Types Of Lighting In Home Improvement

Not to be confused with types of lighting fixtures which I will also cover below there are many types of lighting available for your home improvement choices and each type of lighting has a particular set of fixtures that work well in specific locations throughout your home.

Ambient lighting is the most basic type of lighting which will work well throughout your home so consider this your go-to method for the entire house even if you intend to add other types as well. Ambient lights light up an entire room, bathroom or kitchen with an even luminosity that doesn?t overpower any specific area. No bright spots, no highlights, just a seamless all around light for general visibility purposes.

Accent lighting is generally reserved to showcase important features in your home in order to create a desired feel or mood. Examples of accent lighting can be found indoors and outdoors in places such as above the fireplace for when the ambient lighting is turned off or around the edges of the lawn to create an edging effect at night.

Task lighting is a great addition to any workspace such as in the workshop, above the kitchen counters or next to your favorite reading chair. Task lighting generally uses white lights and are focused on a very specific location. The goal is to provide additional brightness to help you complete your tasks with ease.

Lighting Tip: When choosing the right task lighting for your home improvement project make sure to envision yourself where you will be and take into consideration eye glare. A proper shade or directional lighting mechanism will help shield the light from shining directly into your eyes.

Track lights are best used as accent lighting because they can easily be adjusted as your home decor tastes change over time. Track lights can provide both task lighting and ambient lighting as well however the bulk of the track hardware leaves them less optimal for most tasks and they have a directional component to them which is not ideal for ambient lighting. Stick to track lights when you need to accent a design feature or individual focal points such as paintings or pictures. Track lights are also popular in many bathrooms provide more light around a mirror.

Chandeliers provide a design element that, unlike ambient lighting, is designed to make a statement while still providing a mixture or ambient and accent light. A great location for a chandelier is above the dining table where it can set the right ambiance or near an entry way to give the right first impression.

Table and floor lamps provide an excellent source of task lighting and can be used when your ambient lighting is turned off. A shade of some sort will diffuse the light and make it pleasant for book reading while also shining light upwards where the ceiling will convert it into ambient lighting.

Recessed lights were at one time most widely used as accent lighting however their popularity as ambient lighting has increased dramatically as light bulb technology has evolved. Recessed lighting allows for less clutter, an increased perception of room size and they remain minimalistic in terms of artistic imprint on a home, they don?t overpower your best design features.

Utility lighting is a stronger type of ambient light designed to shine more light over any given area. An example would be in the garage or as an outdoor flood light. Wherever you need a strong and reliable light source to cover a large area, including outdoors, utility lighting is designed to employ higher wattage to generate more lumens. Security also dictates the use of utility lighting in key access points to your home where the shadows are not welcome.

I?ve covered the primary types of lighting fixtures for you but I hope I?ve illustrated that you need to remember to consider the type of light you want because not all fixtures are built to suit every need, even if they look good.

Source: http://www.trendsi.com/71134-types-of-lighting.html

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