The right lighting in the right place has the ability not just to transform a space in the home, but to transform our mood, too. And, whether you want to feel calm and stressless, cosy or rested, with the right lighting, you can create a room for every mood.
With this in mind, here are 6 ways you can use mood lighting to good effect in your home, whatever the room, whatever the occasion:
1. Don’t stick to one main source of light
While overhead lights are great for illuminating an entire space, they’re not so great for creating a mood. With a combination of ambient lighting (the overall light in a room), task lighting (targeted light for carrying out certain tasks), and accent lighting (highlighting certain features and creating atmosphere), however, you can create a different mood for a different occasion, all in the same room.
2. Use wall lights to build atmosphere
As an alternative to overhead lighting, wall lights are incredibly versatile, and as they come in a wide range of styles and sizes, you can find ones to suit any room. Ideal for creating a softer light that’s cast upwards, they can make a space look and feel bigger, as well as cosy and inviting.
3. Make good use of table lamps
The great thing about adding an oak table for a lamp to a space, is that not only do you get a beautiful little table to add style and charm to a room, but you also get to add an intimate, soft and cosy light to the entire space. You can even have a number of tables with lamps on, and control the lighting level as and how you wish.
4. Use floor lamps to set the right tone
While they provide a fantastic level of light for practical purposes, floor lamps can also be used to great effect for brightening up dark corners of a room, or for highlighting certain features. The other great thing about floor lamps is that they can be moved from a to b very easily, enabling you to position them where you want them, according to your mood, the occasion or the changing décor of the room.
5. Have dimmer switches fitted for controlled mood lighting
What better way to be able to adjust the lighting in a room according to the occasion or your mood, than with dimmer switches? However, do remember to have the lights fitted with bulbs that can be dimmed.
6. Choose the colour of your bulbs wisely
You’ve bought a beautiful lamp to sit atop your scandic oak lamp table, but the bulb in it is too harsh and is spoiling the effect.
Cool coloured bulbs, such as blue and white, measure above 5000 Kelvin, and are most inappropriate when trying to achieve a cosier, softer level of illumination. For lamps when you’re trying to create an intimate and inviting level of light, choose warmer coloured bulbs, which typically measure less than 3000 Kelvin.
Never make how you light your home an afterthought. Instead, choose your lamps and lights with careful consideration, to ensure that you’re always able to reflect the right mood, at the right time, and yet still achieve a bright enough level of illumination for such occasions when it might be needed.
