Choose the lighting techniques that work best for your home

A gaslight-style lighting fixture can add atmosphere to a kitchen.

Regardless of how much effort is put into decorating a home, if a room is not properly lit the results are diminished or ruined. A proper lighting scheme can add sparkle, glamour, drama or warmth; it can enhance or highlight, and it can even increase working efficiency. Though most know this intellectually, the majority of us live with less than adequate lighting. This fact is driven home to me constantly when I work with new clients. Here are two recent examples. One couple has a gorgeous home that is beautifully decorated and obviously well cared for. However, their ensuite bathroom is dismal thanks primarily to inadequate lighting. No doubt the upcoming ensuite renovation will prove highly satisfying (since they'll actually be able to see it). Another client has full sun through an east-facing window in the breakfast room. On bright mornings the sun is glaring and family members rush to grab a seat that backs against the window so they won't have to squint through breakfast. The addition of sheer draperies would allow softly filtered light to enhance their breakfast scene, then in the afternoon as the sun softens; the sheers could be pulled aside.

Because lighting has both a physiological and emotional effect on humans, the quality of light is an essential consideration as well. Excessive contrast causes eyestrain while absolute uniformity is monotonous and dull. Balance is the key to success. Obviously, the requirements for a television room are different from those of a kitchen or home office, however, most rooms will include a combination of the three general types of lighting: ambient, task, and accent lighting.

Ambient or Background Lighting

The goal of ambient lighting is to improve and enhance the beauty of a home by distributing low levels of light throughout a room. Although it's possible to adequately light a room exclusively with a central ceiling fixture, this is rarely the most satisfying option. A more well-balanced and pleasing scheme will include a variety of both indirect and direct lighting sources. A center light fixture such as a chandelier, cove lighting, recessed pot lights, and portable lights such as table and floor lamps are all sources of indirect lighting, casting a wide glow within a room. Direct lighting occurs when the light source is forced onto a narrow plane, for example a table lamp with an opaque shade highlights a tabletop only.

TIP: Although candlelight is the most romantic, most flattering light, it is impractical and unsafe to rely on for all lighting. Table lamps therefore, are the next best things. Placed on a side table, a sofa table, or a mantel a table lamp distributes light evenly about a room in soft pools of illumination. Add a gold lining to lampshades and the light will glow with warmth; a silver lining injects brilliance.

Task Lighting

The goal of task lighting is to improve seeing comfort and therefore, perform tasks more efficiently. In the living room task lighting can be provided by lamps fitted with opaque shades that cast light down onto work surfaces such as a writing desk. In the kitchen task lighting often includes florescent or halogen tubes mounted under cabinets. A child's desk will benefit from a proper work lamp with the bulb approximately 14 inches from the desktop. Some task lights actually perform a service such as GE's plant lights, which enhance growth and foliage and encourage blooms. In addition, Reveal bulbs filter out dull yellow light rays to provide a cleaner light, ideal for closets where discerning between colours and fabrics is important.

TIP: To properly light a makeup mirror, the light source should come evenly from both sides, rather than from the top.

Accent or Decorative Lighting

The goal of accent or decorative lighting is to add sparkle, energy and /or drama to rooms and to highlight individual items, drawing our attention towards items that are beautiful or noteworthy. In general, most lighting plans provide sufficient general lighting but often totally overlook the power and drama of accent lighting. Individual art lamps will compliment paintings or photos. Pinpoint pot lights can be trained on a collection of glass or porcelain. Aimed towards the ceiling and through a plant, an uplight casts dramatic shadows. Library lights are a stylish accent at the top of bookshelves. Colored floodlights create pools of dramatic light suitable for the garden. Train an amber or green light on ornamental plants such as corkscrew hazel and Japanese maple.

TIP: Light a collection of glassware and it will enhance the room's atmosphere with sparkling refracted light.