Lighting Tips & Tricks

Lighting can be our friend or enemy when it comes to taking pictures, reading, studying and of course decorating our living spaces. If you are a photographer or simply interested in taking effective and quality photos, the angle, density and the color of the lighting 

is definitely one of the most important aspects of photography. If you are looking into decorating your house or effectively use the space, lighting is the most cost-efficient and practical tool!

You definitely do not need to spend lots of money to make rooms look light, spacious and lively! Got a small place?

 You can use lighting element in decoration for your favor to make the room more spacious. Before diving into the useful tips and tricks, let’s get into the basics.

There are three types of illumination that construct a lighting design: general lighting, task lighting, accent lighting. To create a decorative lighting we have to take all three of these lighting styles into consideration.

A flat-functional lighting is used to put people on alert, wake them up, just like in the office spaces. Decorative lighting brings out the shape and texture of the objects and accentuates the highlights of the room.

There are 3 main points to take into consideration while using lighting in decorative and functional means.

• Light Levels
• Placement of the light
• Color of the light

Light Levels

Light levels, like dimness and brightness, indicates what the rooms are for and the sets the mood. Dim light indicate the room is for sleeping or maybe studying if a mother lights placed in a way that highlights the desk. Dim lights sets the tone as moody, calming, intimate and warm. On the other hand, bright lights are mainly used in playrooms, kitchens, offices and bathrooms where you don’t mainly need to relax. Bright light set the tone in a way to wake you up, put you on alert and energise you.

Placement of the Light

Lighting can be used to accentuate a keynote in the room, highlight what’s important or gather focus into a certain space.

For example: if you are studying, working or reading, try to dim the main light and use a desk or floor lamp to highlight the study and reading area, desk or couch that you are sitting onto relax and focus on your reading. This type placement of lighting gathers the focus from the environment and directs on the activity that your are doing which requires attention. This way it will help you to focus and study or read for longer time.

Another example for how to use placement of lighting effectively would be placing floor lamps right in front of the mirrors. As large tall mirror can be used make the room look a spacious, to give it a depth, placing floor lamps right in front of your mirror will also make it look more spacious, adding an extra volume to its depth.

The direction of the light is also another aspect that you can work on while decorating your space. Up-lights point illumination toward the ceiling which in use will make the room look more spacious. Down-lights cast light down from ceiling or wall to the floor. Down-lights such as chandeliers provide ideal type of illumination to accentuate a specific area in the room, such as dining table.

Some table and desk lamps are both up and down-lights according to their shape. If you have a corner where you put your indoor plants, try to put an up-light lamp such as our mosaic table lamps on the floor amidst the plants in order to create a forest-like illusion (a green mosaic lamp would do the best work).

Color of the Light

We can easily say, from many experience, that some colors of light are very undesirable for us. Some make our head ache and eyes hurt, making us dizzy and fidgety. White light is one of them. Most of us hate bright and white light as it makes feel alienated and cold. One of the places this type of cold colors of light used is modern interrogation rooms and police stations. The reason behind it is very smart and efficient; to make the interrogee feel alone and alienated in order to break their stream of consciousness down and put their guard down. If the police can break their thought process, chances of the interrogee to make a mistake in the narration of their story, slip a clue away or just break down in total are very high.

On the other hand, most of us have positive connotations with certain colors of light, such as neutral yellow, warm copper or gold. Warmer colors tend to make us feel safe and secure.

Color therapy is another way of using the medicinal and therapeutical aspects of the colors of light. Color therapy is rather a recently popular type of alternative medicine that that brings balance and health to the body and mind holistically. It is one of the softest and non-invasive treatment that is suitable for anyone from any age. Each and every color has its own benefits that target a specific area in your body (aka Chakra) and therapeutical effects. While blue hues will make you feel at peace red will make you feel hungry.

If you want to learn more about the color therapy and what kind od benefits every colors has, make sure you are subscribed to our newsletter and check our blog!