When you arrive home, you seek certain experiences in the different rooms of your house. You want to unwind in the bedroom or feel inspired in the kitchen, and your lighting can help reflect the atmosphere you want, especially if you’re one for changing up the mood. Here at Xssentials, we know how to light your space efficiently and make it easy to control through automated solutions. Here are our favorite ways to light every room of your home.
Lighting for Kitchens
Your kitchen is the base for food preparation and also serves as a gathering place for friends and family, meaning you’ll need a balanced blend of ambient and task lighting. A large, artistic ceiling-mounted or recessed light fixture will provide an ambient light that invites guests to take a seat. For task lighting, we recommend light sources that shine directly above your workstation, such as a pendant over an island or undercabinet lights for your countertops.
The addition of a dimmer and energy-efficient lightbulbs will drop your energy output and bills. Studies show that productivity increases under cooler-toned lights, so you can even opt for color-changing light bulbs for days you’re doing a deep clean or preparing for a dinner party. When the evening rolls around, you and your friends can share a bottle of wine under a soft warm shade.
Dining Room Fixtures
The dining room should have a nice fixture placed directly above the table to spotlight your meal and conversation. If you have an 8-foot ceiling, for example, we recommend a chandelier fixture that hangs approximately 33 inches above the table. To create a more relaxed environment, dimmers can decrease brightness, which you can easily operate from your phone or keypad. This allows you to have both task and ambient lighting from a single source.
What is the color of your dining room walls? The darker the shade, the less light they will reflect, so the addition of wall sconces, flush-mount, or recessed can fixtures will help brighten up the atmosphere without having to sacrifice your taste in color. For dining rooms that are flanked by windows or doors that lead to your yard, we suggest lighting an outdoor element at nighttime to eliminate the distracting reflections in the glass that can hinder your visibility.
Living Room Lighting
Your living room is the most multi-purpose space in the home and requires layered lighting solutions. While recessed lights are traditional, they cast a downward light that casts unflattering shadows. Instead, the trick to creating more brightness is by bouncing light off the ceiling cove or opting for valance lighting that layers more ambient light into your living room. Media rooms will benefit from a pendant when your TV is not in use, while home theaters benefit from a variety of solutions depending on your taste. Table lamps are easy task lighting, and accent lighting can highlight décor, artwork, or an architectural feature.
Another option growing in popularity is lighting that can slide along a track, swivel, and rotate to generate a more artistic ambiance or change up your lighting with your mood. It’s easier than ever to make adjustments like these with automated lighting, which could allow you to set different scenes like “reading,” or “game night,” so you don’t have to manually adjust your lights over and over again.
Bathroom Lights
You want ideal visibility in your bathroom that lights your face in a way that will aid you in preparing for the day. Unfortunately, the traditional strip of lights above the mirror casts shadows that may augment the appearance of puffiness and dark circles when it isn’t actually so severe. Instead, the placement of pendants or sconces on either side of the mirror will deliver a balanced brilliance that shines light at face level instead of from above. For shared bathrooms, adjustable sconces can help users achieve their specific needs, from makeup application to shaving.
Bedroom Lighting
The ideal bedroom is the perfect refuge from the worries of the day, so few lights are necessary. Your task lighting for bedside reading and an individual wall-mounted fixture on each side is ideal. For the most convenience, opt for lights with adjustable movement, dimmers, and individual switches. We think you can skip a ceiling-mounted fixture in this case, and instead maintain a calm atmosphere through floor lamps, subtle architectural lighting, or wall sconces. Your closet can be equipped with recessed or ceiling-mounted fixtures to create the brightness you need when selecting your clothing. Smart automated solutions grant you the flexibility to choose which sets of lights you’d like to keep on or off and at different brightness levels. For the morning, you could time your wall sconces to slowly increase their brightness and eventually add the other lights as a way to start the day.
Lighting for Hallways
Your main rooms are lit but you don’t want to leave the rest of the house in the dark! Luckily, your hallways and entryways only require ambient lighting, which can be provided via a flush-mount ceiling fixture, or a wall sconce. We suggest installing motion sensor lighting that offers visibility for night and day without having to waste energy by keeping a lamp on 24/7 to prevent someone from tripping. Accent lighting can highlight focal points like a work of art, while a large entryway that has a staircase will benefit from a pendant or chandelier to brighten up the space.
Whether you want a state-of-the-art smart lighting system for your new build or your renovation, Xssentials is happy to deliver integrated solutions to your home. Whether you have questions about the difference between accent and task lighting, or you’re excited to choose an artistic pendant to hang in your dining room, contact us today to begin!
