Lighting

Hopefully, your walls, floors and windows all now have that professional look and we can move on to discuss Lighting.  Never underestimate the importance of lighting in any scheme you are planning.  It will affect the room almost more dramatically that any other element. Good lighting can enhance good points and disguise bad ones. Yet we often take it for granted or complain when there is not enough light, doing nothing about it except perhaps changing a bulb!!

Areas such as your living room require a combination of lighting – cosmetic lighting to enhance the whole room scheme and to act as a pleasant background, and accent lighting to illuminate specific working areas, such as a reading corner.  There are many types of lighting available and the choice can be confusing, so consider the following:

·                    Downlighters  are often used to illuminate a gorgeous plant or treasured item of furniture whilst uplighters are good for “wall washing” which gives quite a dramatic effect without interfering with other lighting elements in the same room.

·                    Spotlights give out a strong beam of controlled lighting wherever directed and can be either fixed or adjustable.   Great for highlighting  your fabulous artwork.

·                    Focused lighting includes table lamps where the type of shade used and bulb wattage will determine how much light is thrown out.  Great for those cosy corners but do make sure that the shade is in proportion to the base.

·                    Jointed  lamps are a great source of light for reading purposes if the beam is aimed directly at the working area.

·                    Wall fittings are another source of general light and there are now a great number of designs available to enhance specific period designs (just remember that new wall lighting must be fitting before any decorating takes places as the wiring has to be channeled into the walls.

Finally, don’t forget those dimmer switches which will allow you to change the mood of the lighting at any time.

Next week, the fun part – accessorising!!

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