Lighting Fixtures at Home

Types of Lighting

• Several types of lighting exist. These include the natural light that comes in from the outdoors through windows and skylights; ambient lighting; accent lighting that's placed over a piece of art or other small object; and task lighting. Ideally, each room in the home should have multiple sources of light in a room, which helps avoid eye strain. Making an assessment of the room's functions will help you determine how much light you'll need as well as the kind. By doing this, you'll ensure that the room has enough general light to illuminate the whole room, some quality task-related light for your projects and finally some pockets of light to eliminate the dark spots in the corners of the room.

General Light

• The general light source that comes from the fixture overhead or from floor lamps creates the general light in the room. This functions as the main light source. Depending upon the size of the room, the general light source may or may not be enough to bring light to the whole room. However, it will provide extra support for the light fixtures you've chosen to provide task-related lighting. Additionally, although some of the general light comes from light fixtures in the room, don't rule out using natural light to help illuminate the space as well.

Task Lighting

• According to Jennifer Berno of "Southern Living," using several different kinds of lighting creates areas where you can do small tasks and promote conversation. Lamps are usually the light fixtures of choice when it comes to providing task lighting for a room. The lamps you choose should reflect both the function of the task and the decorating style of the room. For example, if you have detailed work you need to do like knitting or number crunching, you may want to get a lamp with an adjustable arm. Choose one in a color that you feature in your room's decorating scheme to tie it into the room.

Pockets of Light

• Sometimes, despite placing light fixtures in various places throughout the room, some rooms still have pockets of darkness. These spaces are in corners by the bookcase or on the walls by the curtains. The ambient light in the room doesn't always reach to these far corners. If that is the case, wall sconces provide some of the best sources of light for these areas.