Lighting Guide: Types, Terminology & How Much Light You Need for Every Room

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LIGHTING 101

LIGHTING 101

Learn how properly light your home for style and function.

Lighting plays a monumental role in our everyday lives, and it’s essential for design and daily tasks. It helps us see, affects our mood, and even aids our focus. Not to mention, lighting can be a big part of our style and creative expression. Learn some of the basics of residential lighting to make your home more comfortable and improve the interior design. 

What Are the Different Types of Lighting?

What Are the Different Types of Lighting?

Let’s get started with the basic types of lighting. They are ambient, task, and accent.

 

Ambient lighting (or general lighting) provides the foundation and general illumination of a room. It’s usually achieved by using overhead lighting such as recessed lights, chandeliers, and track lights.

 

Task lights direct light toward a specific area to ensure the fine details are properly illuminated. Examples include desk lamps, ceiling pendants, swing arm lamps, floor lamps, and under-cabinet lamps.

 

Accent lighting is used to accentuate and add visual interest to an object or area. You can use these lights to add drama and change the mood. Although they can be functional, the main purpose is to add style and personalize your space.

 

Most rooms employ more than one type of lighting. For instance, a home office may have general lighting for the whole room, in addition to a task light by way of a desk lamp. This is known as light layering or layered lighting.

Lighting Terminology to Know

When purchasing a light bulb or a light fixture, you will come across some of these terms.
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Lumen – In a nutshell, lumens tell you how much light you are getting. A lumen (lm) is a unit of luminous flux, which measures the power of visible light produced by a light source. In this case, a light source would be a bulb or a light fixture. Simply put, they tell you how bright the light is. 

 

Watt – A unit of power. Regarding lighting, wattage (W) expresses the amount of energy it takes to produce light. If you’re considering one specific type of light, like only standard bulbs or only LED bulbs, you will find that the higher the wattage, the brighter the light.


Kelvin – A unit of temperature. In lighting, Kelvins (K) are used to measure color temperature—how cool or warm the light appears. Color-changing lights aside, residential lighting ranges from a yellow-ish color (2,000K), to white, to a blue-ish color (6,500K).

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Incandescent light bulb – The standard light bulb most people are familiar with. These bulbs produce light as a result of heating up a wire filament. While this is a reliable light source, they do use more energy than modern alternatives like LED.

 

LED – Stands for light-emitting diodes. LED is a highly energy-efficient lighting technology. LED lighting can be purchased in the form of replaceable bulbs, or integrated LED fixtures. These fixtures don’t have replaceable bulbs and last upwards of a decade.

 

Foot-candle - The brightness of a light source from one foot away.

 

The US Department of Energy (DOE) suggests picking out your light bulbs based on lumens, as opposed to the old standard of watts. This is because newer, energy-saving bulbs use much less power (watts) to produce the same amount of light (lumens).

How Much Light Do You Need in Each Room?

Different spaces require different amounts of light, depending on what they’re used for, the room’s size, and how many people occupy it.

 

See below to get an idea of how many lumens are recommended for each room. Remember, if your space has high ceilings, you’ll need a bit more than what’s recommended here.

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Bedroom – 1,000 to 2,000 lumens

Living Room – 1,000 to 2,000 lumens

Dining Room – 3,000 to 4,000 lumens

Kitchen – 3,000 to 4,000 lumens

Kitchen Work Areas – 7,000 to 8,000 lumens

Bathroom – 7,000 to 8,000 lumens

Home Office – 6,000 to 8,000 lumens

Hallway – 500 to 1,000 lumens

What Lighting Works Best for Each Room?

Now that we have a starting point for how much light we need, what’s the best way to achieve it with light fixtures and lamps?
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Foyer/Entryway 

Lighting should create a warm, welcoming effect. Use pendants or chandeliers, as well as wall sconces.

 

Living Room

It’s important to have easily controllable and functional lighting. Combine overhead lighting with a mix of floor lamps and table lamps.

 

Dining Room

Installing dimmers will create drama and ambiance. Use pendant lights or chandeliers above dining tables.

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Kitchen

Lighting should be pointing down toward your workspace surfaces. Use ceiling lights as well as under cabinet lighting for functionality.

 

Bedrooms

Soft ambient lighting works best here. Bedside lamps and wall lights with dimmers help create a relaxing space to unwind.

Types of Ceiling Lights

If nothing else, most rooms have at least one light fixture on the ceiling. Take a look at the different kinds of ceiling light fixtures to get an idea of what’s best for your space.
Candle-Style

Candle-Style

These fixtures have candelabra-inspired arms that hold bulbs or faux candles. They can be mixed with contemporary styles for an updated blend of familiar and new. 

 

 
Shaded

Shaded

Shaded lighting provides warmer, dimmer light than candle-style fixtures. The shades can face up or down, and you’ll find them in a variety of materials and designs. Best for kitchen islands.
Drum

Drum

Drum lighting is named for its cylindrical shape. These make a great choice for any home because they can be found in any style, from modern to coastal.
Crystal

Crystal

Think glamorous and eye-catching. Because light reflects off each individual crystal, these chandeliers create a romantic ambiance. Try installing it in the entryway for immediate impact.
Well-lit spaces make home much more pleasant, and there are so many different ways to achieve the perfect lighting for the spaces you want to create. Browse our lighting store for even more ideas. Want some help picking out your lighting? Chat with one of our design experts for free.