to consider. This type of lighting is considered ambient lighting that provides enough illumination to fill the entire room. Ceiling lights are always a good bet regardless of the age of the child.
With small children and infants, ambient ceiling lighting provides the ultimate in safety because the child can’t reach it and the adults in the home have control via a wall switch or dimmer. Dimmer switches are worth considering as a way to not only provide just the right level of ambient lighting but also as a way of providing a low illumination night light for those children who need a little light to feel comfortable and secure as they fall asleep.
In addition to ceiling lights, recessed fixtures and track lighting can also be a good source of ambient lighting. Children being children, they may tend to become very active and you want to insure that the majority of the lighting fixtures are out of harms way when the children’s play starts to get a little rough. Besides protecting the light fixtures, recessed and track lighting can help avoid burn injuries or cuts, etc, if bulbs are touched or broken.
The basic rule of thumb is the younger the child, the more important it is to keep the light fixtures out of their reach.
As the child gets older, you can begin to add some task lighting to help them with close work such as reading, doing homework or playing with a computer.
Track lighting can be effective task lighting since this type of lighting can be adjusted by rotating or aiming it at the area that needs special illumination.
Depending on the maturity and judgment skills of the child, you can eventually move to a desktop lamp that is designed specifically for children. A child’s lamp should be “bottom-heavy” to reduce the risk of it tipping over and the light element should be one of the cooler varieties such as a fluorescent to help reduce the risk of the child getting burned. Traditional incandescent fixtures put out a disproportionate amount of heat as compared to the illumination that they provide and should, if possible, be avoided.
Some parents take the additional step of finding a table lamp that can be attached directly to the table thus avoiding any risk of the lamp being knocked over.
Lamps that are not properly positioned can provide unnecessary glare that will lead to eyestrain and fatigue. The lamp should be used to illuminate the reading material or the computer monitor and an ambient light source should be used to reduce or eliminate the contrast between the lamp light and what it is illuminating.
You will probably need to do a little experimenting to get this lighting balance just right. Even though the child will probably tell you that the initial placement of the lamp does the job just fine, he or she is probably not aware of the glare and more than likely won’t have any ill side effects for a period of time. The best way to get this balance right is to set it up so that it works for you. The older we get, the more sensitive we are to sources of poor lighting.
If you’re among the fortunate parents whose children like to read, consider a lamp placed on a nightstand or table next to the bed. Be sure that it is in alignment with the child’s shoulder when he or she is sitting up to read and make sure that the lighting comes from behind the shoulder and a bit off to the side to minimize the stress on their eyes.
In most cases you should avoid floor lamps in a child’s room. While they might provide a nice decorative touch, they are easy to tip over and offer the possibility of injury.
Some accent lighting can also be considered to highlight special keepsakes, etc. Use small bulb fixtures and, again, keep the heat emanating from the fixture to a minimum.
Finally, a plug-in nightlight is a perfectly safe option to consider for a child’s room. Besides providing that feeling of security, it allows the child to navigate more easily should they get up in the middle of the night.
By: Chuck Lunsford
Track Lighting Ideas
November 22nd, 2009
Track lighting is a simple way to add lighting to an entire room or to simply provide accent lighting to highlight special features such as artwork or other areas in a room that can benefit from special attention. This type of lighting is installed on a mounting track fixed to your ceiling. The track can be custom configured to fit into the area desired and involves little or no remodeling since the track is mounted on an existing surface. The only requirement is that there is a power source such as an existing ceiling junction box.
Occasionally, the power source may not be in the location where you want to place the track lighting. A simple solution is to purchase what are called L or T track adaptors (also called connectors) that are unobtrusive and blend into the track lighting layout. These adaptors permit you to feed the electric from the power source to wherever the track lighting is set up.
Once the track(s) are installed, lighting heads or lighting cans are placed in the track and positioned to provide the desired lighting. Track lighting is very flexible allowing the actual lights to be twisted or angled in such a way as to provide just the right illumination.
As you research the lighting heads or lighting cans that are available, you will find that they range from fairly small fixtures to larger spotlight type lamps. Some individuals mix the type, size and power of the lights but for the most part, a uniform, identical set of fixtures will provide a more pleasing and professional looking layout.
Versatility is the key to considering track lighting. You may find a small area that doesn’t benefit from ambient lighting or other types of lighting such as table lamps, etc. This is often the case in hallways or other narrow, interior areas. A simple track lighting layout with just a few fixtures can provide just the right amount of lighting for these areas. Often set up on dimmer switches, track lighting can be adjusted to just the right level of intensity to get the job done. Again, track lighting is often an ideal option to highlight a piece of sculpture or other artwork that you would like to show off. You can reserve the use of this application to times when you have company over, leaving the special purpose track lighting off at other times.
Because of the types of fixtures available, track lighting can provide a feeling of warmth and intimacy in both small and larger areas of your home.
There are a number of other areas in the home where track lighting might be an appropriate addition. The bathroom is typically an area that has little ambient or natural light. A small strip of track lighting can be added near the shower. This will not only provide needed light in this area but will also create the illusion of the area being larger. Track lighting also works well above the bathroom mirror as an alternative to lights actually installed on or next to the mirror. The bathroom can provide a number of possibilities to highlighting task areas other than those mentioned above.
The kitchen and eating areas are often appropriate locations to install track lighting. If you have an island in the kitchen, a small strip of track lights will do a nice job of illuminating this food preparation area. Some kitchens feature small counter-top eating areas that also lend themselves to track lighting.
Flexible track lighting is a fairly recent innovation that permits even greater flexibility than traditional track lighting. While many people don’t consider this type of lighting as attractive or stylish as traditional track lighting, it does provide an option that lets you install flexible lighting with a minimum of work. The basic idea with flexible track lighting is that the wiring is encased in flexible material (such as tubing) rather than on an inflexible rod. This permits this type of lighting to be used in a variety of ways and the lighter weight material often makes this a less expensive alternative than standard, rod type track lighting.
Flexible track lighting also allows more artistic flexibility. Artistic designs are possible in dimly lit areas and simple, but elegant highlights are possible in nearly any room in the house.
By: Chuck Lunsford
