A Quick Lighting Design Guide to Living Areas

Living areas are versatile spaces. At any given time, it might be a place for conversation with friends or family or a quiet, comfortable enclave to catch up on reading magazines or books. It might host a family gathering to watch a favorite show or a large cocktail party. 

How do you properly illuminate such a versatile room? You need equally versatile lighting. Lighting designers employ their creative and technical skills to design a plan with flexible lighting that can wear different hats. What do we mean by that? Let's look at a few lighting design ideas for Destin, FL, living spaces. 

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The Reading Room

You bought that comfy couch for the ability to sit or relax for hours and get lost in some favorite reading. But you need the proper lighting to see what you read, day or night. As in all good lighting plans, you need a layered lighting approach. The three layers are ambient, task, and accent lighting. Everything starts with ambient lighting; it sets the tone for general illumination. Your ambient lighting should not overwhelm the room, so it should be precisely controllable. It can come from architectural lighting, and it can come from floor lamps and sconces, which often double as accent lighting. Of course, you need an actual reading lamp, whether it's from a floor or table light. You'll need good dimming control for all of them to set the right atmosphere and light output for any time of day or night. A lighting control system will give you the most precise control and the best results with the touch of a button. 

The Entertainment Parlor

A great atmosphere starts with ambient lighting. While there are many options for ambient lighting, architectural lighting offers a great foundation. Warm-dimmable LED lighting fixtures, precisely dimmable to warm tones of candlelight, make everyone look and feel good. While task lighting is less essential for entertaining (the task is enjoyment), functional lighting for food and beverages also sets the tone. You can use the pendants over your kitchen island, install overhead lights over your bar area, or install sconces in an adjacent dining area. What about accent lighting? Here is your opportunity to feature your artwork or your book collections. Aimable architectural lights can put the shine on your art, while linear lighting can cast a glow on your bookshelves. When you choose warm tones or go with tunable lighting, you can enhance the color and texture of your furnishings and finishes. 

The Media Room

If you have a TV and sound system in the room, watching your favorite entertainment should be as immersive as possible. Lighting is critical to the experience. As always, ambient lighting is key, and precisely dimmable overhead lighting is a start. Task lighting is less important here, but a dimmable reading lamp might play a role in navigating to the content and getting things started. Your accent lighting should be minimized for media so as not to detract from the screen image or cause glare. Excellent dimming capabilities or the ability to set a scene with a combination of deftly dimmed ambient and accent lighting with lighting control can set the mood and atmosphere for entertainment.

Want to learn more ways to use lighting design to elevate your living spaces? Contact us here or click the chat box below to connect with one of our experts quickly. We look forward to working with you!