6/13/22, 3:03 PM Lighting Design Techniques

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Lighting Design Techniques
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Free Blueprint
By Meg Escott

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On this page I run through the basic lighting design techniques that you can Free Floor Plan

use for decorating with light.  It's like a catalog of ideas and there's a little bit Checklist

of discussion on each idea.  There's no way I can cover everything on this

and stay up to date
page but the discussion should get your ideas flowing and help you think
with

about what lighting might work well in your home.  The ideas on this pages
House Plans
are used and expanded upon for each room in the house.  You can do a bit
Helper
more exploring lighting room by room from the home lighting design page.

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The images on this page are very simple for a purpose.  I'm trying to help you
think about lighting with an analytical mindset rather than clouding the
message with interior design photos.

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This is a loooong page.  Here's a quick way to get to each section on this x
lighting design techniques page.

Ceiling pendant lights

Ceiling dome lights

Ceiling lantern / skylight

Ceiling recessed down lights

Track lighting

Cove and coffer lighting

Wall mounted lights

Floor lighting

Shelf lighting

Object lighting

Ceiling Pendant Lights

Perhaps the simplest form of a pendant light is a single light bulb hanging on
a wire with a shade.  When you're deciding what shade to use the first thing
More Lighting
you'll probably think about is what shape and size.  Don't forget to also think
Design
x
about the lighting design techniques you can get with different lamp shades. 

Lighting know-
how

Lighting Design
Techniques

Pendant light with solid curved shade

Save 163 Lighting Calculation

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With this solid shade light is projected downwards with no light shining onto x
the ceiling.  This shade creates a lot of atmosphere.  It would probably be best
suited to a light over a desk or a dining table.

Lighting Control
Systems

Room by room

lighting ideas

Kitchen Lighting Ideas

Pendant light with solid shade open to the ceiling

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This shade is also solid and projects light both downwards and upwards.  If
your ceiling is painted a light color any light that is projected onto the ceiling
will be reflected down into the room.
Bedroom Lighting
Ideas

Bathroom Lighting
Ideas

Pendant light with translucent shade

Save 163 Living Room Lighting

Ideas

A translucent shade (light will shine through it but you can't see through it)
means that the light will shine all around the room.  This is probably the best

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option for general light from the ceiling.

x

More on the role of lampshades in

lighting design techniques

Dining Room Lighting

Don't overlook the role of the lampshade in all of these Ideas

lighting design techniques...

Have a think about the insides of your lampshades.  A reflective

lining perhaps in gold or silver can look great and increase the

amount of light into your room.  You could even get an image put

into the lining of your lampshade but this might absorb rather than

reflect more light.

You could also consider getting a translucent diffuser put on the

bottom of your lampshade to hide the bulb entirely.

There are also lampshade designs available that will add a bit of

sparkle using crystals in the design or by punching out holes in a

solid shade.  Here's an extreme example!

A modern take on the pendant light is to put lots of small pendants together
to form a chandelier.

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Multi-pendant light x
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Bare bulbs

There was a time when a bare bulb would mean that you hadn't quite
finished decorating but now there are some really good looking bulbs where
the whole point is to show off the beauty of the filament without a shade. 
You can have a look at some cool light bulbs on the which light bulb page (on
the way). 

Multi-light pendant lights

The two examples to demonstrate the multi-light lighting design technique

are both pretty traditional but there are many chandelier designs out there
that would suit a more modern look.

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The chandelier - a more elaborate pendant light

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Chandeliers use small bulbs which give a soft glow.  Some chandeliers have
shades on the bulbs.  If there are no shades it's a good idea to use frosted
light bulbs to avoid glare. 

Multiple bulbs in a clear glass lantern

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This type of glass lantern fixture is great in hallways or staircases.

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Ceiling Dome Lights

Another simple ceiling light fixture is a ceiling dome light.  This is useful in
rooms with lower ceilings.  You could pick either a translucent dome for a soft
glow or perhaps a glass dome with facets cut into it to throw an interesting
pattern around the room.

Ceiling dome light - translucent shade

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Ceiling lantern / skylight

Another way of lighting from the ceiling is to have a large light box attached to
the ceiling or in line with the ceiling.

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Ceiling light box

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A light box is usually made up of several fluorescent tubes set behind a

translucent surface mounted from the ceiling.  It provides good general
lighting, but can feel a little institutional.

Ceiling skylight

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Ceiling skylights usually let in daylight during daylight hours and then are lit
from behind during darkness.  This type of lighting is particularly suitable for
the tops of stairwells.  If there's a bit of money to spend on getting a paneled
or leaded glass skylight designed and made it's well worth the money to make
the most of this lighting design technique.

