Lighting is the single most important secondary element of interior décor, and yet, so many of us do not even realize that fact. For those not familiar with the concept, primary décor includes everything that we put into a room for functional and aesthetic reasons. This includes wall and ceiling designs, the paint on them, the furniture, home appliances, etc.
Secondary elements of interior décor are things which are used to highlight, complement, or disguise elements within the same room. These would be the room’s natural and artificial lighting, wall art and décor, decorative vases, accent colors, complementary couch cushions, etc. Now that we have a proper idea of what is what, let’s move on to the topic of light control, why it’s so important, and how we can use it for maximizing the interior décor in any room.
To Control Lighting is to Control Perception Itself
We all know that there is no vision without light, but there is so much more to the idea than that. To provide a better understanding of the concept, let’s quickly go through the core aspects of light control and why it is so important.
- A room’s luminescence has both direct and indirect impacts on human perception and mood
- The same level of luminescence will have different effects on the human mind, depending on what time of the day/night it is
- Getting to know the basics of light therapy can help you to incorporate elements of light therapy for improved mood
- Light can be used to highlight the room’s best décor elements
- A bit of deliberate gloom behind the lights can also be used to hide away sockets, external lines, flaws in the architecture, etc.
Artificial Light Control
The same room can be made to look completely different by controlling the luminescence and color of the different light sources. Different colored lights from a smart bulb can change the visual perception itself; for example, you can turn walls of any color into a dreamy green before bedtime, or add pulses of violet light during an indoor party. Pay a quick visit to this page on BAZZ Smart Home to see how the changes in color, effect and brightness can transform the entire interior décor of the room in an instant. Smart lights come with their own smartphone apps for granular and precise control, but for regular lights, dimmer switches are still an excellent option to control how much light they emit.
Natural Light Control
Natural light availability can be improved by installing bigger windows, but that’s not always an option unfortunately. Nevertheless, you can still do a lot to improve natural availability without necessarily having to install new windows.
First make sure that the window panels are clear of any decorative grids or paneling. Instead, opt for clear slabs of double paned glass windows. These are perfect for both improving natural light availability and insulation quality. Next, paint the undersides (eaves) of your roof’s overhangs in a bright, glossy white. For indoor painting, bright and glossy shades of white, off-white, light cream and beige are each well known for their ability to turn walls and ceilings into light reflective surfaces.
To top things off, add at least one skylight in each of the rooms that could use more light and install a mirror on the opposite wall to a few windows. Be sure to angle them in a way that the mirrors do not end up creating glares. Finally, invest in chandelier style artificial lights. They reflect natural sunlight so well that it almost looks like they are powered on during a bright and sunny day.
