8 Rules For Home Lighting Design: How to Light Your Home

1. Don’t rely on overhead lights

The first rule is to never rely on just the overhead light. The biggest mistake you can make with lighting, apart from having no light at all, is to have one single source of light in the ceiling. It casts a very unflattering uniform light that makes everyone and everything look kind of terrible.

2. Get more lights

As for how many lights should be in the room, it really depends on the size and layout of the space. But as a rule of thumb, I would say go for between 5 to 7 light sources per room. And if you have an extra huge room, maybe go for something around 9. This sounds like a lot of different light sources, but it's really not.

3. Use 4 types of light

Now that we've established the quantity of light you need per space, let's talk about the different types of lighting. In a room, it's likely that you have 4 different categories of light, and you should aim to have at least 1 type of light from each category in each room.

General lighting

First, we have general lighting. This can be a ceiling light that spreads ambient light all over the room.

Task lighting

Then, we have task lighting, which is the type of light you use to perform a very specific task, like using a table lamp while you're at your desk, a floor lamp while you read, and strip lighting above the kitchen counter while you’re chopping vegetables.

Spotlighting

The third category is spotlighting, which is used to direct your attention to very specific features in your home. This can be a work of art on the wall or family photos.

Atmospheric lighting

Lastly, you have atmospheric lighting, like fairy lights or string lights.

4. Consider the location of lighting

Now that we've established the quantity and types of lighting that we need in a room, let's discuss where they need to go. You should identify if there are specific zones or functions in the room, and then place light according to each of these functions.

If you have a large dining table that you want people to gather around, place a lot of pendant lights above the dining table to create a pool of light over it.

If you have a particular armchair that you want to use for reading, make sure it has a light next to it.

If you've spent three months' salary on a gigantic TV screen and you really want people to notice it, put some lights behind the TV screen and have them on all the time.

5. Avoid garish colors

The color of the light in our room is also really important and can vastly affect our mood.

Bright and strong colors like blue, red, and green distort how people look and affect the way we interact with others, so it's best to avoid using these garish colors at home.

6. Pick a warm temperature

When it comes to choosing the color temperature of the lights in your home, you should go for something that's warm white, and the best lamp for your home will have a warm bulb in it.

Kelvins

Color temperatures are measured in Kelvins and determine whether the light is warm or cool. The lower the Kelvin number, the warmer the color, and the higher the number, the cooler and bluer the color.

For a warm and cozy home, I would recommend a temperature between 2,700 to 3,000 Kelvins.

On the other hand, if you have a workshop in your home, you can then use a higher color temperature. This is why in a lot of spaces like hospitals and offices, you don't feel very warm and cozy because of the color light bulbs they use. It's very white and bright.

7. Pay attention to softness

There are three ways for light to come out of this magical thing called the light bulb and illuminate your space. Direct, indirect, and diffused.

Direct light

Direct light is for task lighting, like when you switch on a torch and you shine it all around.

Indirect light

Indirect light is used more for accent lighting, so this is when you project a light against the wall, and then you have some soft light that bounces off the surface.

Diffused light

Diffused light is when the beam of light is filtered through a lampshade.