Interior lighting design: how to organize comfortable and effective lighting

What are the rules for organizing lighting in the interior? What factors should be considered in order not to make a mistake and fill the room with a truly beautiful and comfortable light? Where to start lighting planning? Let's get it together.

The role of light in the design of the interior space of a house or apartment is difficult to overestimate. Properly organized lighting can transform the most ordinary interior, make it play with new colors. And, on the contrary, mistakes made when selecting or placing light sources can not only cross out all the efforts of an interior designer but also create indoor conditions that are not suitable for the comfortable existence of people and even harmful to their health.

Lighting Design - The Art of Light Management

The art of lighting design is a complex and multifaceted science that requires a deep understanding of the principles of the design and operation of lighting devices, as well as the physical aspects of light. Creating a comfortable and attractive space implies taking into account not only aesthetic aspects, but also ergonomic ones - after all, lighting affects the state of the human body, and performance and health depend on it.

When planning a repair, we inevitably think about solving the issue of creating high-quality and beautiful lighting in space. Someone will prefer to attract professional lighting designers for this, but there will be those to whom the invitation of specialists will not seem too expedient or affordable. We allow ourselves to give some advice to those who decided to organize an effective and comfortable interior lighting on their own. So where to start?

Start with planning

First of all, you should decide what kind of lighting you want to use in each of the rooms. Specialists distinguish such lighting components:

• basic or general;
• local (directional, working);
• accent or decorative.

The task of general lighting is soft uniform illumination of the room space. Most often, to solve this problem, choose a lamp or a chandelier with several lamps located under the ceiling or on the ceiling. It should be remembered that the main lighting should not be too bright or dim, and harsh shadows and glare will also be inappropriate.

LED-lamps MAXUS Slim Panel - a convenient solution for organizing general lighting

The purpose of local lighting is the formation of functional lighting on the work surface or area where there is a need for additional lighting. So in the kitchen, it is mandatory to provide directional lighting of the working area and the dining table, and in the living room or office - reading chairs and a writing desk. Table lamps, pendant ceiling lights, floor lamps, sconces and other lighting devices of this type are used as light sources for working lighting.

Organization of working lighting for a desk using an Intelite Desklamp (DL3-6W-BL).

External attractiveness and creating a cozy atmosphere - these are the tasks solved by accent lighting. Illumination of paintings, figurines, wall niches, as a rule, is provided with the help of simple and concise sources of directional light, LED strips are also used for this.

When planning the design of a certain room, it is imperative to consider how the issue of organizing the types of lighting that will be used in the room will be resolved. This is due to the fact that slotting and laying electric wires, as a rule, are done before the main repairs on the walls and ceiling.

Create a lighting sketch of the room

To determine exactly what kind of light sources and in what quantity you will need, you need to present and carefully describe the entire daily cycle of changes in illumination in each room, depending on its purpose and the features of the daily routine of residents. This will help to understand how to organize different types of lighting so that they combine and complement each other in the most comfortable way for you.

If you do not plan to use complex lighting scenarios, paint light paintings or solve special lighting problems, then probably at this stage it will be possible to do with the use of basic lighting schemes for rooms based on their purpose.

LIVING ROOM

The living room must have high-quality basic lighting, accent lighting of outstanding interior elements: paintings, wall niches, etc. can also be used. At the same time, if additional functions are characteristic of the living room (for example, an office, library or dining room), it is necessary to organize working lighting in all areas that need it.

DINING AND KITCHEN

If the kitchen area is small, then you can do without general lighting, but local lighting above the dining table and work areas is a must. The interior space of the cabinets, the bar counter and the kitchen island also need additional lighting. Please note that the fixtures should be placed in the kitchen so that their light does not create shadows on work surfaces.

In the dining room, in addition to the main lighting, the surface of the dining table should be additionally illuminated.

An example of local lighting of a dining table using a composition of pendant LED models Pendant Falzer (I04435)

BEDROOM

In the bedroom, it is very important to create a cozy, relaxing atmosphere. Soft enveloping main lighting should be supplemented with local illumination of bedside tables, a make-up table, a mirror, reading chairs and other similar areas.

It is important to avoid excessively bright light (especially cold tones) since such lighting does not contribute to relaxation.

