Lighting Tips

Lighting is an essential part of home interior design. The style and finish of a lamp is as important as the other home accessories such as furniture sets or paint used in a room.

Below are some useful tips provided by free lighting information provider All About Lamps to help you choose the best type of lighting for your needs. More lighting tips can be accessed through its website www.all-about-lamps.com.

Living rooms

How you light your living room depends to a large extent on the mood that you want to create. Dramatic, spacious, intimate and many more moods can be created in your living room by using lighting effectively.

Layered light is fairly popular for the living room. Layered light is achieved by having multiple light sources that overlap. A combination of accent lights, wall lamps, downlights and floor lamps works very well.

The key to this technique is to have at least the accent lights and downlights on dimmers. That way you can create multiple effects and moods by shifting the emphasis. Downlights placed near a wall can create a very dramatic and beautiful effect. The success of this technique depends to a certain extent on the wall itself. Textured walls and wall with interesting paint effects work well.

Hidden lights also work well in the dining room. Place a light behind or inside a cabinet - or even under a plant - to create soft, intimate lighting.

Bedrooms

Most master bedrooms are multi-purpose areas. They are places for sleeping, reading, being intimate, watching TV or, in my house, sometimes even eating. So it makes sense to have a lighting arrangement that is flexible.

Installing dimmers is the first step. Dimmers allow you to adjust your lighting to the mood you want to create.

Another good general guideline is to have multiple lights in your bedroom. Dual swing-arm wall lamps above your headboard allow you to read while your partner sleeps - or you to sleep when he/she types away on the laptop. They are a must-have.

Also consider using task lights. Vanity lights for the dresser, hidden lights in the closet and sturdy ceiling lights for pillow fights. Nothing affects people quite the way light does - and having the lighting arrangement to suit the mood can do wonders.

Dining rooms

The dining room is probably the one room where you cannot overdo it. There are so many different moods easily created with clever lighting.

Chandeliers! Some of the modern chandeliers available these days are truly wonderful. Just be careful not to buy your chandelier too big. As a general guideline, your dining room chandelier should be about one foot smaller in diameter than the shortest side of your dining room table.

Decorate with a combination of wall lamps and floor lamps. Create soft, intimate moods with hidden lights.

For something different, try washing one wall with light while keeping the others relatively shaded. This works especially well if you break the light with a painting or interesting wall decoration.

Speaking about paintings, consider using track lighting to highlight artwork around the dining room table. The gallery-like atmosphere adds a wonderful "classy" feel.

And of course you must be able to dim each light or group of lights separately. This allows you to set the mood quickly - for anything from a lively party to a quiet, candle-lit dinner. -- Link www.all-about.lamps.com