How to Choose the Right Light Fixtures

Lighting is one of those details you don't notice...unless it's really nice, or really bad

Have you ever walked into a restaurant and immediately relaxed? Maybe you've been to a party that, for some reason, never really took off? Believe it or not, lighting has a major effect on mood--just think how cranky people are in the rain. You can help your home reach its aesthetic potential by choosing the correct light fixtures, and types of bulbs. Let's go room by room.

Difficulty:

Easy

Instructions

1. Under cabinet lighting is warm and inviting!

   Kitchen: a lot of time is spent working in the kitchen. Lights can keep the mood up. Under cabinet lighting adds a beautiful, warm touch. It also helps keep your workspace safe (think: using a knife). Even better, it will make your counter top sparkle, giving your kitchen a pristine appearance. A clean kitchen makes all the food that comes out more inviting. If you have an island or peninsula, why not add some pendant lights over it? They hang straight down on thin strings and light up the area, making it the perfect place to have a snack and read a paper. Overhead, recessed lighting will do the trick. Most kitchens should use halogen recessed bulbs for this, due to the natural coloring it produces. You want to know if your veggies aren't the right color.

2. Living room: again, you'll want recessed lighting (also called "cans" or "high hats") here. Halogens will do well. Although they don't light a wide area, their light is bright and natural. This keeps the living room cheerful. Make sure you have a dimmer put in, too so you can turn the lights down (but not off!!!) during scary movies. If you find you have darkened corners, add a lamp on a corner table. Use an incandescent bulb for a cozy yellow glow.

3. Dining room: a chandelier is the classic element here. Go for good ole incandescent bulbs. A dining dimmer is essential, so you don't feel like your in an interrogation. People sit close together and chew food in dining rooms. That's why many restaurants are dimly lit--halogens have no place here. A dimmer also helps set the mood during candlelit dinners....

4. A white crackled-glass wall sconce

   Hallway: usually, hallways are very heavily-trafficked. No need for halogens to shine a beam that directly illuminates the worn path in the rug, or the scuffs on the of't traveled floor. Incandescent bulbs are the way to go! If your hallway is longer, put those bulbs in a wall sconce. Don't think medieval, heavy and ugly. There are all sorts of beautiful sconces now. They have a rather lux look about them, which adds panache no matter how casual the rest of your decor is. For a short hallway, go for a semi-flush or flush mount fixture. Hallways are boxy, and a stained glass fixture will look especially vivid in such a plain space.

5. The high ceilings in this bedroom call for halogen lighting.

   Bedroom: high hats, of course, are the choice here, too. Have an electrician add a two way switch, so you can turn them off from your bedside, and near the doorway. The type of bulb you want depends on ceiling height. An elevated ceiling would require a halogen bulb. The extra height will allow their circle of light to spread farther, too. It gives the room a wonderful, winter-sun type of light. If your ceilings are lower, you should go incandescent. While they're okay in a living room, you don't want dark corners in your bedroom. For a decorative touch, add wall sconces to either side of the bed. Leaves more room on your end table for books or whatnot, and it looks so much richer than a bedside lamp.

6. Side lighting: less scary in the AM

   Bathroom: too many people throw one light in the middle of the ceiling and call it a day. We do our most personal and detailed grooming in the bathroom, yet this room is most ignored. Vanity lighting aids in brushing teeth, putting on make up, and shaving. But one light over the mirror is a huge mistake. It leaves a dreadful shadow casting down, one that will have you jumping back in bed at the sight of your own reflection. A better option is lighting on either side of the mirror. It casts light more evenly, and less evilly. If you must go above the mirror, go for length. That will help the light fall more evenly on all sides of you. If your town code permits, a glass-covered high hat could be placed above your bath or tub. At no time should there be fluorescent bulbs anywhere in the bathroom--a common mistake. Fluorescent bulbs cast a sickly green hue on skin, and no one needs to see that fresh out of the shower. Halogens show you your most natural colors, as they would appear in daylight.

7. Closets: well well! Getting fancy! Lighting even in the closets? Why not! And here's the place for fluorescent bulbs. Why? They're never on for more than a few minutes a day, so it doesn't really matter just how unnatural the light is--and they are in a closet. Fluorescent bulbs produce less heat, cost less, and last MUCH longer than any other type of light bulb. As for the sickly hue? Your clothes don't mind. They told me so.

8. Halogen floodlights produce warmth--instead of a dark undeground look.

   Basement: if it's underground, you'll want high hats and halogen flood lights. Because of their size, the flood lights extend closer to the end of their "can," meaning they can produce a wider circle of light, or, you know "flood" the room with light. Why not use these everywhere? Way too bright for rooms above ground.

Tips & Warnings

• Lighting can also be a subtle way to tie rooms together and make them flow. Choose the same shape or color for fixtures in adjoining rooms--see the top picture for an example.

• Ceiling fans with lights are a great way to light up a room, especially a large one. However, you don't really get a choice of what type of bulb you use with this option.

• High hats are the most expensive kind of lighting fixture.

• Halogens get very hot. They should never be touched--even when installing into the fixture. Grease from skin will make them die out in a day or two.

• Do NOT install different lights in old fixtures--some fixtures only work with certain bulb types. Inserting the wrong bulb can be very dangerous.