Whether building from scratch, shopping for new, or simply redecorating a current home, lighting is one of the most important yet overlooked components of the final, overall look. Pros say the goal is to create movement and ambiance, and enhance overall function with your lighting. Gone are the days of the gaudy chandelier hanging in the foyer or over the dining table. Today overhead lighting offers many options regarding style, use, and location within the home. "Lighting is one of the most essential components of personal style and can accentuate the entire room," says Joan Dean, lighting specialist with Olde Mill House Shoppes (www.oldemillhouse.com) in Lancaster. Proper lighting is an investment "you'll have for years and years," adds Tina Ator, general manager of Olde Mill House Shoppes. Consider using a chandelier outdoors on the patio or porch, in the bedroom as a ceiling fan, in a closet, or even in the laundry room. Choosing new lighting can be fun when implementing a few simple rules. The easiest place to start, however, is to simply combine "one's personal style with that of the home," advises Dean.
1. Find the Right Size
Impress guests or simply enjoy a romantic dinner with a multi-tiered chandelier that draws the eyes above the dining room table and enhances the whole room. There are two simple measuring techniques; one is "adding the length and width of the room to find the width of the chandelier," says Heather Stauffer, Lighting Consultant at Yale Lighting Concepts & Design (www.yalelightingconcepts.com). "So in a twelve-foot-by-fourteen-foot room I would recommend a twenty-six-inch chandelier," she adds. The other rule of thumb is to measure the width of the table and select a chandelier that is half the width. "For a table that is forty-six inches wide, I would recommend a chandelier about twenty-three inches wide," says Stauffer. The fixture should hang approximately three feet above the table, as to not be a visual obstruction.
2. Hang it in the Right Place
Sometimes a simpler style is desired in the dining room or foyer. When installing a chandelier for a foyer, remember to hang it at least seven feet off the ground so as not to create an obstacle for anyone walking under it. In addition, "center the fixture in a window, if applicable, so it can be seen from outside," advises Dean.
3. Select the Right Wattage
Selecting the right wattage might seem complicated, but Heather Stauffer has an easy tip for everyone to use: given an eight-foot ceiling, for general illumination, "[you] want one watt per square foot. For example, in a ten-foot-by-ten-foot room, [you] want one hundred watts of light," she says. Achieving the wattage can be done by using equal wattage amongst all the bulbs or by "combining different watt bulbs throughout the fixture," says Dean. A dimmer can be easily installed on just about any switch and can be instrumental in creating ambiance and offering flexibility.
4. Choose the Right Type
Pendant lighting offers a fantastic array of choices for varied task-lighting like brightness and style of illumination. Often used in kitchens, pendants offer useful, focused lighting over island workspaces and can even be used over larger dining room tables. Outdoor patios benefit from pendant lighting with brightened seating and dining areas. With the shade of a pendant being the primary focus, there are some things to keep in mind. One is the color or tone of the shade. "If it is an amber or a darker color glass, the pendant will not disperse as much light as a clear or frosted glass," says Stauffer. Keeping in mind the location of the pendant light when choosing will help determine the shade color and intensity of the lightbulbs.
Just because guests might not visit the laundry room or roam the halls of the upstairs leaves no reason to ignore them when it comes to choosing specialty lighting. A semi-flush-mount fixture (a style that only hangs a small distance from the ceiling) offers an attractive option for those areas as well as for powder rooms and larger walk-in closets. Also, in areas where the desired seven-foot clearance is not achievable with a lower hanging chandelier, the semi-flush style still offers elegance.
No longer outdated and a drain on energy bills, "ceiling fans are becoming more popular, both in the bedroom and for outdoor patios," says Ator. With a variety of sizes, brightness options, and purposes, a ceiling fan can double as a way to cool a space while adding light, making it a fully functional fixture. Ceiling fans can offer a variety of lengths as well, ranging from flush-mount to hanging from vaulted ceilings. Using a ceiling fan on an outdoor patio can keep guests comfortable during warm summer outings.
New homes generally come installed with lamp-style (plug into the wall) lighting and often have builder-grade choices. If building a home, select features in advance and ask for chandeliers and overhead lighting to customize the space because "adding overhead lighting afterwards can be a lot more difficult," says Dean. Installation is best left to an electrician, though sometimes it can be done by an experienced or ambitious homeowner. Joan Dean advises "always be sure to first turn off the breaker!"
