Room by Room: Lighting Design

Room by Room: Lighting Design
We’d all like to think we have a pretty good handle on what purpose lighting serves and where to put it. Underneath all the cables and bright shiny lights, there is some serious theory. Placing lights is relatively straight forward, but it can go wrong when we don’t put enough thought into constructing a decent lighting plan. So, if you’re embarking on your first or final project, we think this lighting list will elevate your room, and help you achieve the look you’re going for.

We’ve compiled traditional rooms within modern floor plans and their purposes, all are listed below. Beneath each room we have provided an Essential category which determines required task lighting and an Additional category which meets ambient and accent requirements. Take a dive into the world of lighting, and then you can tackle planning your lighting layout. 

Kitchen

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Kitchens are the heart of our homes. They encourage social gatherings, sharing and cooking meals as well as a space for work to be done. No matter the hour, kitchens are a space in our home that always need to be working. Lighting is essential to making your kitchen functional and efficient at any hour of the day. Task lighting is important to provide safety and ease of sight, while ambient and accent lighting can highlight the beautiful architecture and structure of a space.

Essentials
  • Overhead lighting: adequate ceiling lighting is critical to the functionality of your space. Supplement with under cabinet lighting to provide ample ambience to your room.
  • Pendant lighting: a statement or modern fixture over hanging your dining space or kitchen island is imperative to provide light to dine and prep your food. 
  • Backsplash lighting: if your cooktop or work bench is located beneath wall cabinets, it’s essential that they are adequately lit. Install a simple LED strip that has a high brightness quality or recessed downlights to spotlight your workspace. For a touch of style, choose Matt Black profiles or downlights.
  • Pantry lighting: butlers pantries need to have additional lighting such as downlights and LED strips to add proper visibility. Additional cabinetry lighting for simple cupboards isn’t essential but is an added benefit of easily locating and highlighting contents. 

Additional

  • Inner cabinet lighting: illuminating your cabinets from within allows for items to be highlighted and easily visible even if they are at the back corner.
  • Open shelving: highlighting your open shelving can increase interest in the texture and tone of your shelving, and also spotlights your décor and daily essentials.
  • Kitchen island: backlighting or mounting lights beneath your kitchen island draws the eye into the space for a visual statement. The island is often the centrepiece of a modern kitchen and should be spotlighted as such, additionally it provides a soft and welcoming glow to create a warm ambience within your space. 

Living Room

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In most modern homes, a living room is positioned facing a TV and allows us to entertain friends, talk, read or watch TV all in one space. The living room is a place where we can relax, switch our minds off and put your feet up at the end of a long day. Soft, warm ambient lighting is the most common form of lighting in this space to offset the harsh glare of the TV and create a comfortable space to unwind.


Essentials

  • Overhead lighting: adequate ceiling lighting is critical to the functionality of your space. Supplement with under cabinet lighting to provide ample ambience to your room.
  • Freestanding lighting: a simple corner lamp can provide a soft glow that doesn’t leave you completely in the dark and navigating through your living room by lamp light can be safety precaution in ambient settings.

Additional

  • Pendant lighting: a chandelier or modern fixture in the centre of your room can add a touch of personality to your living room. This can also be a fan with an integrated centre light.
  • Under cabinet lighting: illuminating the space beneath your TV or TV unit could be the soft ambient glow that brings your room together.
  • Accent Lighting: create a movie theatre ambience by illuminating your shelving and architectural features for the ultimate finishing touch. Add customisable lighting to match your mood and add a vibrant pop of colour into your living room.

Bedroom

spazio
Photo: Spazio LA

Essentials

  • Overhead lighting: adequate ceiling lighting is critical to the functionality of your space. Supplement with under cabinet lighting to provide ample ambience to your room.
  • Bedside lighting: a simple bedside table lamp is essential to being able to read and safely get into your bed at night.

Additional

  • Pendant lighting: a chandelier or modern fixture in the centre of your room can add a touch of personality to your bedroom, this can also be a fan with an integrated centre light.
  • Built in shelves and joinery: create visibility and a touch of luxury with accent lighting to illuminate the contents of your bookshelves, dressers or any cabinet units.
  • Inner wardrobe lighting: make your items and clothes more visible by integrating LED strips into your wardrobe. Most wardrobes entail open cupboards with hanging space. Lighting placement can vary, from along the lip of the cupboard to down the side of a cabinet and even along the top of a wardrobe rail. This simple illumination can help eliminate lost items and increase visibility for each item.
  • Sensor lighting: lights that detect movement can be just what you need for convenience and intermittent lighting requirements, in sporadically accessed places like wardrobes or vanity stands. Soft and subtle sensor lighting can be an energy efficient way to blend functionality and visibility.
  • Wardrobe display shelving: showcase your prized possessions and daily essentials by placing them on opening shelves. Illuminate the open shelves to spotlight your shoes, handbags or other special items. 


Bathroom

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It’s where you start and finish your day, the family bathroom is a space to wash off the dirt and grim and add a little relaxation into your day-to-day life. A well-lit bathroom offers solitude and privacy to restore the wellbeing and health of your body. Bathroom lighting can turn an everyday space into a personal retreat, creating a space where you can see what you are doing while adding a touch of relaxation and indulgence.

Essentials

  • Overhead lighting: adequate ceiling lighting is critical to the functionality of your space. Supplement with under cabinet lighting to provide ample ambience to your room.
  • Mirror lighting: adequate lighting around your mirror is a must. Lights that hit the face and don’t cast shadows are always important and sometimes it takes pairing a few different sources of light like downlights, a pendant and a backlit mirror. Choose wisely and understand how each light source will provide and direct light.


Additional


  • Pendant lighting: a chandelier or modern fixture in the centre of your room can add a touch of personality to your bathroom.
  • Architectural lighting: lights that highlight the ceiling recesses, cabinetry or shower niches help to create a soft ambient glow and add a level of luxury to your space.
  • Inner cabinet lighting: navigating through your bathroom in the early hours of the morning can be jarring if you’re still half asleep. Integrating cabinetry lighting can avoid the need to turn on overhead lights and create a soft and relaxing space while easily being able to access your products.
  • Sensor lighting: lights that detect movement can be just what you need when you’re crawling out of bed and into the shower or entering the bathroom in the middle of the night. Soft and subtle lighting can help you to fall asleep quicker or aid as a gentle wake up. 

Home Office

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More relevant than ever before, creating a space in your home for working and conventional office activities such as reading, writing and computer work, is essential for productivity. Often accompanied with various storage solutions, home offices are the hub of all important documents and files as well as stationery and computer equipment. Adequate lighting is essential to see, read and navigate through work materials, as well as creating an environment conducive to work or study.


Essential

  • Overhead lighting: adequate ceiling lighting is critical to the functionality of your space. Supplement with under cabinet lighting to provide ample ambience to your room.
  • Pendant or focused lighting: a simple lamp positioned on the workspace can help assist in illuminating your desktop in order to see, read and navigate through hard copy materials.

Additional

  • Under cabinet lighting: if your workspace is grounded by a wall and features overhanging cabinets, an LED strip that runs beneath your wall cabinets is the perfect solution. Providing essential light, it illuminates the desktop to ensure every inch is functional.
  • Inner cabinet lighting: sorting through documents and paper files is increasingly hard in dim spaces. Illuminate your cabinets to easily navigate through your storage and find your items without a hitch.
  • Open shelving lighting: showcase your prized possessions and daily essentials by placing them on open shelves. Illuminate the open shelves to spotlight your items.


If you require further assistance in determining the correct lighting solutions for your project, please contact your local branch and speak to our friendly Technical Sales Representatives.