LIGHT UP YOUR LIFE…
11 THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT LIGHTING YOUR HOME
When it comes to lighting, I’m not necessarily the brightest bulb in the box, but I do have very (VERY) strong opinions. And if you’ve had the pleasure of being a Taashki Studio design client, then you know that we make sure lighting is a very high priority in your design.
Think of this post as a design primer on lighting. It won’t tell you everything - I’ll leave the boring bits to a Google search or your designer to take care of - but it will help you ‘see the light’ - literally! Ha ha! 😂 So without further ado…
Different Light Sources
Chandeliers, Pendants, Sconces, Lamps, Floor Lamps, oh my! I promised not to bore you to death. But as you can see, we layered sconces (next to the art), table lamps and a chandelier in this room. It also has recessed LED lights.
Rather than thinking lighting is purely for seeing things, I want you to think of lighting as different parts of an outfit. The various types of lighting at different heights serve a purpose (task, ambiance and accent). Do you need ALL of this in one room? No. But the different fixtures lend mood, dimension and character to the room that a single light cannot.
What Size Lighting to Buy
There’s a simple rule of thumb when measuring for a chandelier. Measure the length and width of your room in feet and then add those two numbers together.
For example, if I’m buying a chandelier for a room that measures 20’ x 16’, then 20+16=36, so I would need a 36” chandelier. Pretty simple, eh?
That’s the design rule. And now that you know it, you can use that as your starting point and break it if you want to. Anything smaller than the number you calculated will look too small for the space. But in my experience, you CAN go bigger. And that’s where we tend to go at Taashki Studio.
We’ve found that bigger fixtures that make a statement bring some serious WOW factor. Now you have to be careful here - you are playing with fire a little bit. Because when you’re doing this, do consider the question: how big is TOO big? There is always going to be an upper limit to how big you can go with a room without it looking ‘wrong’. I wish I had some hard and fast Design Rule for you there, but I’m still working that one out. At the moment, I recommend you go one or two sizes up maximum for the ‘ideal Design Rule’ size.
Bulb Color & Location
My clients know that when I come in, I immediately change their bulbs to 2700K and that makes such a dramatic difference to the ambiance. What am I talking about? Every light bulb you buy has a bunch of numbers and letters on it. If you want to nerd out, be my guest and look up ‘Kelvins’ and ‘Lumens’. But for real life, I’ve found that most people love to live in a home that has bulbs at 2700K or 3000K. The higher the ‘K’ number, the higher the Kelvins and the whiter the bulb and color of the room.
So here’s what I do (and what you can also do) for a dramatic change: switch out all the bulbs in your decorative light fixtures to 2700K or 3000K in all rooms EXCEPT your Kitchen, Study and any other rooms where ‘work’ happens and you need to see clearly, e.g. Laundry Room. In those rooms, you’ll want a 4000K light bulb (which is also called ‘Daylight’. You’ll hear about a 5000K bulb - don’t do it - it’s super harsh and feels sterile like a hospital. So unless you want to feel on edge, I caution against it.
Bulb Type
To make it even more confusing for you, sweet homeowner, there are a thousand different bulb types! Yup - globe, Edison, candleabra, etc. And then there are fun sizes to consider - E12, E26, B10, etc. And if that were not enough, you have to decide between incandescent, halogen and LED!
Here’s my rule of thumb:
If you can, go with LED. It will last you MUCH longer. Less light bulb changes and decisions for you. And you’re doing your bit to save the environment. Yay!
Try and keep it as simple as possible for yourself by getting a fixture with common bulb base types: E26 and E12 are probably the most common and the ones I would try and stick with. This is not always possible, but try.
If your light fixture doesn’t show the bulb (like in this picture), don’t worry about bulb shape. If it does (like the picture above), then choose your bulb shape wisely and use your fixture for clues. If your fixture has long features, go with a tubular-shape/candleabra bulb. If it is rounder, perhaps a globe bulb would look better?
Scour the Earth
You knew this was coming, didn’t you? Don’t just go to your nearest big box store and buy all your light fixtures. This is jewelry! Really fall in love with the pieces you’re buying. Search high and low. Find unique pieces that speak to your soul. Antiques or vintage finds that tell a story.
This piece is over 100 years old and is over 6’ tall. It came from St Anne’s Church in Houston and was installed in the house by the socialite who built the house in 1998. It still hangs proudly in the 32’ foyer from a 15’ long iron chain.
Tell me - would you rather hear about this piece or about a chandelier from Pottery Barn that anyone could buy in a heartbeat?
Mix It Up
Mix it all up: silhouettes, metals, sizes. Our eye catches things that are not the same and stops there, curious. That’s how interior designers control where your eyes go - by drawing attention to something.
Here, the modern sconce references the gold and black of both the stair railing and the pattern on the wall, but instead of curves and an ornate feel, it brings simplicity and a modern look. The mixed metals allow us to use both metals throughout the space, keeping the design lighter than a Spanish-style home would typically allow.
Many think that the style of their home dictates the type of fixture they have to buy. Especially those with Spanish-style homes, who buy these awful old, heavy fixtures that they tell me they hate but which ‘fit’ the house.
I reject that idea completely. I refuse to let any client of mine live in a house with things they hate. If you don’t love it, why would you spend money on it? Makes no sense to me. Yes, it should work with the overall aesthetic we’re going for, but don’t trap yourself into thinking that only one thing works. There are always options.
Change the Game
And sometimes the best option is to keep what you have and modify it. Maybe what you have is an heirloom. Maybe you’ve had it since the first house you ever bought and it has sentimental value. Or maybe, like this one, you love it, but the color just didn’t work with everything else in the space.
