The living room is the hub of the home, a space for many family activities and emotional connections! Here, we chat with family members, entertain friends, or enjoy our relaxation moments.
However, most of us spend a lot of time and money on furniture or decor, but often ignore another very important aspect: the living room's lighting! Suitable lighting design can directly enhance the ambiance and comfort of your home at night, incorrect lighting design will ruin your living room experience.
This article will explore the fundamentals of lighting design, the functions of different types of lighting, and practical tips for choosing the right lights for your home.
Understanding lighting types
How to light a living room at night? First, we need to understand lighting types. There are three types of lighting: functional lighting, mood lighting, and decorative lighting. Before we choose the right light or combination of lights, it is helpful to understand the difference between the types of lights.
Functional lighting
The essence of functional lighting is to solve the basic functional requirements of space activities. The living room is the main area for family communication and activities. Each family has unique needs for their living room, but a clear, comfortable, and bright functional light is essential for any living room.
We recommend choosing a light source that has a strong sense of focus and shines directly from the top. To ensure the intensity and comfort your activity requires, the brightness and color temperature of functional lighting should be higher than mood lighting. This way the lighting in the living room will appear layered.
In a Nutshell: Functional lighting is to illuminate the room so that you can do your work comfortably and smoothly, that is functional lighting's due role.
Mood lighting
What is the mood lighting? According to Wiki, mood lighting is igniting or illumination, designed to create a temporary state of mind or feeling.
First, from the perspective of space, mood lighting is divided into top lighting, mid-light, or ground lighting. Such as ground lighting makes it easy to produce mood effects. For example, if you set up floor light strips in the shoe cabinet, you will feel warm when the light strips light up when you get home. In some luxury five-star hotel rooms, when you turn on the night mode, it often turns on the ground lighting.
Second, Chiaroscuro is the one that is most easily overlooked. Philosophically, there is light before there is darkness. If it's full light there is no contrast between light and dark, and the lighting level does not exist. The light strip offers gentle top lighting, while spotlights create focused illumination, adding a striking contrast between light and shadow.
Third, Choose an adjustable-angle downlight. The lamp's angle adjustment function is essential. For example, if you are lighting a painting today, you may want to move the painting to another side tomorrow, so the direction of the light needs to be adjusted.
Decorative lighting
Our focus is on the decorative qualities of the lamp—its material, shape, and style—while the lighting effect itself is secondary. Decorative lighting often matches the style of our entire house and enhances the texture of the whole house.
If you don't have a high budget and can't afford expensive designer lights, I recommend adding small table lamps wherever needed. They offer a strong decorative touch and create cozy, focused points of light. Adding point light sources in your home will improve the lighting and atmosphere of your home.
Ceiling light design & no ceiling light design
There are usually two lighting design options for the living room -- ceiling light design or no ceiling light design, these two lighting design solutions have their advantages and disadvantages, mainly depending on your needs.
We will analyze the differences between the two solutions in lighting effects, cost, design effect, and maintainability. Let’s get started!
Ceiling light design
Ceiling light design typically involves installing a high-power, high-lumen ceiling light in the living room to provide broad and effective illumination.
Ceiling light design (source: google)
Many families use ceiling lighting solutions to illuminate the entire living room. This solution has the advantages of low cost, easy installation, and one light can meet the basic brightness requirements. But it also has some disadvantages, for example, the brightness and illumination are uneven, the middle is bright, the surroundings are dark, and there are dark areas. No accent lighting, lack of atmosphere, or layering. The lamp body is easy to accumulate dust and is difficult to clean.
No Ceiling light design
Without a ceiling light design -- the living room does not have a high-power main light installed. Instead, consider installing a mix of low-power downlights and spotlights on the ceiling to provide both general and focused lighting. Which is more suitable for those with a higher budget or who pursue a high-end atmosphere and modern, minimalist style decoration.
No Ceiling light design (source: redbook)
Advantages of no ceiling light design:
More humanely, different lights are turned on in various scenes and spaces, which is also more energy-saving.
The combination of point, line, and surface lighting visually expands the space, creating an illusion of greater size and sophistication.
The roof design is more concise, you can see the light but not the lamp, the light is soft and eye-protecting
Disadvantages of no ceiling light design:
The cost is high, the circuit design is more complicated, and issues such as circuit transformation need to be considered.
You need to consult a professional lighting designer. The design requirements are high, if lighting design lacks professional expertise, the results can be disappointing.
Practical suggestions
We explained the uses and differences of the three types of lighting and also introduced the effects, advantages, and disadvantages of two living room lighting design modes. With the theory covered, let’s dive into a real-life example.
If you buy a ceiling light
5 factors to consider when choosing ceiling lamps (source: google)
Lamp size
Choose the diameter of the lamp according to the area of the room.
Lamp style
It is recommended to choose a simple style, which is versatile, durable, not oppressive, and easy to clean and maintain.
Care about the color temperature.
The lower the color temperature, the warmer the light, and the higher the color temperature, the colder the light.
Choose a light that can be dimmed infinitely, adjust the light color at will, has a full spectrum without flicker, is close to natural light, and is more eye-friendly.
Look at the color rendering index.
For household lamps, the color rendering index must be ≥90, and >95 is better. It is best to choose a desk lamp with a color rendering index of >95 for children to do homework.
Care about the material.
Plastic lampshades tend to turn yellow easily, have low light transmittance, and are not bright enough, whereas acrylic lampshades have high light transmittance, emit light evenly, and do not turn yellow after long-term use.
If you choose no ceiling light design
No Ceiling light design Demo (source: google)
The center of the living room must be bright, choose to buy spotlights (3500k 9w), which are responsible for lighting up the center of the living room at special moments.
But these spotlights are not enough for the living room. You can arrange enough downlights (3500k 7w) around the living room ceiling. Which is responsible for lighting up the entire living room.
Now the living room is brighter, but it lacks a warm feeling, so let the light strip (2700k 5w) come out. Light strips are a great tool for creating an atmosphere.
To create a sense of atmosphere what we need is diffuse reflection. Lighting methods can be divided into direct lighting and indirect lighting. The light reflected from the wall or other objects is indirect lighting. White walls or white furniture are the best reflective objects. It will produce perfect diffuse reflection and create a great sense of atmosphere.
In addition to function and atmosphere, we also have accent lamps to lightning display cabinets or paintings you want to brighten.
Therefore, lighting design must be carried out when layout planning, so potential can be arranged in advance to make the lighting design as you wish.
Conclusion
To sum up, how to light night the living room?
If you have a low budget or want to buy a ceiling light for your living room, remember these key points: opt for a full-spectrum, eye-protecting light source; ensure the color rendering index (CRI) is above 90; choose a flicker-free, anti-blue light model; and look for one that supports three color modes with step-less, smart dimming.
When you choose no ceiling light design, be sure to consult the lighting designer first, it is best to ask them to provide a lighting design plan. Reserve the lighting power supply line before decoration. Don’t put the cart before the horse — remember to prioritize functional lighting over ambiance.
