Everything You Need to Know About Lighting for Interior Design
Lighting is such a complex topic, but if you are in the interior design industry, you must know how to master it. Anytime you are choosing lighting for a new project, one of the questions that everyone asks themselves is, where do I even begin?
So today, I will be sharing my thoughts on lighting for interior design so you are ready to jump right in and get started.
Types of lighting
When it comes to lighting and design, the first thing you need to do is figure out what type of lighting you need for each room. In both interior design and lighting design, we categorize lighting into four different types: general lighting, task lighting, accent lighting, and decorative lighting.
General lighting
General lighting is used to light up a room in a uniform way and provide you with a safe walkthrough in that space. We achieve this by using recessed lighting fixtures. Sometimes they are called pot lights or pan lights, and they are installed on the ceiling. I'm sure you are very familiar with them because they are installed everywhere.
Task lighting
Task lighting, as the name implies, is used to illuminate a working surface where a task is being performed. One place where you would need this type of lighting would be in the kitchen. If you are chopping vegetables, for example, you would typically have some sort of task lighting to better illuminate the countertop.
That could be either a puck light, which is tiny and installed under the upper cabinets in your kitchen. Or, you could also have a pendant that illuminates directly onto your kitchen island.
Other types of task lighting would include using a table lamp while working at your desk or a floor lamp next to where you’re reading. Another example would be having a light strategically placed in your bathroom so you can put your makeup on.
Accent lighting
Accent lighting is used to light up an object or a feature in an interior space. In interior spaces, a feature could be so many different things. It could be artwork, or a feature wall, or a textured wall, or anything else that you want to bring your attention to.
So accent lighting fixtures could be either track lighting, or you can also use recessed pot lights that are directional. Similar to the ones that you use for general lighting, these actually can tilt to aim toward the feature that you want to illuminate.
Decorative lighting
Decorative lighting, which to me is like the jewelry of the home, is my favorite type of lighting fixture. Unlike the other types of lighting that I just talked about, whose main function is to illuminate a room or a space, the function of this type of lighting is to decorate a space.
Some examples would be a chandelier, a pendant, a sconce, a linear lighting fixture, or a flush mount.
Lighting placement and quantity
Placement and quantity are also very important considerations in interior lighting design.
Although there are not any specific rules of thumb, there are general guidelines that you want to make sure you know to better place your lighting fixtures.
General lighting
For general lighting, each spotlight should be evenly distributed throughout the room, and try to always align them vertically and also horizontally. You want to create a grid on the ceiling, and I normally space them out five feet from each other. Some people do three or four feet as well.
Task lighting
Task lighting is way more flexible when it comes to placement. So for example, for under cabinet lighting in the kitchen, some designers will recommend spacing them six to ten inches apart. But I've also seen some puck lights spaced out as little as three inches apart.
For pendants above a kitchen island, there is no rule for how many you should have. It depends on the size of your kitchen island and also on the size of your lighting fixture. For smaller pendants, it makes more sense to have more of them on the kitchen island, but if you have a huge pendant, then you probably only want to have one or two.
For bathroom task lighting, sconces are typically placed sixty-five to sixty-seven inches above the floor. If the users of that washroom are taller or shorter those heights can also be adjusted.
Accent lighting
If you have a huge piece of artwork, you would probably need two or three pot lights to light up that object. But if you have a smaller one, one or two of them would be enough. It depends on what you are lighting up, and this will determine how many lighting fixtures you will need.
Decorative lighting
Decorative lighting is probably the easiest one to place because, normally, if you have a huge chandelier, then you would only have one chandelier in the center of the room or centered above the furniture pieces that are going to surround it.
For larger rooms, you want to have two lighting fixtures instead of one but, as I said, it all depends on the size of your space.
Although you can use decorative lighting just about anywhere in your home, you typically will only see it in the most important rooms of the home, like the living room, dining room, or kitchen. Sometimes, people include decorative lighting in the master bedroom as well, and I've also seen them in washrooms in very high-end suites.
Home lighting design
There are so many things to consider when creating a home lighting design for the very first time. In all honesty, this is just the beginning of what you need to know.
Choosing the right lighting for interior design is a multi-step process and one that you can easily master over time. What are your thoughts on the tips that I’ve shared with you today? Leave your comments down below.
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