Lighting
Music to Your Eyes
By Dan Dolan
 In some respects lighting for the home is much like listening to music. What good is a sophisticated music system with poor speakers? Music to your eyes is light. The secret is to have exactly the right light where and when needed.
Light bulbs are to lighting what speakers are to music. The light bulb or "lamp" not only has to be in the right place, but so must be the correct brightness and color. Light has all the complexity of music and is an absolute necessity in everyday living.
To properly put light where and when you want it is a skill that employs a technique called "layering." Layering begins with a first level of light, which is ambient light, enough to make your way around a room safely. The next "layer" of light is task lighting for reading or sewing, where you need extra light to see well. Portable or recessed lighting are often used for this purpose. The next layer is accent or focal point lighting. The purpose of accent lighting is to make selected areas or objects stand out in a room. The final layer of lighting is decorative or romantic lighting. This is purely for effect and will make a home more interesting. Portable lighting may be used to gain this type of effect, but track, or low-voltage cable or monorail lights are often used.
Different types of bulbs produce different looks. Halogen has a crisp light beam. Energy-saving fluorescent bulbs give a bright uniform light on one end of the spectrum and a warm color on the other end, but cannot be used in every application.
The most important idea when remodeling is to select fixtures that allow for flexibility and enable you to attain the look you are trying to achieve. With a remodeling project you will be limited by the existing structure and to some extent existing electrical wiring. Don't be afraid to talk to your electrician about putting in lighting where you want it and how you want the room to look. Sometimes a seemingly impossible idea can work, but you will never know unless you push a little.
When remodeling your home be sure to not only put in enough outlets in the wall for portable lamps, but to place them where it makes sense. To evenly place outlets around the room might work, but it would be a lot easier to adjust the placement of the outlets, even if by only a foot or two, than to have unsightly extension cords around a room.
To take your lighting to the next level involves dimmers and control systems. The idea behind a control system is to preset several "scenes" for ease of use and speed. If it's time to relax at the end of the day, and you only want minimal light with one recessed can light illuminating your favorite piece of art, simply press scene three on your controls. Several lights are automatically turned off, on, or dimmed to where you want them. You can have several scenes that are preset. Folks like Bill Gates have even more advanced systems but for most of us three preset scenes for a given area of a house is about right. Before you put in a new system, however, consult an American Lighting Association certified Lighting Designer for proper layout and design.
These preset "scene control" systems start at about $500 for a room; an entire house could cost $5,000. This is definitely an add-on to think about. In the final analysis, the atmosphere created is usually worth the extra money. When doing a remodeling project be sure to factor in the additional cost of running the control wires.
At the end of the day a great sound and lighting system can make your mood whatever you want it to be. Throw on your favorite CD, press the lighting scene of your choice, kick back and relax. It could be that easy. |
