Lighting design is a much more involved process than choosing the right fixtures. So take inspiration from the professionals and learn the best lighting tricks of the trade.
Don’t let lighting design be an afterthought in your self-build or renovation. While it can be relatively easier to complement an existing lighting scheme with freestanding lamps, your hardwired lighting system does most of the heavy lifting in how you use a space.
Get it right, and when the daylight starts to fade, you’ll have a home that’s comfortable to be in and functional to use, but get it wrong, and the whole atmosphere of the space will be off.
When we talk about lighting design, we don’t just mean choosing the right fixtures and fittings, but ensuring enough lighting of various types, highlighting and interacting with your space correctly. Lighting may even affect your health, so the stakes are high in creating an excellent lighting scheme for your home.
This guide breaks down the basics of lighting design, explores wellness in lighting and how to utilise smart lighting effectively, and examines whether hiring a professional light designer is worth your time.
What Are The Types Of Lighting Used In A Lighting Design?
There are three main lighting types used in lighting design — familiarise yourself with the various terms used for each. You might like to consider using a combination of all three types in most rooms for a good ‘layered’ approach.
Ambient Lighting: Also called general or background lighting, this lighting gives overall illumination to a room. Sources include large pendants, recessed downlights, and even wall lights in some cases.
Task Lighting: This provides extra, targeted illumination to those areas where everyday activities take place, such as reading, cooking and working. Floor, table, and desk lamps are all good sources of task lighting, as is that incorporated into cooker hoods and vanity mirrors; however, ceiling downlighters may be considered task lighting too as they are functional rather than ambient.
Accent Or Mood Lighting: This is used to highlight objects or architectural features you wish to draw attention to, such as artwork, cabinets or sculptures. Directional spots on tracks, low-level chandeliers and recessed and hidden LED strips are good examples.
Using dimmers and asking your electrician to install your lights on separate switches so that you can independently operate each ‘type’ will make creating different moods easier.
How Many Light Sources Should A Lighting Design Include?
Large rooms need more light than small ones but easily calculate the amount of light needed for a particular room. Work out the size of the space in square metres and allow roughly 25 watts per metre (250 lumens). This light shouldn’t come from a single source but rather from different lights.
The more light sources you have (controlled separately via individual switches or smart lighting systems), the more your room can adapt to various needs and create different moods. However, too many and you’ll find your lighting scheme is too complicated, with some lights becoming redundant.
As a rule of thumb, look at four light sources per room at the minimum, with a mix of the different types of lighting described above.
How To Create A Lighting Design Plan
You can come up with a lighting plan yourself, having assessed each room’s uses, size, and natural light levels. Alternatively, an interior designer, your architect, electrician or a specialist lighting company can come up with one for you.
Not all LED lights are compatible with dimmer switches. Check the product information before you buy, or you risk causing damage to your circuits if installed incorrectly with a dimmer.
A good, thoroughly-considered lighting plan allows you to shop around for the types of fitting you need early on and be an important reference for your electrician, who will need to know the location and type of fittings and switches.
It would help to begin planning and making provisions for your lighting scheme simultaneously as you plan the plumbing.
A successful lighting scheme takes into account each possible use of every room. So begin methodically, ‘walking through’ your plans, or house in the case of some renovations, and in each room, ask yourself the following questions:
- What will this space be used for? Consider all possible uses of each room. Will the kitchen double up as a dining or homework space? Will a spare room also be a study?
- Will there be pieces of furniture that you want to highlight? Maybe architectural features such as fireplaces or artwork that you want to draw attention to in any of these rooms? It will determine your accent lighting.
- Who will be using this room? Interestingly, someone 60+ years generally needs 15 times more light than a 10-year-old.
- At what time of day will the room be used the most? For example, if you only use rooms in the evening to relax, setting lights on dimmers is a good idea.
- Where does natural light enter the room, and in what direction? Don’t forget that lighting isn’t only required at night time, as at various times of the year when light levels are low, you’ll require artificial light to supplement throughout the day.