Ceiling recessed downlights

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Fixed ceiling downlights

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Ceiling recessed downlights are so called because they are built into the
ceiling.  They are available in different beam widths from 0 to 60 degrees.  The
beam width and the distance between the lights will determine the pattern
that's made on the floor and walls.

Think about what beam width will work best

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They can be used individually or as a group to light a wall (wall wash) when
placed close to the wall or to provide more general room lighting when placed
further from the wall towards the middle of the room.  There are many
possibilities with this lighting design technique depending on the combination
of beam width, distance between fixtures and distance from the wall.

If you're interested in finding out how many lights you need in a room take a
look at the lighting calculation page.

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Wall wash with narrow beam widths

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Wall wash with wide beam widths

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Directional recessed downlights where the light can be pointed in a particular

direction are also available.  This can be particularly useful for lighting artwork
from the ceiling.

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Ceiling downlight angled toward wall

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Or perhaps to light up the area around a chair to provide task lighting for
reading.

Ceiling downlight angled into room

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Alternatives to recessed downlights

If your ceiling doesn't allow for downlights you could

consider using surface mounted downlights or track
lighting on the ceiling or on the wall to generate the same effect.

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x
Track lighting

Track lighting is a great way to use the same lighting design techniques
explored above for recessed lights if there's no space available for recessed
lighting.  It's also a very affordable lighting design option.  When you're
shopping for a track lighting solution think about where the transformer will
go and try and find a track lighting solution that is dimmable.

With most track lighting systems, the direction of the beam for each fixture
can be set individually.

Basic track lighting system

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x
Let how you want to light the room dictate how the track lighting should be
laid out.

There are curved shapes available if track lighting is the lighting design
technique you decide to go for.

Curved track light

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Another type of track lighting is wire track lighting which is made up of a set
of wires under tension from which the fixtures are suspended.  I've seen
these systems installed with the wires running vertically from floor to ceiling
rather than across the ceiling.

Wire track lighting

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Cove and Coffer Lighting

This is my favorite lighting design technique for adding atmosphere to a room x
but it costs because a coffer or dropped ceiling require architectural work to
the ceiling.

You can see how the coffer (below) hides the light source and creates a glow
on the ceiling.  If a dimmer switch is used this lighting design technique can
create a lovely atmosphere turned down low.

Ceiling coffer lighting

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Here's the arrangement for ceiling lighting.  Again the light source is hidden
and in this case the glow is directed onto the walls.  A dimmer switch is

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advisable here as well to get full benefit from a dropped ceiling lighting set x
up.

Dropped ceiling lighting

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Here's another arrangement with a section of the ceiling raised with lights
shining into the room from the sides of the raised section.  This lighting
design technique doesn't have quite the same effect as a ceiling coffer or
dropped ceiling because the light source is exposed.

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Alternatives to cove and

coffer lighting

There are two alternatives for a coved or coffered ceiling lighting design
techniques that come to mind.

1. You can drop your arcitrave / coving (the architectural element that
sits in the corner between the ceiling and the wall) just enough to
install a rope light which will give a gently glow onto the ceiling.

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2. A rope light could be installed at the top of wall paneling.  There x

might be a need to have a small riser to hide the rope light.  This will
give a lovely glow up the wall.

Wall mounted lights

Wall mounted lights are often called sconces.  As well as the appearance of
your fixtures think about the beam width and beam direction.

A thin beam width lighting design technique will create beams of light that
stand out against the walls.

Wall mounted lighting with beam directions up, down and both

ways.

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Here's a wall scone with a solid shade and a wide beam width.  This set up is
good if the wall lighting needs to provide or contribute to the general lighting
levels in a room (ambient lighting) rather than provide lighting in the form of
decoration (feature lighting).

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Wall sconce with wide beam

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A horizontal beam is perhaps a more unusual way to use a wall mounted light
but I've seem it used effectively in tall narrow corridors to create a line for the
eye to follow that's lower than the ceiling.

Wall mounted light with beams directed horizontally

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And if the wall lights you're using have a lampshade, have a think about what
effect the lampshade will create.  There are lapshades out there that are solid
but with punched holes that can create a really interesting effect.  Here's cool
example.

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Translucent lampshade on the left and solid lampshade on the right

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You could always go for a classic chandelier sconce.

The classic chandelier sconce

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I've also seen light panels installed in walls which look great in homes with
modern architecture.  This lighting design technique could be given a more
traditional spin with the use of leaded or stained glass.

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Light panel in a wall

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Floor Lighting

The floor is perhaps one of the last areas we think of lighting or placing a light x
source.  Creating a floor wash (a beam of light across the floor) is a great way
of creating atmosphere so it's a good choice for mood lighting.

