The living room is one of the most important rooms in your home. This is where most of the discussions and exchanges take place. It’s also the place in your home where you do the most activities. You have friends and family over, you’re watching a soccer match, we’re having an aperitif. It is therefore important to have good lighting in this room. Good lighting means choosing the right fixtures. In a living room, to be more comfortable, avoid opting for a luminaire that’s too uniform and won’t add depth to your room. It’s best to place several lamps with different intensities.
In a living room where the lamps are too intense or, conversely, not intense enough, the atmosphere can quickly become chilly and much less warm. This is obviously not the objective, since this is the room where you’ll be welcoming your friends and family.
Choosing the right configuration and dosage
Experts agree that in a living room,lighting should be in the region of 300 lux (this is the unit of measurement for illuminance). With this power, you’ll give your home a very cozy atmosphere. A cosy place means less lighting. That’s why it’s essential to have several sources of light, which you can then switch on to suit your mood. It can be a ceiling light, a led bar, a bulb, a table light, etc. It’s also possible to buy an indoor luminaire fitted with a so-called dimmer. It allows you to control the light intensity of your lamps.
Three lighting techniques for your living room
Functional lighting
The light sources will play a very specific role. For example, placing a light bulb at ceiling level to illuminate a painting and make it stand out. We could also place one in a library. The light means you don’t have to spend long minutes choosing the next book to read, because you can’t see anything in the dark. This type of luminaire is above all practical.
To choose a fixture that will fulfill this functional role, you first need to know how you intend to use it. For example, a light bulb that shines on one of your paintings. Or to the armchair you sit in to read your books in the evening.
Lighting for ambience/decoration
This type of lighting adds style and atmosphere to your interior. It says a lot about your taste in decoration. Decorative light fittings add character to your living room, creating a warm, relaxing atmosphere.
For this type of lighting, let your imagination do the talking. The most important thing is to use light sources that are consistent with the rest of your interior design.
With this lighting, you’ll be free to express your creativity and your personality. All types of lamps can be used here: ceiling lights, a bulb, a chandelier, LED bars, a floor lamp, etc. The choice is yours! You can really play with any style. Whether contemporary, vintage or modern, it’s up to you.
General lighting
Whether you choose a light bulb, ceiling fixture, chandelier or ceiling spotlights, it’s this lighting that will provide the vast majority of the light in your living room. It’s often the first light you turn on when you enter the room, and therefore the first one everyone will see. So choose wisely. This lighting will set the overall mood of your living room.
This lamp therefore plays a vital role in your home. You should also take care to choose a lamp whose size matches the dimensions of your living space. A fixture that’s too small won’t provide enough light for your room. The opposite will be true with too large a bulb.
Why and how to choose a ceiling light?
The ceiling light gives your living room a unique style. But to choose the one that’s just right for your room, you’ll need to take a number of criteria into account. These include size, design, model and visual comfort.
On the lighting market, there are hundreds and even thousands of different lamps. Among them, ceiling lights are beginning to attract more and more fans. The ceiling light is practical because it mounts directly to the ceiling. Whereas with a pendant lamp you need a certain ceiling height, otherwise it won’t work.
Visual comfort is paramount
Before you even start thinking about design and decoration, you need to make sure that the ceiling light you’re going to buy offers you good visual comfort. For all lamps, it’s the wattage that influences the quality of light. Powerful lights are best used in large rooms with high ceilings. In a smaller room, softer ceiling lights are preferable. You can always install a dimmer to regulate the light intensity of your luminaire.
A choice of decoration above all
Choosing a ceiling light over a conventional lamp is a matter of choosing a specific decorative style:
– A round ceiling light with spotlights: perfect for modern settings.
– A metal ceiling light is a great idea if you want to replace the classic lamps found in industrial style.
– A square or rectangular ceiling light : perfect for modern and/or contemporary settings.
– A blown-glass ceiling light with motifs such as branches, for example, will blend in perfectly with a vintage style.
A ceiling light in a variety of colors for an original ambience
As your first living space, your living room must be able to bring well-being and comfort to your home. Here, a good ceiling lamp will bring you as much comfort as a soft sofa.
Today, almost every luminaire is fitted with LEDs that can change color using a remote control or an app on your smartphone. So you can change the colors of your ceiling light to suit your mood and the atmosphere you want to create. For a romantic date night, red is perfect. For relaxation and stress relief, green light is the answer. To start your day in a good mood and with lots of energy, choose orange light.
Select a ceiling light to suit your room
In addition to the design factor and the decorating style you want to opt for, you should also choose your ceiling light according to its size. It’s essential. In any case, the larger the room, the bigger the ceiling light you’ll need.
If your room is less than 10 square meters, opt for an ordinary ceiling light with a diameter of around 30 centimeters. For rooms larger than 15 square meters, a 50 cm diameter is more appropriate. Finally, if your room is larger than 3 square meters, it’s a good idea to buy several ceiling lights to give your room uniform illumination.
If you fall in love with branch ceiling lights, always choose one with a minimum of 4 spotlights/bulbs. Otherwise, the result will be disappointing. For small living rooms, to complement the lighting offered by your ceiling fixture, don’t hesitate to add mini LED ceiling lights to accentuate certain areas of your room.
Well, we hope these tips have given you a little more clarity, and will help you in your choice of ceiling light, which is far from being an easy step. Don’t hesitate to give your opinion below and let us know if these tips helped you make your choice.
