Everything You Need to Know About Interior Lighting

Virtually every room in your home can benefit from a strategically designed lighting setup that provides plenty of light and supports your unique sense of style. But as is the case with most interior design plans, less is more.

Explore our guide for some great interior lighting tips you can use to create a vibrant and illuminating look for your home.

Use a Variety of Luxury Lighting

Lighting is more than just illuminating a room. When you begin to understand how lighting affects mood, you can use interior lighting to make a room appear larger or showcase interesting features in your home. For that reason, you don’t want to just hit a room with a lot of light. The placement of your interior lighting fixtures should accommodate a functional or stylistic approach.

Luckily, there are a vast number of bulbs and fixtures you can use to accomplish just about any look. General lighting, like a chandelier or ceiling fan lights, are designed to brighten up an entire room. Accent lighting like smart LED light strips, sconces and lighting for artwork helps to illuminate specific areas you want to draw attention to.

A great interior lighting setup should use a mix of elements to achieve the ideal look for your home and support your lifestyle.

Use Dimmers When Possible

Dimmers simply give you more control over your interior lighting, which you can use to get great effect on the fly. Not every occasion calls for the same level of light. A cocktail hour with friends might call for brighter light, whereas a movie night or romantic dinner needs a moodier touch.

Dimmers allow you to achieve this, which is why they’re the perfect addition to any room – especially open-concept plans where spaces can accommodate various events.

Recessed or Canned Lighting for a Cleaner Look

While many interior lighting fixtures can double as a design element, it’s not always necessary to show off the hardware. Recessed lighting provides essential lighting in areas where you need it but doesn’t take up space. It can also be installed so that the cords are virtually invisible, creating a clean and modern look for your home.

Smart light strips are a great and affordable way to achieve this look. They are adhesive, so they can easily be installed under shelves or cabinets to shine a light on collectibles, books or countertops. Recessed canned lighting is great for general lighting and can also be directional to cast light on art pieces and pictures.

Use Interior Lighting to Light High Traffic Walkways

Walking through a dark hallway or up a flight of shaded steps can be dangerous. That is why it is important to strategically place dim light along walkways so you can easily find your way around. It also creates a desirable effect that makes your home more inviting to guests.

Wall sconces are one way you can achieve this look. Placing them a few feet apart can produce even lighting through long hallways. Recessed step lights can illuminate stairs and hallways when installed a few inches from the floor. Finally, LED stair lights can be installed just below the lip of your steps to create a stunning and modern look that will also provide safety when climbing stairs at night.

Use Natural Light

That is right! Sometimes the sun provides all the interior lighting you need; you just need to learn how to control it. The right window treatment can help to direct sunlight or filter it to bathe a room in a soft glow. If you have a room with large windows or a sliding glass door, try installing sheer roller shades that diffuse light when closed.

Another trick is to place a mirror opposite a large window or entryway. The light that enters reflects back through the room, creating even brightness throughout. Finally, companies like Solatube sell innovative and eco-friendly lighting fixtures that redirect sunlight from outside through tubular skylights, similar to a can light, just without the light bulb.