Using Lighting to Create Atmosphere
When you are considering the interior design of a house or room, lighting is most likely the most significant aspect of the changes to the interior decoration. After all, it is the factor that creates the atmosphere of the room. You can create moods from intimacy to austere clinicism just by the power of your light bulb or turning a dimmer control.
Nevertheless, if you want to be sure that the consequence of the lighting is the one you are looking for, it is important that you be familiar with the four principal kinds of lighting.
Ambient illumination: This is the general lighting for the whole room. In nearly all rooms it is the average light in the centre of the ceiling be it a fluorescent tube or an incandescent bulb. It is recommended that you make use of one or more dimmers in order to enjoy more flexibility in creating effects for each occasion.
Local lights: These lights are used to complement or even temporarily take the place of the ambient lighting. Local lights are most frequently standard lamps, table and wall lights and are usually used in order to assist such activities as reading, cooking, and shaving. The concentration of the light is local and it has to be properly worked out so it won?t strain the eyes.
Accent lights Accent lights are sources of light for displaying decorative items, usually placed so as to draw attention to an objet d?art . Quite literally to show it in its best light.
Natural light: This is the one we get free though skylights, windows and doors. This light is controllable for part of the day by shades, curtains, drapes, blinds or awnings, but evidently varies with the time of the day, the season and the weather. Some localities see huge variations in natural light according to the season, eg monsoon, snow, etc.
It is in all probability easiest, if you take a house room by room. Start by analyzing what the room is used for. Retirees will in all probability want to take advantage of the daytime natural light for hobbies and reading, but a working couple with school-age kids, will be more active in the evening, when assisted illumination might be more important. Write down what you do and where you do it. Do you have a favourite lounger for reading the paper, do you read the paper during daylight hours or after work? Be bold in your selection of lighting, but also bear in mind that lighting can have a powerful influence on our perception of dimensions, making a room look larger or smaller than it is in reality.
There are numerous methods to light a room but they all come from one of two perspectives: the lighting is either functional or aesthetic. Yes, they are both used to allow you to see more easily, but highlighting the pages of a book or a shaving mirror is not quite the same as using a soft light to highlight a statue of the Madonna in an alcove.
In a short summary, you could use the few lines below to give you starting ideas when you are considering changing a room?s illumination:
i] Position a standard lamp behind armchairs: they ought to be between three and five feet high. ii] Use an accent light to high or even low light a canvas. iii] Use an accent light to underline the contours of bookshelves. iv] The ambient light should be modifiable. v] Use local illumination to cover the walls with a low light or glow (can be recessed into the floor)
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