Interior design is all about mixing and matching, and the same goes for the lighting in your room. To create a brilliantly lighted room with the perfect ambiance, you need to layer your lighting from the ceiling down and throughout the room by pairing widespread lighting with task lighting fit for the needs of that space. For example, in your bedroom you’ll want a table lamp on your night stand and an overhead light. Today we are going to focus on the family room.

This is the most trafficked room in the house, and should also be the most welcoming. To accomplish this you’ll want to make sure you light – minimally –  three corners of the room.  You will likely want to mix some type of ceiling light(s), with table and floor lamps, and perhaps some form of wall lighting – either focal or a “wall wash”.  In current construction, many builders tend to opt for recessed lighting – it is easy, they can source it quickly, and it is relatively inexpensive.  It serves a useful purpose in lighting the “larger” space”, but it is weak in creating either useful task lighting or ambiance; as with most things – everything in moderation.  If you have a choice, I would include some amount of recessed lighting – but avoid a “Swiss cheese” ceiling!  If you don’t have any recessed lighting, you might consider a chandelier or pendant light, or a floor lamp that casts light upward – a torchiere. You might select a light source that is directed at an attractive focal point – perhaps a piece of art on the wall or a piece of sculpture or a lovely chair. In addition, you will want a mix of table and floor lamps (depending upon the size of the space) to provide task lighting as well as accent lighting.  Perhaps you have a bookcase; a small accent lamp can effectively and creatively illuminate something on one or more of the bookshelves.  You can also add dimension by mixing uplighting, found in a table light, with downlighting, which can be found with floor lamps.

Read more ➜