Majority of rooms are designed for specific activities and particular tasks. Bedrooms are mostly for sleeping or resting, dining rooms are for eating, kitchens are for cooking, and toilets are for bathing. The living room on the other hand, hosts a broad range of activities – entertaining guests, binge watching movies, reading books, resting and relaxing, and a lot more! This is why lighting up the living room requires careful and well-thought of planning. Let’s discuss how to light up your living room for a comfortable and aesthetic everyday living. There are two questions you may ask yourself first when designing the lighting for your living
room.

Question 1: Which area of your living room needs light?

By asking yourself this question, you will be able to breakdown the purpose of your living room and then divide it into functional areas. Will you be reading your favorite book in your living room? Will you do it on the long sofa or on a separate spot like the comfortable reclining chair near your television? How about game night with your friends? Will lighting be enough to read
the letters on your game board so you and your guests may enjoy the game?

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By knowing the activities that may take place in each area of your room, you may then decide what particular areas need lighting.

Question 2: Is a bright general lighting enough?

Will you settle for a bright general lighting to light up the whole room to perform all tasks or do you still need a bright and focused light? Furthermore, you should also finalize how many spots in your functional area will require additional lighting.

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Now having awareness through the previous questions, let us now decide on what particular lighting you should use for your living room.

Layers of Lighting

Task Lighting

To come up with proper lighting for your living room, go back to the two questions above and its respective answers. If reading and writing are activities you foresee in your living room, then task lighting is most probably needed.

From the term itself, task lighting basically lights up an area where you carry out specific tasks. This layer of light is frequently used for living rooms because of the areas’ multi functional nature. Track lights are highly recommended source of task lighting as it produces direct lighting. With track lights of at least two track heads, you may be able to point the light towards
different areas where light is required. Two birds in one stone, as they say.

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If your interior design theme is far from a contemporary look, then you may shy away from track lights.

On the other hand, for a nicer and fresher look, you may also use pendant lights. It still gets the job done while adding elegance to your room.
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Wall lamps are also good lighting options if you want focused lighting.

See this look: Huldana Brass Wall Lamp

If you have a television on your living room, note that it gives off light of its own. Thus, make sure that your lighting doesn’t conflict with this and cause glare that can interfere with your favorite show or worse, hurt your eyes. Rule of thumb, avoid task lights pointing directly on your screen.

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Accent Lighting

Once main activities are well taken care of, it’s now time to focus on accent lighting. This layer of lighting highlights architectural features whether it be the living room itself or some displays. Recessed lights are good source of accent lighting. Especially if you have a high ceiling, this will be able to highlight your home and provide a classy feel. Just the right ambiance to set the
mood.

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Wall Grazers are also excellent choice for accent lighting, especially in living rooms where accent walls are usually available. This basically gives drama to your living room with an added “wow factor” especially to your visitors.

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Track lights also provide the same effect when track heads are pointed towards the accent wall.

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If you have prized possessions you want to display in your living room, this can be better highlighted through accent lighting. Glass cabinets could simply be complemented by strip lights or t5 lights at the back.

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Ambient Lighting

With accent lighting and task lighting already figured out, your living room is already well-lit. But there will be something missing for sure especially if you have a large living room. Ambient lighting or general lighting is what’s lacking. From the term itself, general lighting is the main source of light for your room. For some, this is the first layer of light that they choose when planning their living room lighting. This is not wrong as this is actually the conventional method. However, we prioritized task lighting and
accent lighting first since more often than not, some homeowners will already settle with ambient lighting without looking into other layers of lighting once they see that their living room is already lit anyway.

Large center pieces such as chandeliers or hanging lamps are the usual go-to when it comes to ambient lighting for the living room.

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There are many styles and shapes to choose from. Not only will your ambient lighting produce light, the fixture itself without being lit can already beautify your place. It is important however to make sure that the hanging lamp or chandelier you choose will fit the theme of your living
room.

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In Singapore where humidity is always a factor, ceiling fans with light are still often considered by interior designers.

Image Credit: Qanvast, Yang’s Inspiration Design

Other lighting fixtures even those that are used for accent lighting and task lighting can be considered for ambient lighting. It depends actually on the purpose and positioning of the lighting fixture.

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Your living room is the first part of your home that your visitors will see. This is why it is important to make it a priority when designing your home. Of course, its lighting should not be taken for granted as well. Follow this guide to lighting up your living room and have your dream home come to life.