An Introduction to Lighting Your Home
The lighting that you choose for your home does so much more than just to light the way. Home lighting can add charm and warmth to your home and can create a specifc mood in your rooms.
There are four basic types of home lighting and understanding what each type does can help you create the effect you want. Lighting effects can be achieved through both the lighting fixtures such as a rustic chandelier and the bulbs that you use.
Task lighting gives you sufficient light to perform activities, such as reading, cooking or other tasks. It should make it easy for you to do every day tasks without having to strain to see and should be glare free.
Accent lighting is used to light up focal points in your room. While accent lighting is brighter than general lighting, it's aimed at a specific area of the room. It's a great way to draw attention to a beautiful portrait, a statue or anything else that you want to display.
To illuminate an entire room, use ambient lighting. This can come from track lights, wall sconces and any other fixture that fills a room with light.
An easy way to add to the versatility of your home lighting is with dimming switches. They're easily installed and allow you to brighten the lights when you need more and dim them for a romantic evening, for example.
Exterior home lighting is just as important as the lighting that you choose for inside your home. Outside lighting provides a safer environment outside your home and also adds to the beauty of your landscaping.
Your outside lighting system can be set up on timers that will automatically turn them on at a certain time each evening. Timers are great for those days when you've left early and are coming back late. You'll be able to come home to safely lit walkways and driveways by correctly positioning a post lantern or wall sconce.
Another great choice is lighting with sensors or motion lighting. Motion lighting can help save on your energy bills by only coming on when they're needed. But, they can also warn you when someone has entered your property.
With yard lighting you can draw attention to items outside your home, just as accent lighting does inside your home. Yard lights can be placed at flower beds, fountains, statues, bushes and trees to add a soft glow or a dramatic effect such as that achieved with a hanging lantern.