Are you among the 59% of Americans who are still on board with the 2020s home improvement trend? If so, you’re likely looking for even more ways to better your home.
If you want to showcase your recent efforts in the best light as well as add instant appeal to your interiors, lighting is the way to go.
Consider these kinds of lighting indoors to help create the ambiance you want for our interiors.
Main Categories of Lights
Lighting has a major effect on your lifestyle. It affects mood, sleep, and even appetite. Bearing this in mind, it’s important to consider the perfect type of interior lighting for every room.
There are three main types of internal lights, although each can serve multiple purposes. These are:
Ambient Lights
The purpose of ambient lighting is to illuminate the whole room. It provides uniform lighting across the room and is vital for ensuring your safety as you move about.
This kind of light bounces off the walls to create an overview of the room. Most rooms in your house will have some sort of ambient light, supported by task lighting and accent lighting.
Daylight is the best form of ambient light, and you should use it as much as you can in your home.
You can introduce ambient lighting into your home with the following fixtures:
Chandeliers
Chandeliers instantly add a touch of elegance, charm, and romance to a room. You can get them in both modern and classic designs with various levels of ornate decoration.
If you want to create a luxurious feel in your bedroom or dining room or add a touch of drama to your entrance hall, a chandelier is a perfect choice.
Ceiling Mounted Fixture
Most types of ambient lighting, including chandeliers and pendant lights, are a type of ceiling-mounted lighting. When we think of ceiling-mounted lights, we normally conceptualize fluorescent lights, shaded lights, or other types of common light fixtures.
These fixtures are the cornerstone of modern-day interior design, but you don’t need to stick with boring fixtures nowadays. You can buy very attractive ceiling light covers in a variety of shapes and patterns.
Wall-Mounted Fixtures
Wall sconces and other wall-mounted fixtures extend outward from your walls. They’re often used to light up hallways or side tables. You can buy wall sconces that simply plug into the nearest electrical socket, so you don’t need an electrician to install them.
Track Lights
Track lights create a classy industrial feel in your home. They’re mounted on a track that’s fastened to the ceiling, and you can angle them in any direction you prefer.
They work well to illuminate the center of a room or to light up hallways or stairways when you switch the main lights off.
Task Lighting
Task lighting is directional light that focuses on a targeted area, so you can work or read comfortably and perform tasks safely. These bright lights provide the illumination you need in your study, reading nook, or kitchen.
Some varieties of task lighting include:
Recessed Lights
These lights are fully contained within your ceiling and direct a beam of light straight down. They have a neat, modern appearance, and you can also use recessed lights as a type of ambient lighting.
Pendant lighting
Pendants are a popular type of hanging light. They’re available in a tremendous range of finishes, colors, and styles to suit any home decor.
These lights work particularly well over a dining room table or kitchen island. They’re easy to set up, too.
Under-cabinet Lights
There are three different types of under-cabinet lights. These are strip lights, puck lights, and rope lights.
Puck lights look like a hockey puck. They’re battery-operated, so all you need to do is stick them to the underside of your cabinet and replace the batteries when needed.
Strip lights consist of small globes contained within a transparent plastic hose. They’re thin enough to conceal under your cabinets and easy to install.
Strip lights are the brightest type of under-counter lighting. They look like long light bulbs and are available in LED, fluorescent, or incandescent varieties.
Tape and Extrusion Lights
These are thin strips containing small LED lights. Some emit only one color, and they attach neatly to the underside of kitchen cupboards,
They work well as a type of task lighting when attached this way.
You also get colored RGB strips which look highly effective in a bar area or a teenager’s room.
Lamps
Freestanding portable or desk lamps are one of the oldest and most popular kinds of lights.
They work well in studies, bedrooms, and living rooms. Depending on how bright they are, they can also work well as a type of ambient lighting.
Accent Lighting
Like task lighting, accent lighting focuses on a specific point. It’s used to draw attention to an interesting feature of a room like a painting, or sculpture or to achieve a particular effect.
When it’s used correctly, this type of lighting can make your room look larger. As a general rule, a focal light should light up the target area to three times the brightness of the ambient lighting in the room.
Any of the following types of lights can do double duty as accent lighting:
- Directional recessed fixtures
- Downlights
- Slimline bar and under-cabinet lights
- Tape and extrusion lights
- Track lights
- Wall-mounted fixtures
Remember, too many accent lights in one room lose their effectiveness. Minimalism is best, so choose only one or two items per room that you’d like to draw attention to.
Using Lighting Indoors
You can use lighting indoors to great effect with a little thought and planning.
If you’re unsure of where to get started, a design expert can assist you, or you can browse websites like this one for ideas.
Would you like some more top home improvement tips? Keep scrolling through our home section for more articles.
