Article:
Illuminating Your Home
By Shelley Anderson
The Journal Newspapers - December 2006
This time of year we use our interior lighting as soon as we rise in the morning to the time we retire in the evening. So this is a good time to assess your home’s lighting plan using the three basic categories.
Ambient lighting is the most important type of residential lighting. This light is intended to give your space a soft, warm glow and fill dark corners with light. This can be achieved through either ceiling mounted fixtures or lamps placed around the perimeter of your room.
Accent lighting is used to highlight a specific item or artwork.
Task lighting is used over a specific area where reading or other activities require additional light.
It used to be that homes would have only one to two categories of lighting in a room. Remember the dining room with the single hanging fixture? Bedrooms would have a ceiling fixture placed right in the middle of the room and maybe a bedside lamp.
Lighting has become an important aspect not only for function, but for its aesthetic benefit to the design and decoration of our homes. Look closely at the photographs in home decorating magazines. In many cases you will see several light sources in a single room. All three categories of lighting will be applied to a dining room, bedroom and even bathroom. Recessed cans are used for task lighting, cable or Monorail lighting will hold both accent spots and decorative pendants for task lighting. Wall sconces will wash the ceiling in soft ambient lighting. And decorative floor and table lamps will serve dual purpose of ambient and task.
There are some general guidelines to use when purchasing and placing your light fixtures.
Art accent lighting should be placed far enough away from the item so that the light is at a 35 to 45 degree angle, and the beam spread is no smaller or larger than the edge of the piece being accented.
What size of chandelier is appropriate is an often asked question. The design of your space will dictate your decision however there are geometrical guidelines to help in your selection. When determining what size of chandelier to purchase you first need to consider the width of your table (or diameter if your table is round). Divide the width by the “Golden Mean”-1.618; this will give you the appropriate diameter of your chandelier. So, if your table is 48 inches wide, 30 inches would be the best chandelier size.
To determine the suspension height, take the height of your room minus your table height. Deduct 36 inches from this number, which is the standard clearance between table top and chandelier bottom. The resulting dimension is the overall length of your chandelier.
Using these simple lighting guidelines will help you illuminate your home and add the warmth and drama that appropriately placed lighting will accomplish.
Shelley Anderson has been creating interiors in the greater Seattle area since 1990.You may contact her at (206) 719-6814 or email her at
shelley.anderson@shelleyandersoninteriors.com.