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Home Lighting

The key to success with any lighting scheme is to ensure that it meets two criteria: it must give light where it is needed, and the effect it produces should enhance the room's appearance by creating a balanced mixture of light and shadow. The type of light fittings chosen has a major part to play, and so does the positioning of the fittings.

The living room is one of the mostdiincult areas to light successfully,because of the many different uses towhich the room is put. The aim should be to provide background lighting that can be bright or dim according to the MOOD of the moment, and then ro add separately controllable feature lightingto highlight the room's focal points,and local task lighting where required.lie accent is on flexibility. Choosing fittings in keeping with the style ofthe room will help to ensure that itslighting looks good by day or night.

The dining room has slightlydifferent needs. The main requirementis a table that is well-lit without glare,which you can achieve with a rise-and-Wl fitting or carefully targeteddownlighters. The background lightingshould be subdued, preferably underdimmer control - note that fluorescentlights cannot he easily dimmed.Additional lighting from wall lights orwall washers can be used to illuminatethe serving and carving area, anduplighters for dramatic effect.

Bedroom lighting requires acombination of restful backgroundlighting and easily controllable locallighting to cover separate activitiesincluding dressing and undressing,applying make-up, reading in bed, orperhaps watching television.

Background lighting can he providedby wall lights, by table lamps on bedsidetables, by recessed downlighters or,very appropriately for bedrooms, by thewall- or ceiling-mounted fittings knownas uplighters, which throw light on tothe ceiling and completely conceal thelamp when viewed from below. Thegeneral light level can be lower thanfor the living room, as long as the tasklighting does its job. Bright, glare-freelighting is needed at a dressing table,and light from to check clothes.

Bedside reading lights should be directional, so that they illuminate the page adequately but do not disturb asleeping partner. Lastly, make full useof two-way switching so dint lights canbe turned on and off without having toget out of bed. Again, choose lightfittings to complement the room's decorand colour scheme.

Children's bedrooms, especiallynurseries, have some slightly differentrequirements. Good task lighting isessential for jobs such as changing ordressing a baby, and young children willwant a higher overall lighting levelthan that in an adult's room whenplaying. They may also need a low-wattage night light for comfort andsafety. Finally, older children will wantportable task lighting for activities suchas hobbies and homework.

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