Angie's LIST Guide to
Household lighting
When an interior designer works on a room, lighting is a key component. Every room in the house -- living room, kitchen, bathrooms and bedrooms -- has its own utilitarian and mood-setting lighting requirements.
When an interior designer works on a room, lighting is a key component. Every room in the house -- living room, kitchen, bathrooms and bedrooms -- has its own utilitarian and mood-setting lighting requirements.
Top Topics
Lighting a room involves more than just the intensity and placement of the lighting. It also involves the "color temparature" of different types of lighting.
Read more about how to choose lighting.
Each room in your house has its own lighting needs, which often requires several different types of lighting fixtures each with its own role to play.
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Answers
Ask a question on any topic covered by Angie's List and see responses from expert service providers and other homeowners with advice to share. Most popular lighting questions:
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How lighting works
Lighting comes in the form of many bulbs and fixtures.
What's the difference between a halogen light bulb and a fluorescent or incandescent bulb? What is an LED light? Each works in a different way and has a different set of advantages and disadvantages.
The word "lamp" refers to the bulb itself while the "luminaire" is the fixture that holds the bulb and carries the electrical current. The style of a luminaire can determine the type of lighting or mood produced.
Yes, a 100-watt bulb is brighter than a 40-watt, but it's actually a lot more complicated than that. Here's a primer on how light intensity is determined.
Choosing the right lighting
Lighting in a room can add more than light. It can become a design element on its own.
Because of the wide variety of lighting options available, the proper choice not only affects what you see, but how you see it as well.
In addition to the type of fixture and how it is intended to be used, a home decorator also looks at the "color temperature" of the lighting to be used. Understanding color temperature will help you choose lighting that matches the room's colors.
Here are tips on how to select lighting for living areas, kitchens, bathrooms, bedrooms, dining rooms and hallways.
Outdoor & security lighting
Outdoor lighting provides security, safety and showcases your home.
Security lighting deters vandalism and home invasion; safety lighting, on the other hand, protects homeowners and their guests from injuries caused by trips and falls in dark locations.
Homeowners can employ a combination of lighting controls to deter prowlers. In addition to standard switches, lights can be activated by a timer and/or by motion detected by a sensor.
Decorative lighting gives the home character. It can be used to highlight flower gardens, decorative architectural components and landscaping and can be powered by the home electrical system, or by wireless solar cells.