Elements of Interior Design

Light informs so much of the experience in a space ~ Darryl Carter

Of all the light to consider in a home, daylight is the most important and attractive. The quality and quantity of daylight in your home should have been determined early in the design process. Factoring in the natural light each room receives, now you must decide where you need and want additional light. This is a crucial piece of the interior design puzzle. Studies have shown that lighting conditions in rooms can have an impact on people's mood and behavior.

I brought more daylight into the bar by building glass-shelved cabinets in front of windows. Fronted with leaded-glass, with recessed lights in the soffits above, and only filled with clear glasses, they glisten day and night.

There are three basic types of artificial light that a home needs. If you have the luxury of designing your lighting plan from a clean slate, overhead or recessed lights in all rooms and hallways are desirable. You want the ability to light all rooms to full brightness if necessary. (Do put dimmers on all of these switches!) Then comes the accent lighting for art or areas of interest (bookshelves, chandelier over the dining area) and task lighting (desk and reading lamps).

Ambient light is indirect lighting that is both practical--overhead lighting acts as a substitute for natural light, serving the purpose of filling the room with brightness--AND stylish--lamps and sconces enhance the mood and ambience in a room, their soft light reflects off the ceiling, reduces the shadows on people's faces, and determines if a room is cheerful, cozy, or straight forward.

Here's the prefect example of where ambient light fills the space when natural light doesn't. During the day the skylight and huge light shaft fill the upper floor hallway and stairs with natural light. At night this chandelier takes over and lights the space--along with plenty of recessed lights.

These scones give the powder room ambiance.

Accent lighting focuses light on specific areas or objects--to highlight art, artifacts and structures in the home. It is also utilized in gardens.

I purchased recessed ceiling lights that can be directional to illuminate paintings. They provide enough ambient light, while highlighting my artwork too.

Task lighting adds increased illumination for accomplishing specific activities--in the office, bathroom and kitchen. Over-stove lighting in the kitchen can be essential for cooking.

A good bright light in the bathroom can sometimes show us too much in the mirror!

Setting the tone. Drive by a neighborhood in the evening and look into the rooms. You'll notice rooms with overhead lights on, are bright, wide-awake rooms. The rooms that look warm and inviting are usually lit with lamps. I'm a huge fan of lamps, and prefer them for basic light in most rooms. As a matter of fact, to make the house feel friendlier, I keep one lamp on low 24-hours a day in almost every room. And I like some of my lights to be part of my decorating theme. I've had them made from items I've collected. To avoid damage to antiques or precious items, they are French-wired--where the cord comes from the neck.

Antique Japanese beckoning cat - Maneki Neko