No biggie. Heard of spray paint? Yup. Or if you don’t trust yourself, your electrician will likely take care of it for you. Some fixtures are harder than others to update, of course. This sconce was easy - just the exterior needed a light spray to work with the room and we let the undercoat shine through.
Speaking of working with what you have, if you really love something, think out of the box a little as well. These sconces were originally plug-in sconces, but we all know that those look cheap and hardly elevate a space. So while we were changing the color up, we also asked the electrician to convert these into proper wired sconces.
And just to tell you what’s possible, this master electrician knows how I like things. So he took it further. He knew I would hate to have light switches ruin a focal point - this wall is the first thing you see as you enter the room. So he made sure there were no light switches to be seen and these babies are powered by remote control, with dimmers and the works.
In a word, gorgeous!
Unique Arrangements
Sometimes your light fixture dictates how many and how you hang them. But don’t think that you’re limited to just one fixture in a space. If you have a large room and/or an airy fixture like this baby over here, then play around with different arrangements.
The spider-like design on these pendants lent them a lighter quality, and then the black ceilings further made them almost disappear. So we played with the arrangement and finally decided on a staggered pattern, using a medium and a large size, overlapping each other. They are mounted higher than the TV, so as not to block the line of sight. But the linearity of the pendants really jump off the wood accent wall behind the TV as well, pulling the room together beautifully, and making a quiet statement and bringing a refined, modern drama.
Typically with pendants, using three in a staggered fashion at different heights and sizes works well. But I’ve seen five work beautifully when hung over a dining table. I have SO many examples I could show you - but then we’d be here forever!
Think It Through
I’ve noticed that when beauty prevails, function goes out the door. And with good interior design, you’ve got to have both - otherwise it just doesn’t work in real life! We’re not designing for a magazine, after all. We want to live in our homes and love them, no? So when you’re putting in new fixtures, really REALLY think through things like:
The location of the fixture,
How high you want to mount it,
Where you want the switch to be located,
Whether you want a dimmer on the switch,
And in cases like these - where there are sconces on two sides of the reading nook (or a bed, for example) - would you like each fixture to operate independently of each other? Or do they both work with the same switch?
You may feel like now I’m getting into the weeds, and to some extent, I am. But this is where people trip up and regret decisions. And these are costly mistakes to fix after the fact.
Having done lighting plans for countless new construction homes, I can tell you that placement of light switches really affects your quality of life once you move in! So pay attention while you can!
My suggestion? If you are putting in sconces for a reading nook, you don’t need the fixtures to turn on independently, but it is nice when they do. Especially if the reading nook is long.
However, for bedside pendants, it is important to be able to control the bedside pendants separately from the bedside and from the entrance to the room. That way, if a partner is reading in bed, they can easily turn just their light on without disturbing the other partner.
For other height and placement rules, maybe I should write you a Design Rules Guide. Would you be interested? Let me know in the comments below.
Recessed Lighting
Okay, let me start by saying that I absolutely hate recessed lighting. But even I’ll admit that it has its place. Recessed lighting is great task lighting for areas that need to be bright while you’re working - your Kitchen, Laundry Room, Study, etc. And fabulous for wherever your kids do their homework.
They’re also less expensive than decorative fixtures, so they’re good to have in utility areas, such as Storage Rooms, Secondary Closets, your Garage.
But if you ever turn recessed lights on in a Living Room in place of a chandelier, then my darling, we are going to have words! They have no place in a room where you’re going to relax, in my opinion. They’re too harsh and utilitarian. And yes, you can get them in a more relaxed 2700K, but they still feel wrong, somehow.
When laying out a lighting plan for a new build home, or renovating, try and place your recessed lighting in straight lines and, as much as possible, in a grid pattern - like we did in this Kitchen renovation. That way, you’ll have good light coverage in the whole room. Builders and architects tend to go overboard nowadays, but the general rule is to place lights every 4-6 feet. I like to go 6 feet, but you may feel like you need less. This Kitchen has recessed LED lights, FYI.
If you need help with a full lighting and electrical plan for a new construction home, or a renovation, get in touch with us. We geek out on this stuff that drives you a bit mad.
Turn the Lights Down Low
Mood. That’s everything with lighting. The way it looks creates the mood, but the way it feels is just as important. There’s no point putting in a fabulous fixture or the perfect bulbs if you can’t control how bright it is. So dimmers are not a ‘nice-to-have’ in my book, they’re a ‘must-have’.
If they’re too rich for your blood, actually ask your electrician what it costs to put one in and you might be surprised - it’s actually not that expensive. And the effect will blow you away.
If you cannot or don’t want to put a dimmer in every room, then at least get them in your Living Room, Dining Room and Primary Bedroom. I have them all over the house, but I particularly cannot live without the ones in our Primary Bathroom - they are great for both adjusting my eyes when I wake up at 5am and for a relaxing bath in the evenings. And the one in our Primary Closet is fabulous too. My girls love their dimmers - they have them in their rooms, bathrooms and closets as well.
I always recommend dimmers in every room to my clients and those who take me up on it (most of them) never look back.
This is really the point at which we should talk about Smart Lighting, but that’s a whole other post and while I could wax lyrical for another hour, I’m sure you’re tired of reading for now. So I’ll come back with another one on that.
For now, shine on my lovely friends! I hope this has been enlightening (I know, I know - I’m taking this verbiage a little too far!).
As always, shoot your questions my way in the comments or by contacting me.
To see more these homes above, visit our Portfolio or follow us on Instagram for pictures of the homes we’ve done lately.
xxx Tash Loved reading this and want to turn your home into a space you absolutely adore? Follow @taashkistudios on Instagram and join the Taashki Tribe newsletter below if you’re not already signed up! Write and tell me what you struggle with in your home design and I’ll help you through your design woes!