Lighting Ideas for Great Rooms With Vaulted Ceilings & Cross Beams

Sconces

• Sconces are wall-mounted lights that are designed to cast light upwards. The light is then reflected off the ceiling and, as a result, creates an ambient glow. The sconce blocks the light at eye level, preventing unpleasant glare. Wall-mounted sconces are an effective way to accent the height of a vaulted ceiling and create a dramatic effect in a great room.

Track Lighting

• Track lighting can be used in a number of creative ways in a great room. Mounting track lighting on top of beams and directing the lights toward the ceiling creates a dramatic lighting effect while hiding the lights themselves. With the lights on top of them, the beams appear backlit when you are standing beneath them. Track lighting can also be mounted directly on the walls and directed where needed.

Recessed Lighting

• Recessed lights, also known as "pot lights," can be installed in a vaulted ceiling to provide overall lighting for the room. Placing the pot lights in strategic locations over the surface of the vaulted ceiling creates an appealing composition of light and helps define the angles of the ceiling and beams. Pot lights need to be fitted with appropriate bulbs so that the light they provide is neither too dim nor too bright.

Chandelier

• A large chandelier in the middle of a great room creates an aura of luxury and class. Do not hang the chandelier too close to any of the beams, as this will create an awkward effect. Depending on the size of the great room and the height of its ceiling, a chandelier can be hung above the beams, or extended below them if the beams are more than 10 feet from the floor.

Lamps

• Placing lamps next to couches and chairs helps provide focused lighting areas within a great room for socializing or reading. Lamps alone will probably be insufficient to light the room on their own, but they could act in conjunction with more general lighting to create a pleasing variety of lighting intensities within the room.

Skylights

• Putting skylights into the vaulted ceiling can be a pleasing way to add sunlight to a great room during the day. A row of skylights on a sunny day will make the room feel large and airy and will decrease the number of lights that are necessary when the sun is shining.