6 living room lighting tips

Living roomusually in an apartment performs a number of functions: Here they receive guests, spend evenings in a close family circle, and sometimes this room can turn into a venue for high-profile holidays. In addition, in some cases, the living room is combined with a dining room or even a working area. For each of these scenarios for the use of the hall, it is necessary to provide its own lighting: for lunches and celebrations - brighter, for relaxation and conversations - soft and comfortable. Even if the living room can not boast of a huge area, it is impossible to be limited to one chandelierif you want the room to be comfortable and multifunctional. What should be taken into account when planning the lighting of a living room in order to prevent annoying mistakes? Our tips will definitely help you.

No. 1. We organize the general light

For the illumination of the entire living room meets the general light. It should illuminate the room well enough, but not be too bright. As a rule, the general light is realized by chandeliers or spotlights on the ceiling. Chandelier can be placed in the center of the living room or in the dining area, if any. If the room is big enough, then one chandelier will not cope with the tasks of sufficient lighting, therefore with a living area of ​​more than 25 m² it is better to provide for several common light sources located around the perimeter of the ceiling.

It is necessary to take into account not only the total area of ​​the living room, but also its shapeas well as the height of the ceilings. So, for example, if the room is long and narrow, then even with a small area it would be logical to place two chandeliers or two lamps in it symmetrically with respect to each other.

When choosing lighting fixtures, you need to be guided not only by your own preferences and enthusiasm for a particular chandelier in a store - it is important to consider the comfort, safety and ergonomics of the living room, especially if the ceilings are not very high. In this case, use the following rule: the distance from the floor to the bottom of the chandelier should not be less than 2.1 m. The exception is those cases when a chandelier or lamp is located above lunch or a coffee table - the height in this case can be about 1.4-1.6 m. If the general illumination of the living room is affected, then the problem can be fixed by spot lighting the room.

When the issue of general lighting is resolved, you need to move on to other types of lighting, because the general light is not able to illuminate all areas of the room, emphasize or highlight some part of the space. That is why local and decorative lighting is so necessary.

No. 2. Local lighting in the living room

Wall, table and outdoor lighting relate to local lighting. With their help, you can create a brighter light in a specific area for comfortable reading, work, knitting and other activities. In addition, such lamps also serve as excellent decor in the room, allow you to place accents in the living room and instantly turn it from a space for celebrations and dinners into a room of rest and relaxation.

Near couch or chairs in the living room is appropriate to install Wall lightsto create light of sufficient brightness while reading. An alternative to them is floor lampsthat are often placed in the corners of the room.Local lighting in this case can play the role of dimmed light, when the general light seems too bright. If the living room has a desktop, then in this case it will be most appropriate to use table lamp.

In the desire to make multi-level lighting it's important not to overdo it: many lighting fixtures will decorate only a large living room, and for a hall in an ordinary apartment will be inappropriate. When installing fixtures of various kinds it is worth remembering some simple rulesto help make the living room comfortable and cozy. So, Hanging sconces strictly opposite the TV is not recommended, since glare will be reflected on the screen, interfering with viewing. In extreme cases, you can place the sconce at a distance of at least 50 cm from the projection of the TV screen onto the opposite wall.

Hang Wall lights recommend at a height of 1.2-1.6 m, given the configuration of the furniture, the height of the living room and the features of the lamps themselves: the light can be directed up or down, there are a lot of sconces. The interior of the living room will look more harmonious if sconces will be used in pairs and hung symmetrically with respect to some object in the room: sofa, armchair, mirror, table, etc. Of course, it is better to decide in advance what the interior of the room will be, how the furniture will be arranged, so that later there will be no problems with the installation of wall lamps.

No. 3. Decorative lighting

Decorative lighting, as the name implies, does not have purely practical significance, although it can sometimes be used for temporary independent lighting of certain areas of the living room. First of all, such a light necessary to highlight individual areas and focus on individual objects, as well as to visually increase the area of ​​the living room.