CHILDREN

Functional light is especially important here: separate areas (for games, studies) need additional working lighting. At the same time, general light is organized with the help of high-quality and reliable lighting devices, for which flicker or direct rays of light beating into the eyes are not characteristic.

You can take care of special night lighting so that a child who wakes up at night does not get scared and can easily move around the room.

BATHROOM

For a bathroom of any size, along with the main lighting, local illumination of the mirror and the sink in front of it is required. The easiest way to arrange this is by placing a pair of sconces or pendant lights on either side of the mirror. How exactly to place pendant lights in the interiors of different rooms, we wrote in one of the previous articles.

You can use decorative lighting, for example, on the baseboard or from the hinged furniture. In this case, it is worth using lamp models that give a soft diffused light, or an LED strip.

HALLWAY AND CORRIDOR

Here, in addition to the main one, local illumination of all functional areas is necessarily used: light in the mirror area, in the wardrobe, etc. It’s worth lighting the hallway in such a way that there are no dark corners, especially for small hallways. Wall niches and other decorative elements of the interior need additional accent lighting.

If the corridor is narrow, it is not recommended to illuminate it using ceiling lights lined up along the corridor, as this will visually narrow it even further. It is better to use spotlights located along both walls in such cases, which will give the corridor visible latitude.

LED-lamps MAXUS Slim Panel in an elegant hallway in a modern style

Calculate the illumination and select the light sources

After planning the light scenario, the stage of calculating the illumination and choosing specific models of luminaires, which would allow you to realize your ideas, begins. When choosing fixtures, you should focus not only on their external attractiveness but also on lighting parameters.

This is an extremely crucial moment, since, when calculating the illumination, it is necessary to take into account a large number of important technical nuances and characteristics of the fixtures.

Specialists in the field of lighting, making calculations, use special computer programs (for example, DIALux) to facilitate the performance of these tasks.

After completing the calculations, we proceed to the direct selection of light sources. If you did not choose a lamp with built-in LEDs, then it is time to choose a bulb. A lot depends on a correctly selected lamp: the level of illumination, the temperature of light, the correct color reproduction and other characteristics.

INCANDESCENT LAMPS

Traditional household incandescent lamps are gradually losing their position, giving way to more expensive, but much more economical lamps. Low price, compatibility with dimmers and comfortable color temperature - these are the main advantages of incandescent lamps. At the same time, the disadvantages include high power consumption, short life and very high temperature to which a working lamp heats up. Such lamps should not be combined with lampshades made of flammable materials and should not be used near ceilings.

COMPACT FLUORESCENT TUBES

These are light sources, which are sometimes also called “housekeepers,” and indeed, they are several times more economical than incandescent lamps, while they heat less and their service life is an order of magnitude longer. But not all such lamps can be used with dimmers, and most CFLs require special disposal conditions.

HALOGEN LAMPS

Such lamps are characterized by a rather high rate of heat generation so that touching a metal shade, there is a danger of getting a burn. Halogen lamps are superior to incandescent lamps in terms of light output and durability, are compatible with dimmers, and are able to form a concentrated light stream.

LED BULBS

LED lamps are currently the most economical and safest light sources. They practically do not heat up, have a long service life and a high level of light quality. At the moment, their most significant drawback is a rather high price, which, however, quickly pays off due to significant electricity savings.

CHARACTERISTICS OF LIGHT SOURCES

• The luminous flux is measured in lumens (Lm) and determines the brightness of the lighting device; the higher this indicator, the more light the lamp will give.
• The color temperature of light is measured in Kelvin (K), the higher this indicator, the colder the light. Light with a temperature below 3500 K is warm, it creates a cozy atmosphere and helps to relax. A value of 3500-5000 K is typical for neutral or daylight, and above 5000 K - for cold light, which helps the body concentrate and tunes into the working mood.
• Color rendering index (Ra) is a parameter characterizing the level of correspondence of the natural color of objects to their visible color when illuminated by a specific light source. The reference sample of the correct color rendition is considered to be sunlight (100 Ra), and the lower this indicator, the worse the illumination reflects the colors of objects. A good color rendering is 70-79 Ra; very good - 80-89 Ra; 90 Ra and higher - very high-level color rendering.