How to Incorporate the Four Types of Lighting in Your Home?
Whether you’re using antique hardware and lighting accessories in your vintage restoration project or going for a modern mid-century look, lighting is everything. It may seem straightforward initially, but once you realize there are four types of lighting you can implement in your decor choices, the decisions become more complicated.
First, you must know what the four different lighting types are. From there, it’s essential to dig deeper and understand how each of these lights operates and what purpose they serve. Once you are familiar with the different forms of lighting, you can incorporate them into your unique design style.
What Are the Different Types of Lighting?
- Ambient lighting
- Accent lighting
- Task lighting
- Natural lighting
Most people know about ambient lighting and natural lighting as they are most common in interior design. However, the other two types of lighting are often misused or not used at all. Accent lighting and task lighting seem self-explanatory, but understanding their purpose can help you determine your decorating schemes.
While many people think about the aesthetic appeal of a light fixture in the home, it’s critical to consider how that light functions in your space, too. When you incorporate the optimal type of lighting in a room, you can control your atmosphere and improve the overall look.
What Is Ambient Lighting?
Ambient light is the most common form of interior lighting. Its function is to provide a soft glow without creating bright or harsh glares. Think about a low light that provides just enough visibility to see your path from one to the next. In this way, it is closely related to natural light, except that you are creating through artificial means. To keep a room ambient, you want to keep the lighting natural and flat. Anything bright takes away from that desired effect.
How Ambient Lighting Is Used
When you think of ambient lighting, you might think of mood lighting or the lighting of a yoga studio. These images are perfect examples of the purpose of ambient light because it is meant to create a relaxing environment free from external stresses. Consider that soft ambient light works to capture the intricate details of your face. The result is similar to physical signs of affections. Your pupils begin to dilate ever so slightly. Restaurants use this type of lighting to create romantic atmospheres.
How to Incorporate It in Your Home
Creating a relaxing space or even a romantic one is not that difficult. Consider softer sources of lighting, such as wall sconces. If you are looking for ambient dining room lighting ideas, a pendant light is another great option.
What Is Task Lighting?
Task lighting is just as it sounds, a light for working on tasks. Whether you are at a desk writing or sewing or sitting at the piano practicing, task lighting is necessary. Other uses for a task light include reading, cooking or working on a puzzle.
You may not want to light a whole room, but a task light gives you enough lighting for the project at hand.
Types of Task Lighting
Most types of task lights are some variation of the lamp. A table or side lamp is the most commonly used task light. Smaller lamps and wall arm lamps are ideal for designated areas. Most bedrooms have at least one if not two forms of bedside lamps either on a bedside table or connected to the wall. In kitchens, under-cabinet lighting is common for cooking tasks.
How to Incorporate It in Your Home
When incorporating task lighting in your home, you want to identify areas where different responsibilities or projects are performed. Take a writing desk, for example. You could either place a small lamp on it or position the desk near a wall lamp to provide the right amount of light.
What Is Accent Lighting?
Did you recently hang a new piece of art on your wall? If you added a light to highlight it, you have a decent grasp of accent lighting and how to use it. Anytime light is used to highlight a specific room, area of the room or an item, it acts as an accent.
Types of Accent Lighting
Accent lighting is used both indoors and outdoors. Outside the home, these spotlights draw attention to essential details on the house, light a walkway or path or even add an extra layer of security. Inside the home, you might see track lights for highlighting a gallery wall. Lamps are sometimes used to highlight specific areas, such as a reading nook.
How to Incorporate Accent Lighting in Your Home?
Incorporating accent lighting in your decor is as simple as locating specific areas where you want to draw your guests’ attention. Once you have, you can use sconces or track lights to brighten that space.
What Is Natural Lighting?
In a room with lots of windows that face either east or west, natural light floods in, creating a bright and warm area. You can create a tranquil and inviting space full of natural-looking light even if you don’t have many windows or if your windows don’t let in much light.
How to Incorporate It in Your Home
The most efficient way to let the sunlight in begins with your windows. Instead of covering them with dark, blackout curtains, opt for lighter, neutral tones or sheer material. Placing a mirror directly across from a window is a great way to enhance the natural lighting.
LED lights are the perfect way to add a natural brightness to your home when natural lighting is hard to find. These lights come in a spectrum of colors and brightness. For the most natural bright light, look for LED lights with higher lumens.
Choosing the Best Lighting Type for Your Home
Light from all sources comes with many benefits, the most obvious being improved visibility. Adding the right amount and type of lighting also enhances the natural beauty of your home, its warmth and your sense of security. Lighting choices are an integral part of your home decor. It’s vital that you consider the mood or purpose of your room when choosing between ambient, accent, task or natural lighting.
