Every room needs to be prepared for multiple activities and this includes welcoming guest, entertaining friends, romantic dinner, pre-bedtime ritual, creating lighting scenes and midnight snack.
Welcoming guests
A house entrance is a great opportunity to welcome guests and set the tone for the evening. Lighting can serve the dual purpose of transitioning visitors from the bright daylight into the lighted interior, and accenting conversation pieces or points of interest.
Creating lighting scenes
When your home is automated with Control, you can create multiple customised lighting scenes for every room in the house. That way, going from party lighting to a romantic dinner is as easy as a press of a button.
Romantic dinner
A relaxed and intimate feel can be achieved by lowering overall lighting levels, and subduing colours. Warm, soft light is more flattering to a person’s features, and a few choice lighting accents on the walls or dining table centre-piece can enhance the mood. Here are two tricks for creating a romantic mood: keep upper walls dark, and hide light sources. This will add a touch of mystery to your romantic dinner.
Entertaining friends
Brighter light will set a cheerful mood and encourage activity and alertness. People don’t like to sit in bright, direct light, however, so lighting should be focused on walls and points of interest. For example, use light to accent a prized piece of artwork, or an interesting design element of your home.
Textures can also be emphasized with light – light reflecting off crystal or metal surfaces can make a room lively. A shadow cast on a wall by direct bright light is another effective technique for creating visual interest.
Use of colour in lighting can also be effective, if it’s not overdone. Warm colours like red and orange will increase the cheeriness and warmth of a room, and a red light on a red wall will intensify its effect.
Pre-bedtime ritual
Everyone has a pre-bedtime ritual that helps them transition from the alertness of the day to the calm and restfulness of slumber. Lighting has the unique ability to help you on your way toward a good night rest.
Lower light levels can transition you from the brightness of day. If you like to read in bed, a bedside lamp can be set at a level just bright enough for comfortable reading. The rest of the bedroom should be much lower, but still bright enough to find your way around.
Midnight snack
Sometimes a midnight snack really hits the spot, but if you’re hit with the bright lights of your kitchen it could be a harsh contrast from your dark bedroom, making it difficult to transition back to sleep. You also risk waking up others on your quest for a sandwich or glass of milk.
The ideal lighting for a midnight snack would provide just enough light to find your way through the house without stumbling over furniture. Your eyes won’t be pierced with blinding light, and you’ll find your way to the refrigerator and back safely.
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