Once you have the answers to these questions, draw a plan of the room to help you determine the best points for lights to be situated.
It would help permanent markdown fixtures on your plans, such as windows and doors, nooks, fireplaces, and other heat sources, such as radiators. Next, mark the direction in which occupants of the rooms are likely to spend most time facing, for example, the television, a desk or the cooker. Mark where light switches will be most conveniently placed, concentrating around doorways and at the top and bottom of stairs. Finally, think about where you plan to site major furniture items, such as beds and sofas.
Use your findings from your’ walk around’ to mark where you would like each light source, a pendant, side lamp or downlighter, to be located.
What Building Regulations Do I Need To Know For Lighting Design?
Installing low-energy light sources in a new build home is now a must, and Building Regulations state that 75 per cent of the lights in a new home must be ‘energy efficient.
It means that light fittings must produce at least 400 lumens, have a minimum efficacy of 45 lumens per watt and be over 5 circuit watts. Fittings under 5 watts are excluded from the overall count, so too is any exterior lighting.
Fluorescent and compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs), LEDs, or discharge lamps would conform to this, whilst fitting low-energy bulbs with bayonet or screw-cap bases do not.
An interior designer or a lighting design professional can create a lighting design scheme.
Suppose you’re renovating a relatively standard house. In that case, you’ll likely be able to create an effective lighting scheme without the help of a design professional, especially in a moderately sized room.
The best time to hire a lighting designer may depend on the project. You should bring a lighting designer on board before retiring to ensure that lights are situated in the right place in a renovation. You may want to bring a light designer on board earlier as part of the design brief.
Lighting Design And Circadian Rhythm
Your circadian rhythm is your 24 body clock, something dictated by how your body interacts with light, releasing hormones that either induce sleep or wake you up in the morning. Natural daylight is the basis of your circadian rhythm, while artificial light from your home’s lighting and technology is disruptive.
A lighting design scheme that mimics natural light cycles is a biodynamic (or human-centric) lighting scheme. In a cyclical process, these smart lighting systems gradually change colour light to wind down or invigorate as required.
Light Colour In Lighting Design
Studies suggest that emotions are experienced more intensely under bright, harsh lighting, which can hurt our moods. Artificial lighting temperatures range from warm ‘soft whites’ (2700-3000K) to ‘bright or cool whites’ (3500-4100K) and finally ‘daylight’ (5000-6500K). Each temperature range creates a different effect and can impact our mood.
Soft whites create a warm, cosy feeling. These work well in bedrooms and living rooms as they are calming and help us relax, which is key to our mental wellbeing.
Bright and cool whites work best in bathrooms and kitchens. They create a more energetic feeling and help to give better contrast between colours.
While it is always a good idea to speak to a qualified electrician about installing your light fittings, it does help when coming up with a plan to have at least a basic understanding of how lighting circuits work.
Lighting circuits are radial. It means that they are linear power circuits where the cable leaves the consumer unit and runs to each outlet (or fitting) on the line before terminating at last.
Most houses will have at least two separate circuits, one for upstairs and one for downstairs, but it is a good idea to have more than this in reality. At the very least, you need to ask your electrician to install your lights so that you can operate each type or ‘level’ of lighting separately.
Considerations When Creating A Lighting Plan For Your Home
Draft Your Floor Plan
Start with measuring your room rescaling in size, when drawing the interior out on graph paper. It is best to use a scale of 1:50. Every 1cm/inch of your floor plan represents 50cm/inches in reality. Once you have sketched your floor plan to scale, it is time to note some important features.
Mark Immovable Objects
Make a note of fixed furnishings and objects – such as fireplaces, doors, windows and alcoves – and draw these on your plan. These are things in your space that you cannot move easily.
Draw Your Furniture
Next, draw the furniture that you will place in the room. Again, try to mimic the size and shape of the furniture as best as possible, as this will give a clearer indication of the available space in the room when complete.
Think realistically. Do you have high vaulted ceilings? How are you going to change the light bulbs?
