Artificial light Lighting in the home must do more than dispel the darkness. It should highlight the features of a room, give general background illumination or direct light for working or create the atmosphere with soft pools of light. Candlelight for special occasions creates a sense of theatre all its own, but for everyday use most settings need at least two types of lighting , and busy rooms, such as family living rooms, require all four. Bright ideas Decorative light fitting include chandeliers and candelabra, pendant lights and ceiling fittings, wall lights and table lamps.
All of these are meant to be seen and their style is as important as the light they produce. In comparison, other types of lights, such as recessed downlighters, are built-in 32 and their purpose is mainly functional. Most homes benefit from a combination of functional and decorative lights, relying on the former to set the scene and the latter to add interest.
In a living room, recessed ceiling lights or unobtrusive wall lights will give general lighting, supplemented by spotlights or up lighters for emphasis and individual downlights for atmosphere. Table lamps or pendant shades can be added to create further pools of low light while a traditional ceiling fitting complements an elaborate ceiling center. Picture lights will cast a soft glow over paintings and spotlights can focus on other possessions, but their direct glare creates too strong a contrast with the darkness to depend on for general lighting.
Recessed downlights can be used successfully to give general light in a kitchen together with wall or ceiling spotlights or strip lights, shaded by baffles and mounted beneath high cupboards, to provide efficient working light without glare. Combine this with softer mood lighting if the kitchen doubles as a dining room. Halls and landings should be well-lit for safety, illuminating stairways and changes of level, so use wall lights or recessed down lighters.
Bedrooms can be equipped with pendant or wall lights for soft background lighting supplemented by bedside lamps and concealed strip lighting at a dressing table mirrors should be flanked by lights which illuminate your face but not the glass. Study bedrooms need more directional light.
Only in the dining room is the conventional central pendant an appropriate choice, hanging low over the table (add a rise-and-fall attachment to raise it after the meal) and partnered by recessed or wall lights. Warm and cool Conventional tungsten filament bulbs have warmth which flatters most homes and accentuates tones of pink, peach and yellow. Silvered tungsten bulbs are used in spotlights where they reflect the light and cast a wide or a theatrical setting for a formal dinner party.
RIGHT A pair of symmetrically positioned table lamps provide a focal point on this console table. Warm light from the tungsten bulbs illuminates ornaments and pictures. 34 narrow beam, depending on where they are sited. Fluorescent fittings emit a cool blue light which may be too harsh for the home, so they are often tinted warm white for domestic use.
Brightest of all is the strong white light of halogen tungsten lamps which require special fittings. Often used for directional lights, these are especially effective when used to bounce light onto a wall or ceiling which returns it to the room as soft, indirect light - but for obvious reasons, these should only be fitted where the plaster is in good repair.
