Light your home
People prefer Natural lighting above man-made lighting because it shows off colours better.
We won the battle against darkness, and Thomas Edison is our knight in shining armour. A well-illuminated home always welcomes with warmth. In the age of beautification lights are not only used for utility. Lighting is a very crucial element in the decent interior design schemes.
Light sets in the mood and ambience of a living space. It can change the whole appearance of a room. Use of dimmers, LED lights, and DIY lamps and shades in your interior spice the home up. It also gives a personal touch in the ambience of the home.
The illusion of space can be enhanced by the reflection of lights. In addition, directional lighting, such as a track light, can soften the wall colours. The lower beam of lighting has a soft, downward glow that illuminates the floors, not walls.
This is opposed to lights hung from the centre of the room, which provide ambient illumination, or wall lighting. In both cases, this can affect how light or dark a coloured section can appear.
Track lighting is the perfect example of positional lighting. Hung from the ceiling, the adjustable necks and lamps can be pointed at specific elements, such as a wall painting, the flower vase on an entryway table or the bar top or kitchen island. Consider mounting them on the walls also.
Mirror frames also have built-in lighting to highlight certain areas on a wall. Recessed lighting can be used in floors and ceilings to create vertical beams of light as opposed to an overall glow from central light fixtures hanging from a ceiling.
Lighting needs to serve a purpose. Chandeliers are not only used in large, open foyers, entryways and rooms because of their centrally themed placement but also because they provide excellent illumination for the room.
Entryway is the first place that people notice when they set foot into a house. Make sure that it creates a positive impression in the beginning. Good lighting at the entry can make the home inviting and comfortable. Wall lights add length and size, visually, to an entryway hall. Look into task specific lighting for desks and other work areas where functionality is more important than overall room illumination.
People prefer Natural lighting above man-made lighting because it shows off colours better and adds to the visual space of a room by bouncing off reflective surfaces.
Consider skylights or large windows if you want more natural light, or use sheer drapes and curtains to allow the maximum amount of light from your current windows.
If the room does not have sufficient lighting, it will feel cramped. This is worsened by close-proximity furniture arrangements, such as coffee table, end table, sofa, chair and love seat combinations in a smaller setting. Corner lamps, wall sconces and centrally hanging lights on the ceiling help brighten a room if natural lighting is not available and help create a visually larger space.
Munim Hossain Sazid is project architect, Department of Architecture, Ministry of Housing and Public Works.
