Lighting affects rooms in many ways. Not only can light effect your perception of the size of a room, it can also alter how the colour within a room is seen. Light is vital when planning and considering the ambience of a room, this blog will investigate how you can deploy lighting to achieve your interior designs aims.
How light can affect the colour in a room
When considering interior design, it is important to note that different types of lights will affect different colours in your rooms differently. Below we list some examples:
- Incandescent Lights will make reds, oranges and yellows appear more vivid, whilst toning down both blues and greens.
- Fluorescent lights work to enrich both blues & greens.
- Halogen lights resemble natural light and bring to life all colours.
What about the affect of natural light?
It’s not just artificial light which changes our perception of colours within a room. North facing rooms tend to have a natural cool and bluish look, meaning bold colours will stand out and lighter colours look subdued. South facing rooms tend to bring out the most in both cool and warm colours when light shines down on them, meaning dark colours often appear brighter and light colours can almost glow. East facing rooms tend to benefit warm and yellowish light before noon and blue light later in the day. Note, reds, oranges, and yellows are great for east facing rooms. West facing rooms tend to have dull colours in the morning due to scant morning light; however in the evening rooms benefit from warm colours.
How can light make a room look bigger?
Many home owners often look for ways to make a room feel larger and open, one of the easiest ways to do this is to make some changes to the rooms lighting. Natural light will always make a room look and feel larger than it is, but if natural light is limited it may be worthwhile considering upgrading or increasing the number of windows that room has. Try adding light fittings higher up on the wall, and try and light all 4 corners of the room. Adding hanging lights from the ceiling or recessed lights can give the room a feeling of brightness and openness, without taking up any extra space in the room. You could use uplighters to bounce light along the walls and up the ceiling, and even create panels of light at one end of the room - your eye will be pulled along towards it, making the space appear longer.
How can light affect productivity?
Dim light can be detrimental to productivity in many ways; it can leave people's eyes straining, giving them headaches in the process. Dim lighting can also result in drowsiness and a lack of focus, which is going to drastically decrease productivity. Harsh lighting can also affect productivity in a negative way; it can cause eye strain and has been known to bring out migraine type headaches. Harsh lighting, just like dim lighting can make it difficult for people to focus in a room, so it is important to make sure the lighting in an office is just right and between the two ends of the spectrum to ensure increased productivity.
Natural light is considered the best light for productivity; a study done called “The Responsible Workplace” found that windows were the number one determinant of the occupants’ level of satisfaction with a building. This is due to light's ability to affect the human body in two ways: directly, by affecting what and how well we are able to see, and indirectly, by forming the effects on our mood, behaviour, and even hormonal balance. Renovations which are carried out to increase the amount of natural light in a workspace often show results in which there are happier workers, fewer illnesses and ultimately increased productivity.
How can lighting affect the mood of a room?
Other studies have shown that in a brightly lit room, people’s emotions become more intense. Participants of these studies responded to positive words in a more positive manner than under normal light, they also responded to negative words in a more negative manner than they did under normal light. Some experts believe that there is a direct link between the bright light making people feel warmer and the change in their emotions, as it is believed that the perception of heat can enhance our emotional system.
Washington Lighting & Interior provide a fully bespoke interior design service, focussing on your home's lighting & furniture, and how they relate to one another. To learn more about this service, click here.