How to Plan Residential Lighting

Learning how to plan home lighting requires absolutely no technical knowledge and no upfront costs. You do not have to buy "How To" books on lighting or take a night class in lighting. There are resources all around you that are free and readily available that will show you exactly what you need to do and how you need to go about planning lighting or home lighting controls in a new or remodel home project. Start with the basics, and let your own mind and creativity take it from there.

Making a wish list is the best way to start a lighting plan.

Start out by making a list of what you do in each room and what decorations you plan to put in each room. This will help you with a home lighting design both from a functional perspective and an aesthetic perspective. Some areas of importance include the kitchen, living room, den, bedrooms, and any artwork you plan to hang in your home.

Today's homes have very large kitchens that feature custom cabinets and marble countertops.

These areas need their own architectural lighting fixtures that will compliment the general overhead lighting in the room. You do not have to spend hours and hours looking online at kitchen cabinet lights or under cabinet lights to get this done right. Simply make a list of what is going to be done in and around the kitchen when you have guests in your home, how you plan to decorate your kitchen, and what the general color scheme of the kitchen will be. This helps lighting specialists determine the very best luminaires and colour temperatures to install.

The living room is one of the most multifunctional rooms in your home.

You probably spend much more time here than you think. Just starting a list of daily activities that you perform in the living room will quickly show you how much more you use this central hub of your home more than you realize. Add home theater systems, favorite furnishings, decorative displays, and special occasions to that mix, and you have the template for both an interior decorative plan and a home lighting design that reflects the essentials of your lifestyle and your personal tastes.

The den is most often used as a home office, although some people like to use the den as an indoor hobby room.

In either case, the den is a specialized room by nature, set apart from the rest of the home. Specialized lighting will almost always be needed here to support the atmosphere of quiet and focus. Getting a good clear picture of how often you will go to your den, how often you will use it and what you will use it for will give you the key for knowing how to plan lighting in the room. It will also help you determine if you need special lighting control systems in this room to set both the tone and lighting levels required for your preferred activities.

Bedroom lighting is more complex than initially perceived.

When it comes time to decide on how to plan house lighting in the bedroom, concentrate on itemizing the emotions that you want yourself, your spouse, your children, and your visitors to feel. Reading, play, and computer activities may also require some accent lighting, so be sure to add these to your lighting plan wish list for each bedroom in your home.

Art lighting requires special equipment tailor made for the type of art being illuminated.

You may not have purchased your artwork yet, but you already know what you like. Simply listing your favorite painters, preferred genres of art, and favorite scenes from urban and natural landscapes will give you a good idea on how to plan lighting for art and decorative pieces that you subsequently add to your interior. Even if you have not hired an art consultant or gone shopping for your artwork yet, you have a general idea in mind that can help your lighting specialist recommend the best art lights to invest in when the time comes.

Working with a lighting consultant can open even more insight into how to plan lighting in and around your new home.

Just as you work with your interior designer or architect to navigate through design decisions, your lighting consultant provides the same function. By taking a specialized and focused approach, you will quickly recognize that light plays an important role in any design style. The simple wish lists you have made that itemize the activities and items in your new house can then be shared with a home lighting professional from ILD who can add advanced design and technical knowledge to your own inner vision. The lighting specialist will partner with you as an extension of your personal desires and creativity and materialize in form what you have conceptualized in idea.