Light fixture in the base board to create a floor

wash

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The fixture in the base board above would send a beam across the floor.  x
How far would depend on the power of the light fixture.  To create a floor
wash across a wide floor area lights like these would need to be placed at
intervals along the wall.  You can work out the distance at which to place the
lights by taking into account the width of the beam and the pattern you'd like
to create on the floor.

Floor light pointing downwards

from the base board

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This arrangement will create a line of light on the floor below the base board. 
Another method of implementing this lighting design technique would be to
install rope lighting at base board level.

Floor light warning!

Floor washes created with floor lighting can look great

but it highlights every piece of dust and dirt on the
floor.  The darker and dirtier your floors, the worse the problem.  Just so
you know.

Another lighting design technique for floor lighting is to use uplights in the
floor to create a wall wash or highlight architectural features such as pillars. 
Again think about the interplay between the light beam width and how far
apart the uplights are or how the beam width works with the feature you're
trying to light.

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Uplights in the floor

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Shelf Lighting

Shelf lighting can be applied to open shelves or shelves with glass doors.  It's
a great way to show off objects on the shelves as part of the feature lighting
in a room.  You can light shelves downwards or upwards.  Light strips are an
effective way to go about setting up shelf lighting.  Notice in the picture below
that the shelves have a slight lip on them to hide the light source.

Downward shelf lighting

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Lighting a shelf upwards is a particularly good technique to use for a high

shelf.  Thin beam widths create patterns on the wall.

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Uplighting on shelves

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Wall wash pattern from shelf uplights

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Another way to light shelves is from behind the shelf itself. This throws light
on the wall above and below the shelf without lighting up the objects on the
shelf to a great extent.

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Lighting from behind a shelf

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Now though not strictly a shelf I thought I'd put in lighting from curtain
enclosures.  You can go for lighting both and above the curtain enclosure.

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Object Lighting

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This section is just to get you to think about all the different angles from x
which an object can be lit - above, below, from the side, with one or several
beams...

Let's start with an object lit from behind.  This will emphasis the shape of the
object and might detract a little from how the object looks from the front
because the light behind will throw the front into shadow, particularly if there
isn't much other light in the room.  This lighting design technique would also
cast an interesting shadow across the room.

Object lit from behind

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Here's an object lit from the front.  Lighting from the front highlights the front
of the object and will throw a shadow onto anything behind.  To light an
object from the front the source of the beam needs to be at the same level as
the object which means that a spotlight on the other side of the room is
required.  I have seen this done and it creates quite an effect because while
the object is beautifully lit it can be hard to determine where the light is
coming from especially if there's other light in the room.  Careful thought is
required though because it's no good having the beam cut across a room at a
level that people are going to be constantly blocking it, or worse if it's going to
shine into someones eyes.

So in practice it's hard to light an object from the front.  If that's not possible
for you try lighting from below instead.

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Object lit from the front

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This options lights up the front of the object.  Because the light is directional
in relation to the surface this option will highlight the texture on the front of
the object.  A shadow bigger than the object will be cast onto any surface
behind.

Objects can be lit from below by placing them on a box which has a light
fixture fixed inside in a position to shine up onto the object. Perhaps less
elegant though equally good a solution is to use a clamp light attached to the
surface upon which the object sits.  If you go for the clamping option, it might
be an idea to offset the lighting slightly to the side so that the clamp isn't
directly in front of the object.

Object lit from below

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Lighting from below highlights the front of the object, including the surface
texture as described above.  Consider the shadow that will be created - which
is the good side?

To make the shadow pattern symmetrical two lights could be used.

Object lit from below, slightly offset to

the side

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Now let's move to lighting from above.  Since we've just been talking about
using several lights let's look next at lighting from above with several lights. 
You can see how a symmetrical shadow is thrown down onto the surface. 
Light from above will accentuate the top of the object and will highlight any
texture on the sides of the object.

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Object lit from above with several lights

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Or you can light with just one light source of course.

Object lit from above

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I want to take the chance to talk about lighting plants.  Plants lit from below
throw really interesting shadows.  This is particularly effective with big plants
which sit in pots on the floor.  You can use a floor light or a small light
clamped to the pot.

Plant lighting

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Save 163 x

More Home Lighting Design for you...

You might also enjoy reading these other pages on home lighting design.

Lighting know-how

Lighting Calculation
Lighting Control
Lighting Design Systems

Techniques

Room by room lighting ideas

Kitchen Lighting Ideas

Bedroom Lighting Ideas
Bathroom Lighting
Ideas

Living room lighting Dining Room Lighting

ideas Ideas

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