Lighting is undeniably one of the most crucial elements of interior design. Great lighting can accentuate the beauty of a space. It creates depth and has the power to influence mood and ambiance, changing your perception of how a room looks and feels. Unfortunately, lighting design is often overlooked when designing or renovating a home. Sometimes it's not included at all during design, bringing about issues during the build and interior design phase.
After all, there is far more to lighting design and functionality than simply choosing luminaries that are bright enough. Here are some of the reasons why you should pay special attention to lighting design remodeling or starting a new build project.
Benefits of Natural Light in Architecture
Lighting design isn't just about the distribution and brightness of artificial light. Daylighting is not only crucial to meeting the illumination requirements of a particular space, it also has psychological benefits. Unlike artificial lighting, exposure to sunlight can improve your mood, well-being, and overall outlook on life. The psychological and general health benefits of sunlight justify the extra design effort that goes into lighting design.
That said, the amount of sunlight that seeps into a room is dynamic, changing throughout the day and throughout the year. As such, good daylighting requires expertise, as the orientation of your house and topography of your location must inform the design of your house.
Mood and Atmosphere
Dark rooms, no matter how large they are, can feel cramped and claustrophobic. The opposite can be said of well-lit rooms.
Because lighting changes your perception of space, the function of the space has to be considered during lighting design. The Kelvin number, “K” found in front of the number you see when purchasing a bulb, of a light source can influence how cozy and welcoming a room feels. For example an office atmosphere with the cool light would be around K4200 where as K3000 is a more neutral light and K2700 is a warm light. It also changes the perception of a space. That's why most office spaces utilize cool white lighting, as it increases productivity.
Restaurants and clubs, on the other hand, use the color of the room and the brightness/dimness of the lights to help create the atmosphere desired. Lighting design that works in one space cannot work in all. At home, you need warmer lights to add softness. A warm (K2700) is not always the right choice in homes. A more neutral K3000 is recommended most often. The wrong color of the light can radically change the color of all those carefully selected materials in your home. For instance, K2700 (warm/yellow) light on a blue surface will make the material appear green! This is the value of a lighting professional!
Creating shadows in the right spaces with the right kind of lighting can give your home an artsy feel by accentuating specific architectural features or décor pieces, such as flowers on a kitchen island. When working with a full-service design and build company, you can include lighting in the initial design to make your vision come to life.
Overall, good lighting design transforms a house into a home and increases your enjoyment of a space.
Functionality and Safety
It's an unfortunate reality, but humans can't see in the dark. As such, poor lighting can lead to accidents in the home. It's imperative to adequately light your stairways, kitchens, and bathrooms. These are the areas where the functionality of lighting is more important than its aesthetic appeal.
Adequate lighting not only helps to avoid potential hazards, it can make daily tasks easier and more efficient. For instance, task lighting on your kitchen island can reduce eye strain, helping your kids do their homework more comfortably as they keep you company.
All in all, good lighting design can impact the ambiance, safety, and aesthetic appeal of a space. Partner with a Design and Build firm that does it all like JS Design + Build. Doing so ensures continuity and that all elements of design and functionality are taken into account from the very beginning.