Seeing The Light
Using light correctly can influence your mood, your behaviour and it can certainly accentuate your property's best features.
Thursday, May 1, 2008
“Light, God’s eldest daughter, is a principal beauty in a building.” Thomas Fuller 1608-1661
Light is so important that the lack of it, too much of it, or even the wrong kind of lighting can actually result in physical and psychological problems. So it should definitely not be overlooked when styling or designing the interior and exterior of your home.
You can spend lots of time and money decorating and furnishing your house and still feel as though something is missing. That missing ingredient is often an ambience or atmosphere. But, by using good lighting, it’s possible to create a number of different moods that complement and complete any room.
Incorporating mood-lighting into the interior of your home can really enhance and change the feeling to suit whatever the purpose of the particular space. Different light settings can add to the enjoyment and comfort when eating, reading, entertaining, watching movies, cooking or working on the computer.
Kunini Lighting & Automation, which supplies and fits Futronix lighting systems, can install a home automation mood-lighting system which will organise everything for you. Each room can be controlled with pre-set combinations of the lights that will change the mood at the press of a button. Futronix is a pioneering force in lighting and it’s truly remarkable to see how its systems can dramatically affect the feeling and atmosphere of a room.
But not everyone needs or can afford such a complete automated lighting solution. Fortunately, there are several effects that you can create by just taking the time to look around your home and experiment with the placing and the colours of the lamps you choose. Morning sunlight pouring in through a window; a candlelit dinner table; or a curving wall washed with light from a concealed lighting cove are all examples of lighting that really transforms the mood or feel of a room. And all of which can be achieved without investing in specific mood lighting systems.
It’s not just the intensity of the light that can impact on your moods but also the colour of the light. Different colours have properties that can help to relax or invigorate and many people are now incorporating coloured lights into their interior designs. It’s something that’s been used when choosing paint colours and soft furnishings for some time now.
Lighting is generally one of the last items added to a room. It should probably be one of the first, as proper lighting is essential to increase the function, drama, and style of a room.
When choosing lights remember that a light source not only creates a pool of light, but there is also a second effect produced when the light is reflected by other surfaces. This secondary light effect cannot be reproduced in a shop. Think about where the light will be placed, what surfaces it will reflect off and what affect that will create.
It’s advisable to try and combine different types of lighting in the same room and avoid hard contrasts which can be tiring on the eyes. Lighting can be classified according to the distribution of light coming from the fixture. General lighting provides the main illumination of an area such as a standard central ceiling light; task lighting is mainly functional and is therefore the most concentrated illumination for a specific purpose, like reading; and accent lighting is predominately decorative, highlighting pictures, plants, or other elements of interior design or landscaping; wonderful artwork or architectural features that are impressive during daylight deserve to be specially lit and exhibited at night-time too.
In a world of open-plan living, many rooms are multifunctional; therefore the fitting of dimmer switches allows a higher level of light for working or reading and a lower light level for relaxation. Glare can be avoided with most light fittings by positioning them where the bulb is not directly visible.
Light colour and intensity are very important. Incandescent bulbs can help to promote a cosy atmosphere in living areas, whereas fluorescent lamps give a cooler, more efficient light for utility rooms. Also remember that dark colours absorb light whilst lighter ones reflect it, so a room painted darker will require more light to illuminate it.
Colour can be added to a room by simply highlighting a coloured surface with a directed light. As different rooms often have different functions each will therefore have a different lighting requirement.
In living areas, using one central light can result in hard shadows and sometimes glare. However, using different light sources will create pools of light that give a far more interesting and comfortable effect. An adjustable reading light beside a chair is useful and a few lamps placed around the edge of the room on tables, shelves or furniture will provide a more spacious feeling, as the light radiates inwards. Up-lights set on the floor behind plants and furniture throw interesting pools of light on the walls. And for white walls try using coloured shades to increase the dramatic effect.
Indirect lighting adds contrast and ceramic wall-washers, which produce indirect light designed to illuminate whole walls and ceilings, also create exciting effects; especially as the light will be coloured by the surfaces which they’re illuminating.
Floor lamps are available on Samui in many shapes and sizes which, during the day, act as decorative pieces of furniture. However, at night they come to life and the change in their appearance often adds interest and illumination to areas that may be difficult to light in any other way.
Higher levels of illumination may be required in other areas where work is focussed, such as in kitchens and bathrooms. Specific up- or down-lighters and lit glass-fronted display cabinets can be used to add interest here.
In the garden, softly lit pathways using solar lights; palm trees with up-lighters on the trunks; pools and ponds with underwater lights; and directed lights on statues, carvings or landscaped areas all provide more drama and interest bringing the garden and outside of your home to life at night.
Nothing can create an ambience like light and the difference it can have on your mood is quite remarkable.
Light provides warmth, gives joy and creates atmosphere. It highlights, defines, and contributes to the ambience of each and every space.
Using of all our senses helps to form our perception of the surroundings we’re in. However, 80% of our impressions derive directly from our ability to see and perceive light. So, when completing the interior of your Samui home, maybe you’ll light up your senses by experimenting and using the vast array of products available to produce a home that is functional, interesting and conducive to enjoying the time you spend in each room.
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