Home Lighting
Shedding light on what works, where
Have you ever found yourself frustrated by poor lighting in your kitchen, or too much light over a romantic dinner for two? Lighting is a key element in good home design and an essential factor in our daily lives.
With short seasons and limited daylight hours for the better part of our year in Canada, wouldn't it be nice to have optimal lighting in every part of your home? This guide will walk you through various rooms in your home, and the best lighting solutions for each.
Kitchen
Kitchens require excellent lighting for many reasons. Depending on its layout, the kitchen can serve as a central gathering place for activities such as supervised homework, family meetings, chores, and of course, food prep and meals. The following lighting types are guaranteed to properly illuminate all areas of your kitchen for all purposes:
- Recessed lighting, more commonly referred to as pot lighting, provides good light throughout a room if it is evenly interspersed over the Ceiling area. Pot lights come in various designs to suit different functions: fixed down-lights direct light downwards, adjustable gimbal/eyeballs swivel for directional lighting, and decorative pots sport a glass element for decorative appeal. All varieties will work with a dimmer switch, so you can adjust the ambient lighting in an open plan kitchen/family room to your liking.
- Pendant fixtures are both decorative and functional and are mostly suspended over islands and kitchen tables for better lighting those surfaces.
- Under cabinet lighting is the perfect way to brighten dark counters and cabinets, and is available in a number of different options including mini pot lights and fluorescent strips.
- Track lighting gives the unique flexibility to direct light to where it is most needed with multiple swiveling spotlights.
| Pendant Lighting (view all) | $149.00 at The Home Depot |
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Living areas and hallways can be easily and inexpensively illuminated with smart Accent lighting. Accent lighting refers to the effects of ambient and functional light from table lamps, spotlighting and art gallery lighting, display cabinet lighting, and pop up lighting.
The following are fixtures that will best illuminate your hallway and living areas:
- Floor and table lamps are great for both functional and accent lighting in hallways and living areas. While tall lamps are best suited for brightening dark corners, table lamps are often necessary for desks or reading areas.
- Sconces are a decorative way to provide general or accent lighting in hallways and stairways. These fixtures are unique because they attach to the wall instead of the ceiling.
- Most flush mount or ceiling mount fixtures are affixed to the ceiling, but some designs are partially suspended. They are popular in most living areas, hallways, entranceways – in fact in almost every room of the house – for their ability to evenly diffuse light.
- Recessed or pot lighting is also a popular choice.
| Lamps (view all) | Contact us for price
at IKEA |
| | Sconces (view all) | $249.00 at The Home Depot |
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Accent lighting plays a big role in dining rooms for the soul fact that most homeowners look to their lighting in this room to create ambiance when entertaining.
- Recessed or pot lighting with a dimmer sets a good base for dining room lighting. The dimmer will lower the light to achieve a softer ambiance, but will also provide the alternative to raise the lights should you need additional light for set up, or clean up. Adjustable gimbal pot lights swivel to provide additional accent lighting
- Chandeliers, although not directly considered accent lighting, can be a design accent in the room itself. They are a beautifully ornate way to bring light into a room and are most often suspended from the ceiling, over the center of the dining table. Once again, a dimmer will allow for adjustable ambient lighting.
- Dining room floor and table lamps are ideal for additional light and for accentuating walls, furniture, and paintings.
| Chandeliers (view all) | $149.00 at The Home Depot |
| | Lamps (view all) | Contact us for price
at IKEA |
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Bedroom lighting has gained more emphasis over recent years, and homeowners are being more experimental with their lighting choices. Whereas chandeliers have dominated living areas like the dining room or foyer in the past, they are now finding a place in the bedroom, for example.
The following are other key lighting elements for bedrooms:
- Bedroom table lamps provide ambient lighting but are also functional for reading in bed.
- Ceiling fan lighting fixtures provide the dual functions of lighting and heating or cooling. Some designs incorporate dimmers and/or remote controls.
- Flush mount and ceiling mount fixtures are popular for their ability to diffuse light.
- Wall sconces are often used as a functional and decorative alternative for table lamps.
| Ceiling Fans (view all) | $249.00 at The Home Depot |
| | Floor Lamp (view all) | $139.00 at The Home Depot |
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Every well-groomed man and woman knows that good lighting in a bathroom is essential! When choosing bathroom lighting, keep in mind that it should be resistant to steam.
Some would argue that bathroom lighting should focus around the vanity, but the following are a variety of fixtures that you might find there:
- Recessed or pot lighting provides even lighting throughout the bathroom if it is properly interspersed over the ceiling area. If you enjoy romantic candle lit baths, a dimmer would be a luxurious addition to this choice!
- Ceiling or flush mount lighting provides great illumination over a shower stall.
- Wall sconces, when mounted on either side, will provide good lighting for a vanity.
- Wall mounted fixtures above the vanity provide great illumination too, and some homeowners are even experimenting with cool pendant fixtures now.
- Under cabinet lighting is useful for illuminating dark counter tops.
For additional resources, check out this lighting guide, and this guide specific to the Hampton Bay brand.
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