Lighting: It’s All About the Plan

Lighting: It’s All About the Plan
As is the case with many aspects of our work, if we do our job well when planning the lighting scheme for a project, the solutions become almost transparent to the homeowners and their guests. That’s because they simply blend naturally into the overall landscape of the room, completing the circle of design. For kitchens and dining areas, in particular, we always aim to bring in multiple types of light to allow opportunities to change its effect, depending on the time of day, the task at hand, the number of folks in the kitchen, and, of course, the preferences of the different people in the household.

Behind the scenes, we work with one of the most basic design principles: the layering of light. There are three layers of light needed for a successful project, and this is one of the things that can really make a professional project stand out.

A quick overview of the three basic layers:

General — Overall, ambient light is very important to set the overall tone and create a safe environment in any home. This can be achieved in lots of ways by using recessed light, chandeliers, and so on, with light that can be soft or strong. We find that creating a room’s character through the use of lighting is a really cool part of our job.

Task — This is critical to make sure homeowners can do their best work in any given space. Whether they are cooking a meal, paying their bills or doing homework with their children, we bring in enough options so that all of these tasks can be achieved without stress.

Accent — Sometimes we call this the “jewelry” in a room. These pieces can sometimes be fabulous objects in and of themselves. We had one project where we used some wonderful handblown glass ceiling lights that appeared to be grouped randomly, but we planned very carefully to achieve the random look. They became a focus for the room, tying the whole design concept together. Accents can have hidden sources, so there are lots of fun ways to approach this.

Need help with your home’s overall lighting scheme? Contact us to set up a consultation. And visit our Facebook page for your chance to enter our George Nelson Bubble Lamp Giveaway!