Lighting should not be overlooked. While this is one home improvement that may seem pretty straightforward, it actually takes a lot of thought and planning to achieve optimal lighting in each room.
Would you want the same bright lights from your bathroom in your bedroom, or a beautiful house plant that casts a horrible shadow over your favorite chair? We think not. Here are some smart solutions for your top lighting concerns.
Lack of lighting in work stations.
Do you find yourself squinting when writing at your desk or while chopping veggies at the countertop of your custom cabinets? This is a result of poor task lighting. Task lighting adds an extra layer of light in work areas, so that you can see clearly.
In your home office, task lighting can be as simple as a small desk lamp. But in the kitchen, you’ll need more than a plug-in solution. Installing under-cabinet lighting below your custom cabinets is the best way to illuminate your kitchen countertops. If you’ve never had under cabinet lighting before, you’re missing out. This tiny home improvement will completely change the way you feel about prepping food in your kitchen!
Too many shadows.
Is there a room in your house that seems to be draped with shadows? While completely shadow-free lighting is hard to achieve, you can get pretty close by layering the room with different types of lighting. We just talked about task lighting, now let’s move the conversation to ambient and accent lighting.
Ambient lighting is your first layer and this simply refers to ceiling lights. It’s necessary, but on its own it will create a room filled with shadows. That’s why accent lighting is so important. Accent lighting helps to highlight certain parts of a room and eliminate the shadows that furniture and decor can create. You can use floor lamps, recessed lighting, and wall sconces to achieve accent lighting in different areas throughout the home.
Lighting rooms that have multiple functions.
When a room’s layout and function are always the same, like in a dining room for example, lighting choices can be easier. But when a room is used for different activities, such as in a family room, maintaining good lighting through these shifts can be a challenge. The room might serve as a playspace or after school hangout and also be used for watching TV or reading at night.
Track lighting can help you combat a room that’s purpose is always changing — or that is used by different family members at different times of the day. Track lighting is a smart choice, because it provides ambient, accent, and task lighting in one. Since each light is movable, you can swivel or rotate light to focus on different areas of the room as your activities change.
Another smart solution for multi-use rooms is dimmable lights. This feature allows you to easily soften the lighting as you wind down in the evening or to set the mood for a specific event like Friday movie night.
Welcome to Willow Lane Cabinetry — the #1 place to buy affordable, semi-custom cabinets online! Let us help you create the kitchen, home office, home bar, laundry room, TV room or bath of your dreams with our 100% free room design tool. We offer all wood cabinetry, fully assembled and delivered for free, plus all the accessories needed to complete your remodel. Visit our website to see our products today!