Note The Room’s Functions
Mark in all the possible functions of the room with graphics – TV, reading, eating, studying, exercising etc. Adding arrows to represent what direction people will be facing in the room can help identify the placements of light fixtures. For example, sitting at a desk for working or facing the television.
Choose Locations For Light Sources
Draw ‘light circles’ in areas you want to bring light into. Try to avoid the overlapping of fixtures and ensure equal levels of light spread throughout the room. The aim here is to dodge any dark spots!
Sockets And Circuits
Take note of the existing sockets in your space. In older homes, it’s common to have too few sockets that encourage the dangerous overloading of plugs!
Analyse where you would like to have light switches. Move around the space and think logically about the entry and exit points. Think of those late-night toilet trips and midnight feasts. You don’t want to be feeling around in the dark for a switch that isn’t there.
Don’t neglect the thought of including dimmer switches. The ability to adjust the mood and atmosphere is easy and very practical, transforming interiors for all occasions.
Recessed Lighting
What about recessed lighting? Recessed lighting is commonly used in open plan living areas such as kitchen diners. It increases the amount of light in a room, helping the space feel larger. Recessed lighting is practical, too, allowing you to perform daily tasks easily.
Be sure to place recessed lights at least 3ft away from walls. It helps to avoid dark shadows in corners.
To determine how far apart to space your recessed lights, divide the height of the ceiling by two. For example, if a room has a 12ft. ceiling, you should space your recessed lights approximately six ft. apart.
It is crucial to include recessed lighting in your plan to achieve a clean, bright and even light projection throughout your space.
And that is you – done and dusted!
This simple guide encourages you to think practically about how lighting can work for you in your home.
Although every room is different, it should incorporate your home’s overall style and function. Strategically link each room, so there is an organic flow of light as your move from room to room.
Establish The Budget
It might seem like an obvious step, but it’s amazing how quickly home projects—big or small—can put a serious dent in your bank account. So to avoid a monetary setback, decide how much lighting you need, and designate the items you might want to splurge on and other areas where you know you need to be more conscious of cost.
Pick A Theme, Genre, Or Design Type
Just as you would stick to a colour scheme when decorating a space, so should you consider the style and theme of the fixtures you wish to install. Since lighting is an integral component of creating the mood and tone of a space, find products that speak to you and the particular space. If you have a signature style, the lighting should follow suit.
Layer Lighting
The basic principle is to layer three types of lighting: ambient, accent and task lighting. Ambient lighting is concerned with creating general illumination, occupying a more functional role. Accent lighting is often where decorative fixtures come into play, like chandeliers, pendants, and linear lighting. Finally, task lighting also comes in many forms, providing focused lighting for workspaces throughout your home. Once these elements come together, the interior becomes a well-rounded (and well-lit) space.
Conclusion
We hope that this article has helped you understand the basics of home lighting design and given you a few ideas on creating a lighting plan for your home. Remember, it is always best to consult with a professional electrician when planning complex or elaborate lighting schemes, but if you are confident in your abilities and want to try something new, go for it! We would love to see photos of your finished project.
Faqs
What Is A Lighting Layout Plan?
A lighting layout coordinates the fixture locations with diffusers, return grilles, speakers, sprinkler heads, and other structural elements.
How Is Lighting Design Calculated?
The simple and basic approach for calculating the lighting requirement is to divide the total light requirement of the room by light output (lumen) provided by a single lamp.
How Do You Plan A Ceiling Light?
A good general rule for placement is to divide the height of the ceiling by two. The result is the amount of space to leave between each light. For example, recessed lighting spacing for an 8-foot-high ceiling would be 4 feet between each light. It will provide good spacing for general room lighting.
What Does A Light Plot Include?
It contains the relevant architectural information of the venue space, including walls, the floor level, the location of seats and balconies, occasionally sightlines, and the location of each lighting instrument and other relevant hardware, like modular dimmer boxes.
What Do Lighting Architects Do?
Architectural lighting design imagines, creates, integrates, infuses and organises lighting into a coordinated system, including factoring and taking advantage of natural light, electric light, or both, to serve and advance human action.