Lighting is crucial when it comes to interior design. Effective use of lighting can turn a drab room into something truly extraordinary. It can enhance wall colour schemes and highlight structural elements.
It can also create visual interest, drawing attention to beloved artworks and decorative pieces. For maximum impact, it’s best to utilise multiple layers of light. These three layers include task lighting, accent lighting and ambient lighting.
Your flooring can also come alive with the right choice of lighting. At Wood Flooring Ireland, we offer an incredible range of engineered wood flooring products for you to consider.
For 15 years, we’ve been committed to traceability and sustainability. All of our products are made from high-quality European Oak, with eco-friendly finishes as standard.
How To Use Lighting in Your Home
For best results, you’ll need to know how to utilise all three types of light to create an inviting atmosphere. The easiest light source to use is ambient light. In most cases, this refers to the sunlight that floods your home via windows. Provided your property is kitted out with large windows, ambient light should provide even illumination for your entire interior.
When it comes to creating mood and atmosphere, you’ll need to think about accent lighting. Generally speaking, accent lighting is used to create visual interest. However, it can be used more innovatively to draw the eye away from less aesthetically pleasing corners of your home.
Finally, there’s task lighting. This is the most functional type of light. You’ll need to use it when illuminating desks and workspaces. It’s almost crucial for prep areas in kitchens and vanity mirrors in bathrooms.
Creating a Functional Lighting Plan
Thinking about transforming your interiors with a new lighting plan? Before you splash out on rewiring services and lighting fixtures, take a step back and consider your lifestyle. It’s a good idea to start with a floor plan. Make sure your plan includes all door and window positions, along with their measurements. If you’re committed to a specific furniture arrangement, be sure to include this too.
Next, think seriously about how you actually use your space. Do you use one corner of your room as a reading nook? A simple table lamp or floor light should prove sufficient. Do you need task lighting for food preparation areas? Overhead light fixtures are certainly practical, but you’ll need to consider the impact of shadows.
If you plan on introducing multiple light sources, consider the scale of the fixtures. In larger rooms, it’s always a good idea to use multiple lamps and fixtures to create a more balanced ambience. However, these fixtures shouldn’t look awkward and overwhelming.
Making Use of Ambient Light Sources
Many properties benefit from large windows that allow natural light to flood in. This provides you with a hassle-free light source during daytime hours. However, you can’t always count on the sun to provide you with ideal lighting conditions. On overcast days, your interiors will look dim and dark. Ultimately, you’ll need a contingency plan in the form of artificial light sources. In contemporary interiors, recessed ceiling lights are a good fallback. If your tastes are more traditional, play around with floor lamps and wall-mounted fixtures for a softer, more diffused glow.
Sometimes, ambient lighting may prove too overwhelming. If your living room features south-facing windows, you may find the glare of the sun too much to bear during the summer months. To mitigate the issue, think about investing in window treatments. Even budget-friendly voile panels can help dampen the glare of direct sunlight.
You can also use artificial sources to add ambient light to your interiors. However, many of these fixtures fall into the novelty category. Stick to warmer tones if you’re looking to illuminate a living room or dining space. If you’re looking to brighten up a kitchen or more contemporary space, think about bright white hues.
Making an Impact with Accent Lighting
While ambient and task lighting are largely functional, accent lighting helps you add character to your room. Generally speaking, accent lighting sources should be considerably brighter than ambient ones. This makes it easier to pick out points of interest in your rooms, such as decorative pieces of structural elements. You can also use accent lighting to showcase the innate beauty of herringbone flooring or Versailles panels.
You can integrate accent lighting just about anywhere. If you’re an avid reader, you can create a stunning backdrop for your literary collection by adding recessed lighting to your storage units and bookshelves. If you’ve amassed an extensive collection of trinkets over the years, accent lighting is an easy way of drawing attention to your beloved treasures.
However, you don’t have to spend a fortune on accent lighting. Conventional fixtures like table lamps can be used to effectively draw attention to particular areas. Wall-mounted fixtures like sconces can draw attention to a piece of hanging artwork, while twin table lamps can be used to create a fabulous focal point.
Things to Consider When Introducing Task Lighting
Task lighting is the most functional type of lighting you’ll need to consider when designing your space. Task lighting provides you with sufficient illumination to carry out your daily activities. It should be considerably brighter than ambient and accent light sources. However, just about any type of light fixture can be used for task lighting.
For desks and workspaces, a bright table lamp or LED fixture may prove sufficient. In living rooms, floor lamps can help compensate for a lack of ambient light and provide you with all the illumination you need come the evening. In kitchens, under-counter lighting strips and ceiling-mounted fixtures are a must.
Because task lighting is so essential, it usually means using many individual fixtures. To enhance your interior design schemes, it’s best to coordinate your fixtures with other decorative accents. Consider wall and ceiling colours before deciding on frame styles.
You can also introduce patterned shades to coordinate with things like chevron flooring and upholstery textures. If you’ve invested in long plank wood flooring, keep it simple with track lighting to achieve a stripped-back and contemporary aesthetic.
Complete Your Renovation with Engineered Wood Flooring
Once you’ve put together the finishing touches to your floor plan and thought about lighting, it’s time to consider flooring. At Wood Flooring Ireland, we offer a first-rate selection of engineered wood products.
So, what are the different types of wood flooring we stock? You’ll find everything from parquet patterns to more luxurious designs like Versailles panels. As well as being incredibly durable, one of the main advantages of engineered wood flooring is that it’s incredibly easy to install. This saves you precious time when it comes to realising your design dreams.
Ready to learn more? You can visit our Cork showroom today to see our full range in person. Alternatively, get in touch via the online enquiry form or give us a call on 021 4629913.