25 Jun 4 Common Mistakes to Avoid When Choosing Lights for Your Home
There are best practices when it comes to residential lighting, but a lot of homeowners make crucial lighting mistakes that end up making their rooms look dull, uncomfortable, and uninviting. Avoid these 4 common mistakes when choosing lights and create a beautiful, functional, and peaceful space for your and your family.
Along with your interior design, furniture selections, decorative pieces, etc., lighting is one of the elements that make a comfortable and relaxed home. The proper residential lighting fixtures can set the tone of your abode, create a warm and peaceful ambiance, and increase your property’s market value.
But in the same way, making simple lighting mistakes can make your home feel unwelcoming, uncomfortable, dark, and even clinical. These can have a negative psychological impact and drain your mental and emotional wellbeing.
There lies the importance of selecting the proper lighting fixtures to illuminate your interiors and make your house feel more like home. We lay down the 4 most common lighting mistakes homeowners make so that you can avoid them and make better decisions when choosing your residential lighting fixtures.
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Having Only 1 Light Source
The most common practice is to have only one light source per room, usually, an overhead ceiling light that’s bright enough to illuminate the center, as well as crucial corners in the space. However, doing this can make the light look harsh, uninviting, and plain.
Why not add a little more depth and texture by adding more lighting fixtures? Ideally, every room should have an array of lighting types, including ambient, accent, and task lighting.
- Ambient Lighting: Any form of lighting fixture that illuminates the entire room, such as overhead lights, natural light, etc.
- Accent Lighting: Decorative lighting that serves to enhance the room’s features, such as spotlights.
- Task Lighting: Bright, concentrated light used for a specific task or purpose, such as reading lights, desk lamps, and under-cabinet lights.
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Selecting the Wrong Color Temperature
The first thing most people look for when buying new light bulbs is brightness, but many fail to take color temperature into consideration. However, the color and lumen output of your bulbs is just as important, with color setting the mood and ambiance of the space.
Bright, blue lights are reserved for the office setting to keep employees awake and productive. But if you’re choosing lights for your bedroom, you should choose light bulbs with a lower Kelvin measurement to get a warmer color.
The ideal color temperature for residential lighting is as follows:
- Living room, family room, bedroom: warm white light at 2700 Kelvin
- Kitchen, bathroom: cool light at 3,000 to 4,100 Kelvin
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Getting Lights That Are Not Dimmable
While traditional residential lighting is non-dimmable, new technologies and innovations in the industry call for a change. Switching to dimmable LED lighting is highly recommended, allowing you to customize your lights’ brightness and also reduce your energy consumption.
Dimmable lights give you more space for versatility — you can set the lumen output of your lights depending on the occasion or activity, such as relaxing or doing daily tasks. And the lesser your lumen output, the lower your electricity bill too, which is a great bonus!
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Relying Solely on Can Lighting
The most common lighting fixture we see in homes, especially in bathrooms and kitchens, are can lighting or recessed downlights. While functional, they shouldn’t be the only lights you have in a room.
Relying solely on can lighting can cause a room to look awkward and sparse, not to mention that they aren’t an efficient use of light. Ideally, they should be paired with other lighting elements such as accent and task lighting to better illuminate the room and provide a more comfortable space.
If you have a room that’s relying completely on can lighting for illumination, add some table and floor lamps, wall sconces, or under-cabinet lighting to add more depth and decorative elements.
Make the Best Decisions for Your Home
Your home is your own personal paradise, and lighting plays an important role in fostering your comfort and peace in your home. Make the best decisions for your residential lighting. Stealth Ventures has an array of lighting options that you can add to your property.
Check out lighting fixtures from our partners and contact us to learn more about how we can make your house feel more like home.