Lighting is one of the most important ways for homeowners to impact the ambience of their house softly yet effectively. Be it for their comfort and convenience or to set the mood for their guests, lighting helps it all. When used correctly, it may provoke a wide range of emotional responses, making a party more festive or a romantic supper more intimate.
Here are five mood lighting ideas that you can easily use throughout your home to dazzle your visitors while also increasing your comfort and enjoyment.
Entertainment purposes
Brighter light will put you in a good mood and motivate you to be more active and attentive. However, because people dislike sitting in intense, direct light, lighting should be concentrated on walls and places of interest. Use light to draw attention to a valued piece of art or a unique design element in your home.
A romantic setting
Lowering overall lighting levels and using subdued colours can create a relaxed and intimate atmosphere. Warm, soft light is more appealing to a person’s features, and a few strategically placed lighting elements on the walls or as a dining table centrepiece can help to set the tone.
Keep top walls black and cover light sources if you want to create a romantic atmosphere. This will give your romantic dinner an air of intrigue.
Pre-bedtime routine
Everyone has a pre-bedtime routine that helps them shift from the vigour of the day to the serenity and restfulness of sleep. Lighting has the unique capability to assist you in getting a good night’s sleep.
Lower light levels can help you shift from daytime brightness to nighttime darkness. A bedside lamp can be adjusted in a setting just bright enough for comfortable reading if you like to read in bed. The rest of the room should be significantly darker, yet bright enough for you to navigate.
Midnight Snack!
A midnight snack can be extremely satisfying, but the bright lights of your kitchen may be too much of a contrast from your dark bedroom, making it difficult to return to sleep. On your journey for a sandwich or a glass of milk, you also run into others or you might wake them up!
The ideal lighting for a late-night snack would be just enough to navigate the house without falling over things. Your eyes will not be penetrated by bright light, and you will securely navigate to and from the refrigerator. Motion detectors can illuminate a trail to the kitchen and back, then switch off one by one after a set length of time.
Warm and welcoming
The entrance to your home is an excellent place to greet visitors and set the tone for the evening. Lighting can be used to both transition visitors from bright daylight into the lighted interior and to highlight discussion pieces or places of interest.
During the day, for example, your entryway should not be so dark that it takes a few moments for someone to acclimatise. Similarly, it should not be so bright at night that people entering from the dark are shocked by the contrast.
People are drawn to brightly lit areas, so utilise it to your advantage when you welcome visitors into your home. Accentuate artwork and architecture using direct light to highlight them. If you want your guests to take a specific path to the living room or dining area, make sure it is well lit while other paths are not.