Depending on the layout of the hall, the presence of elements of the decor in it You can highlight separately niches, aquarium, paintings, brickwork, figurines, vases, plants, etc. Pictures and photographs, if you wish to pay maximum attention to them, can be distinguished by directional light from halogen spotlights (spots), but most often they just use spot lights. The peculiarity of the spots is that the direction of the light can always be easily and quickly changed, turning the decorative illumination into local or even general. Moreover, can highlight floor, skirting board or bottom line of furnituregiving it a levitation effect, and visually adding space to the room itself. But with decorative lighting it is also important not to overdo it - it is necessary that the living room is harmonious and not artsy.

Decorative lighting also includes spot light ceiling, which looks especially good if it is multilevel or stretch ceiling. Can be used backlight backlightbased on - LED Strip Light. If you use multi-colored lighting, you can set the interior a cheerful mood, making the living room unique.

The most unusual version of decorative lighting can be called backlit bubble panelswhich at the same time are also a stylish element of decoration. Aquarium lighting and fireplace can also be attributed to additional lighting.

Number 4. Lighting Zoning

Often the living room not only performs several functions, but also connects several areas: a recreation area, a working area, and sometimes a dining room, and even kitchen area. If the hall and the dining room are combined, then the emphasis in lighting is recommended to be done precisely on the dining area, and the sofa should be equipped with a soft unobtrusive light. Different zones can also be distinguished thanks to lamps of different types, colors and brightness: there’s a sconce near the sofa, a lamp on the desktop, and soft, colorful lights or even candles are suitable for creating a romantic atmosphere.

No. 5. Where to place the switches?

Think over the placement of all lighting points prior to repairing the living roomTherefore, it is so important to draw up as accurate a project as possible in advance. It must also reflect the placement of the switches for all the lamps used in the living room. For convenience, recommend place no more than four switches in one place: otherwise, it will not be very convenient to control the lighting, and the switch itself will resemble a control panel. In addition, in a more or less spacious living room, it is advisable to organize multiple switches for the same lamp: Thus, it will be possible to control the lighting very conveniently from anywhere in the room.

As for the height of the switches, as a rule, they are located at a distance 80-90 cm from the floor, and the exact height will depend on the average height in the family. In addition, some switches can be equipped with dimmersso that you can adjust the degree of illumination over a wide range and adapt it to a specific situation. In pursuit of maximum convenience, it is important not to cross the border: the number of switches in different parts of the living room should be minimally necessary.

No. 6. What else to consider when planning lighting in the living room?

With the right lighting, you can easily fix some of the room's flaws. For example, if the ceilings are not very high, then the light from fixtures, sconces and chandeliers is better to direct upward, so the range of different models of fixtures is reduced. For small rooms you can advise a lot of attention to be given to lighting in the corners, due to which the space can be visually expanded.

If the ceiling of the living room is quite low, then volume chandeliers will have to be abandoned in favor of spot lighting. The emphasis in the room can be placed with the help of elegant floor lampfitting into the style of the room.

By the way stylistics of lighting items - not the last question. Naturally, the fixtures must match chosen style of interior and harmonize with each other. So, for example, even in the most spacious living room, made in a modern style, a massive chandelier with candle lamps will not look, but in the classic style nothing better can be thought of. For a Provence-style living room, fixtures with fabric light or floral are suitable lampshades, Art Nouveau style will require bizarre forms, and minimalism and high-tech - simple and concise lines, clear hermetic forms are welcome.

And finally, we note the important role of natural light in the living room. It should be used as much as possible, especially if there is not so much light in the room: during the day it will be more comfortable in the living room, and there will be significant savings in electricity. If the windows face north, then use massive curtains highly recommended, but if from time to time you need full protection from light, for example, for movie shows using a projector, then you can use jalousiedense Roman curtainsdouble layer roller blindswith which it is very easy to adjust the degree of lighting.

In conclusion

Without a preliminary clear understanding of where and what kind of lighting will be used, it is not worth starting the direct selection of lamps. When planning lighting, you need to consider all scenarios for using the living room, so that the lamps and their switches are located as conveniently as possible. With all this, it is important not to forget about the quality of the lamps and their style.