Designing with Manufactured Lighting to Create Harmonic Interiors

This is the fourth in a series of articles about Creating Harmonic Interiors. What is a harmonic interior?... It’s a space that’s conducive to health, happiness and well-being. As a design professional I’ve discovered that there are many proven design techniques, including proper use of color, space and light that can actually promote these important fundamentals within your living environments.

My first article on Creating Harmonic Interiors demonstrated how color can stimulate an emotional response. My second article on spatial energy guided readers with a how-to on manipulating the energy within rooms to allow for comfort, function and ultimately, a more harmonic space. The positive aspects of natural lighting were addressed in my third installment and this article focuses on man-made illumination and how it may be used to Create those Harmonic Interiors.

When asked, “what’s the opposite of natural lighting?” one typically says “artificial lighting”. I dislike that term and prefer “manufactured lighting”. It somehow has more dignity and it certainly sounds more sustainable.

There’s no doubting the fact that we’ve come a long way from candlelight, gaslight and even traditional incandescent light bulbs and that the lighting industry is undergoing a major revolution, but the fact remains, good lighting and good lighting design makes for a happier, healthier, more productive place to live and work.

The sun is nature’s best answer to general illumination. It shines its light from only one source, yet its brilliance is felt from every direction. Light bounces off surfaces and cuts past corners creating areas of intensity and shadow, energy and drama. The sun’s illumination is always dynamic; never boring and indoor lighting should be the same. It should flow in many directions; up, down and outwards in a well-balanced arrangement. But general illumination within the home or office is not as versatile as nature. It’s usually insufficient on its own to stimulate the positive effects of natural light. It does; however, fulfill one main purpose by improving overall visibility - and good visibility prevents you from tripping over the rug or missing the coffee table with your mug of hot chocolate.

Apartments and homes come “equipped” with one strategically located ceiling fixture and a few general low-end task lights in the kitchen and bathrooms. Even builders of the most expensive homes cut costs that way. Most people don’t realize that there’s just not enough illumination in their homes and even their offices. The direct overhead light is not only insufficient for tasks such as reading and writing - it illuminates only the top of your head, casting unflattering shadows beneath your eyes and nose! So besides looking haggard and kinda scary, you’re not set up for the “tasks” at hand. Rooms should include lighting that allows us to function and to function without stress.

When you choose task lights such as reading lights, make sure they are not so bright as to cause glare, or so general in location that they disturb others. This is particularly true of bedside lighting and lights within family rooms. You wouldn’t want a reading lamp to disturb your sleeping spouse or glare into your TV screen. If you’re alone using a task light, use some supporting general illumination such as a dimmed overhead light. This arrangement will provide a gentle “filler” light which lessens the harsh shadows and reduces eyestrain.

Quality task lighting also can prevent headaches and it improves productivity. It can even make you feel better about yourself. For example, check your bathroom vanity lights. Are they surrounding the mirror or they directly overhead, exacerbating those dark under-eye circles and nasal-labial folds on your face? When you choose lights that surround the mirror, the shadows disappear and voila!...you look marvelous. When you look good, you feel good.

It’s important to make sure that the task lighting in kitchens and other work areas do not cast shadows on your work. This is for both safety and comfort. Fluorescent lights typically cast a shadowless light, (that’s why builders use them in those locations), but they have a subliminal flicker that has been reported to create migraine headaches and irritability in homes and workplaces. You can improve them by using the newer full-spectrum CFL lights. They aren’t as “blue” as traditional fluorescent bulbs and they made everything look better...including you.

Perhaps the most neglected, yet most powerful form of lighting is mood lighting. As the word “mood” implies, it can affect our emotions. Creative accent lighting can stimulate the same positive emotional sensations we receive from nature, making us feel secure and relaxed.

The setting sun radiates harmonious feelings of calm and relaxation. We can mirror these sensations indoors by lowering the general illumination of light using dimmer switches and by sending light up from the floor level. A “floor-can” light placed behind a lush palm tree plant, harmonizes with the light from a dimmed wall sconce to evoke sensations of your own peaceful sunset indoors. Colorful LED lights can add a realistic effect to the scene.

Flexible LED Strip lights placed behind a valance, illuminating a closed curtain at night send a subliminal message of daylight…hinting to us that all is safe and sound. Lighting placed within ceiling moldings or soffits (show in the photo to the right) have the same effect.

You can gain tranquility and romance in the bedroom by creating a candlelight effect with a dimmed wall sconce or a moonlight effect with a low-wattage or LED bulb place outside your bedroom window. The soft glow shining through the curtain or levelors provides a natural, seductive night-light. Speaking of night lights – make sure they are out of your direct line of vision when you are in bed. They can have a negative subliminal effect on your sleep patterns. Even plants don’t like them at night.

Spotlights aren’t only for actors. You can illuminate important objects at home too, and yes, spotlights give the illuminated object more importance. What you many not realize is that illuminated objects stimulate an emotional response.

Think of old movies, where the creepy portrait of a relative is spotlighted within the room. The room actually takes on the ominous feeling of the person in the portrait. This principle works with just about anything you choose to light up, so why not highlight those objects in the room that have special positive meanings to you and your family? The light helps to reflect the object’s dynamic energy into the room.

For example, you can bring excitement into your blue bedroom by directing a ceiling spot on some red roses. You can bring calm into your deep red dining room by illuminating the potted plants, a water feature or a subdued centerpiece.

I hope this Hub as helped to shine some light on good lighting design. It’s really not that difficult, or too costly to create a more Harmonic Interior.

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