See Home in a New Light: Work with a Lighting Designer

Techniques & Fixtures to Create an Incredible Lighting Design 

How you illuminate your home can significantly influence each room's atmosphere. The fixtures you use, lighting color, and amount of light all play a part in the overall appearance. 

While lighting is first and foremost used to see in the dark, light also profoundly impacts your home's mood and interior design. With poor lighting, you could accidentally make your house feel gloomier, plainer, and more cramped than it really is. 

So what makes good or bad lighting? As a residential lighting designer, that’s what we’re here to share. Keep reading to see how you can elevate your lighting at home in Buckhead, Atlanta, GA. 

SEE ALSO: A Day in the Life with Home Automation 

Lighting for the Human Experience 

Many homeowners use a single light at the center of the ceiling with a few floor lamps in the corner. While that may provide enough light to see in the dark, a strategic lighting design elevates the space and ensures you always have the perfect lighting for different activities.   

Here’s what we mean. Imagine you’re in the bathroom with lights shining from above the mirror. Overhead lights may sound like a good plan on a blueprint, but they can cast unflattering shadows on faces. Plus, lights that are too bright and icy may make you feel self-conscious in the vanity mirror. 

Instead, we’d place lights at an optimal angle with LEDs set to a warm, comfortable glow that’s bright enough to see without causing discomfort. In the shower, you should be able to see clearly without accidentally causing shadows as you reach for a bar of soap. 

All of these elements play into a lighting design across every room in the house. For instance, can you see clearly as you write and read without shadows in the office? In the dining room, can you adjust the lights for a cozy date night atmosphere? Lighting design takes all of this into account. 

Design with Layers 

When we create a lighting design, we include three types of lighting: ambient lighting, task lighting, and accent lighting. It’s crucial to install multiple layers of lighting, so you can easily add or remote lighting whenever you need to. 

Ambient lighting refers to the spacious illumination that brightens a whole room. Windows naturally create ambient light from the sun, but after dark, you can use chandeliers, pendant lights, and cove lights for ambient lighting.   

If you have notable artwork, furniture, or decor at home, accent lighting calls attention to these elements and adds intrigue to any room. Accent lighting uses a narrow scope of light with strong illumination to draw your eyes to something. Examples of accent lights include wall sconces, small spotlights, linear lights, recessed lighting, and track lights. 

Lastly is task lighting, which illuminates a space so you can perform specific tasks. Task lighting may look like pendants, under-cabinet lights, table lamps, and floor lamps. One mistake many homeowners make is to rely on task lighting for their home’s ambient lighting. That won’t provide enough light and will hide much of your house in shadows! 

Control the Mood with Smart Lighting 

To make the most of a lighting design, you can fine-tune the color and brightness of your lights anytime with a smart lighting system. Smart systems like Lutron provide custom wall keypads and an innovative app that lets you change the lighting with one press of a button. 

And with smart LED fixtures by brands like Ketra and DMF Lighting, you can select any shade of white or color of the rainbow for your home's lights. You can even automate lights to follow a schedule, so in the morning, your home’s lights are bright and cool-toned, turning gradually warmer and softer by golden hour. 

Get Started with Lighting Design 

Whether you’re undergoing a renovation or building a new home in the Buckhead area, Advanced Premises Systems is your destination for all smart lighting and lighting design services. To learn more, contact our team of lighting specialists here. We look forward to working with you!