Lighting 101 - Part 2

Hello my fabulous fan club!!!! Thank you all once again for reading my blogs and making comments or asking questions….I LOVE to help you in any way I can! Ok so, my post this week is part 2 of lighting 101 aka lighting for dummies!!!!! Just kidding…I would never call anyone a dummy…J Well maybe some people…..JK 🙂 Ok; here we go…..

In my last post I talked about the different types of lighting such as ambient lighting, task lighting, and accent lighting…we also discussed the importance of layering your lighting…Layering, to me, is the most important step in order to accomplish that custom look.

Today, I will talk to you about choosing the right lighting for the space. We will start with my favorite room…the kitchen…I LOVE KITCHENS!!! Here is the hard fast “rules”……

The pic above is a great example of “doing it right”…..there are three layers of lighting here….the recessed lights are your ambient lighting, the pendants over the sink and the under mount lights are the task lights and finally the b-u-t-full chandelier over the island is the accent light…some may say the light over the island it task lighting, but, it really isn’t…in my opinion(in this space) it’s an accent light…it looks pretty!!

So, it is pretty straight forward when dressing a room with lighting….first think functionality….recessed lights provide the overall lighting for a space, under-mount lights provide the necessary lighting to perform kitchen duties…and, since everyone tends to gather in the kitchen, regardless of all the other rooms we can gather in to visit…the kitchen wins EVERYTIME! So, there must be accent lighting in the kitchen…a beautiful chandelier and or pendants are perfect to add a decorative touch as well as functionality….

No single layer of light can stand alone; it allows for ZERO visual interest! So, be sure to layer, layer and layer by adding that one piece of “Architectural bling” to your lighting plan!!

Side note: Please be sure you hire the right lighting installer to make certain all lights are placed at the proper heights. Here are a few tips:

Task lighting should be a directional light, meaning that recessed lights are the perfect task light because they directly light a work place such as under-mount lights.

Pendants over kitchen islands should be placed high enough to not obstruct your view; usually about 28”-34” from the bottom of the light.

When hanging your chandelier over your dining table….measure the width and length of the room…add those together and that will give you a guide as to how large your light should be…for example: if your dining room is 14’ in length and 12’ wide, your chandelier should not be smaller than 26” wide….this is just a guide…if you are like me, I usually go bigger….you know…go big or go home!!!! I like for lighting to make a big statement….the hanging height of the light, however, should be placed about 32-34” above the table…this is typically the standard and should not be varied as much as the size of the light can be.

Ok guys….we have covered kitchen lighting in detail…your 3 lights should be, task, ambient and accent or decorative….ALWAYS REMEMBER TO LAYER…..I cannot stress that enough….as if you couldn’t tell…J…

Please leave questions or comments….please share my blog with your friends….

Until next time,

Be bold, be blessed and make a difference in someone’s life!

Ranee