Bedrooms are often considered as a person’s sanctuary. Homeowners should love the look and feel of their bedroom, its comfort, and how it makes them feel when they walk in.
The primary function of a bedroom is to sleep. However, for example, children’s rooms, where they may double as a place to study or play, become dual purpose. Whatever the purpose of the bedroom, ensuring suitable lighting is important.
Lighting for Small Bedrooms
Maximising lighting in small bedrooms can be a challenge. Poor lighting can make a room feel small and cramped, while the right lighting can make it more spacious. Here are a few tips for maximising lighting in small bedroom spaces:
Reflective surfaces can help bounce light around the room, creating a brighter and more spacious feel. Consider adding more mirrors, glossy finishes to furniture, and accessories to increase the light in the bedroom.
Layer lighting can be utilised effectively to create more depth. Consider combining task and ambient lighting to create a well-lit space.
Task Lighting tends to be used in children’s study areas and for sleeping. Ensuring that there is suitable task lighting for desks is important, as most of the time, ceiling lights will be behind your head; casting a shadow over the workspace.
Choosing lighter colours can help reflect more light. Consider using light-coloured walls, and bedding, to maximise the available lighting.
Using dimmer switches is game-changing in a small bedroom. They allow you to adjust the lighting as needed, especially when winding down before bed.
Lighting for Large Bedrooms
On the other hand, larger bedrooms demand more lighting to adequately fill the space, which can be difficult when trying to create an ambience. You can use a combination of ceiling fixtures, bedside pendants or lamps, and wall sconces to fill the space with sufficient light.
Think about switch placement for the bedroom. Dual switches are ideal, so when you get into bed, someone doesn’t have to go back to the door to turn off the light. The same applies to bedside pendants, a switch by the door to turn them on upon entering the bedroom, and then bedside switches to turn them off.
Different areas of a larger bedroom may require a specific type of lighting. For example, you may need a task light when reading a book, compared to a brighter light closer to the dressing area.
If you are unsure which lighting fixtures you need for a larger bedroom, contact the professionals at Emotive Earth. We can ensure you have the correct fixtures to suit your needs.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can lighting affect sleep quality?
Yes, lighting can affect sleep quality. Exposure to light, especially blue light, can affect the body’s ability to fall and stay asleep. It is important to limit exposure to bright light in the evening, especially before bedtime. This can be achieved by using dimmers or warm light sources or limiting screen time before sleep.
What is the recommended brightness level for bedroom lighting?
For bedroom lighting, we recommend 50-100 lux for general ambience. On the other hand, if you need more focused lighting for reading, a brightness of 300-500 lux is recommended.
WIR/ Dressing Room Lighting
Most walk-in robes have simple downlights installed, which are sufficient and will do the job.
However, you may wish to use LED Strip Lights in your cabinetry that come on when you flick a switch or, alternately, LED Hangar rails with sensors so that they light up as you enter the area. These have the added benefit of lighting up behind your clothes and adding a ‘next level’ element to your wardrobe or dressing area.
Depending on how luxe you want your walk-in robe to feel, you may want a crystal pendant or chandelier installed instead.
The aim is to see the colour of the clothes you are taking from the hangar before you get dressed and enjoy the space you are in.
Bathroom & En-Suite Lighting
While different age groups quite often use en-suites and main bathrooms, the same thought process needs to go into the planning.
‘The kids are little now, so they don’t need anything other than overhead lighting’. Well, before long, they will grow up and be doing tasks like shaving and applying make-up (it happens too quickly).
‘It’s only us that use the main bathroom, so it’s ok’. Do your guests use the bathroom, too or do you have a separate powder room? If the guests use it too, you may want to think about some accent lighting so that you haven’t got all lights blazing when they just need to wash their hands; think LED strip under the mirror cabinet, around the mirror or pendants in the corner to provide sufficient lighting, a couple of wall sconces either side of the mirror look sensational too. Lighting that you can leave turned on while guests are there.
En-suite Bathrooms – The en-suite is another room where you should consider layering, having functional light so that you can see what you are doing (task lighting) and accent lighting to create the mood for when you want that nice bubbly bath with a glass of vino and some soft music.
Having that soft secondary light source in the en-suite or bathroom is also a great option for that 3am bathroom visit, where you don’t need to wake anyone else up when a bright light is switched on.
Laundry Lighting
Laundry lighting is an essential element in any home’s design, especially if your laundry is in a highly visible area of the home.
Different types of lighting can be used in the laundry. Overhead lighting is the most common type, providing ample illumination evenly throughout the room. For areas where you need to fold or iron, task lighting can be used to ensure you get sufficient light to do so. This can simply be an LED Strip under overhead cabinetry. This also doubles as a great option for visibility at night if you have a toilet off your laundry, especially if that is the toilet guests need to use.