Ambient or general

Task or Work

Accent, Mood or Display

A good design will use all three types to light an area or room according to its function and style.

Is the one that replaces the sunlight, feeling the room with overall illumination, allows you to move around the room safely.

If your general lighting is indirect, much of the Illumination results from light that bounces off the walls, ceiling and floor. To make this indirect lighting more efficient, the colors must be pastels or clear colors as they reflect the light in a much better way than dark colors. Matte finishes are preferred.

Specific activities take place in a room. This light permits to perform a task without eyestrain .

Good task must be properly positioned to avoid causing glare or casting unwanted shadows.

The amount and type of light changes depending on the task to be perform.

The rule of the thumb used by experts is to keep the surrounding area at least one third as bright as the work surface.

Task lighting can be provided by recessed or track fixtures, pendants, table or floor lamps and undercabinets lightings.

When lighting long areas such as kitchen counters with fluorescents, the accepted rule is to provide 8 watts per foot of counter length.

Accent Lighting

Accenting requires a light source that will throw at least 3 times more light on the object or area to be accented than the general lighting in adjacent areas. Proper positioning of the light is as important as its intensity.

As a rule, designers recommend that the fistures be aimed at a 30 degree angle from the vertical to prevent their light from interfering with the line of sight and to avoid reflection on the surface of an object.

With 3D art objects, sculptures, vases or art pieces use two or more light sources aimed at different angles to create a more desirable accent.

The wider the botton of the shade, the bigger the light spread it gets. A shade that is too narrow can keep the light from reaching the entire area you want to iluminate. On the other side a shade that is to wide can spread the light too far.

To adjust 2 inches in the diameter of the shade can make a noticeable difference in the light spread.

We have to pay attention to the bulb as well. A tall bulb will cause the filament to be positioned higher in the shade than a smaller one, reducing the light spread from the bottom of the shade. This problem can be solve by raising the shade or the bulb.

The effect of light depends on the combination of its distribution, color and intensity.

Understanding how these aspects of light affect our surroundings will constitute an effective instrument in lighting design.

Hospital studies showed that patients recovered better and faster when rooms were pained in warm colors and bathed in the optimum amount and tone of light.

Elegant restaurants paid lots of attention to lighting for moods. And even fast food chains hire lighting designers to improve their restaurants.

Light can make you feel calmer just by being in a room, or on the contrary can make you want to leave inmediately .

When designing or redesigning interior lighting, emotional as well as visual effect should be taken into account. Different rooms evoke different feelings, and lighting can enhance those feelings or destroy them.

Understanding the basic concepts of light and lighting will help you invest your time and money in achiveving the effect you desire.

Bright light keeps energy moving.

To quiet an area invite yin energy into the home. Yin energy is softer and lower lighting, which brings calmness.

To play with your lights levels, you can introduce the use of dimmers.

Dimmers will allow you to change the mood of the room depending of the efect you want to accomplish.

Lighting constitute an important Feng Shui cure.

Use lower lighting in the family room when it is time for family discussions.

Increase lighting for family playing night.

Put lighting to work on your side!!!

Lighting beautifies and accentuates spaces. Therefore, a professional lighting plan is crucial to achieve the purpose of our design.

The specialists have the experience and knowledge to fullfill all the project needs and give special effects to the decoration details.

Working closely with your builder, electrician and decorator will result in a specially tailored lifestyle design.

Consulting these professionals will benefit the design of exteriors, gardens, parking lots, streets, roadways, landscapes or security lighting.

In my experience as an Interior Designer, I am able to hire Lighting Engineers from abroad at reasonable cost. These specialists will draw in Autocad all the necessary plans which will allow me to execute the work with my electricians.

The following strategies will make it easier for you to design their little place:

1. Talk to that little person, find out what his/hers favorite characters, colors and themes are.

2. Let them help you in the process, let them decide how they want to show his/her collectibles.

3. Make it mulifunctional, as they use it as play area, reading area, work area and entertaiment area.

4. Make shelving a priority. Storage containers, storage cabinets the more they have the better it gets. Try to give them enough space to put away all their stuff and teach them how to keep them organize.

5. Window treatments must be simple. Avoid long fabric draperies. The fabric used should be versatile. And the pattern should be repeated in pillows, bedspreads, lampshades.

6. We must pay attention to proper Lighting. We should include task lighting for homeworks and readings, as well as soft light for quieter times. Night light is also important.

7. Use wallpaper or paint. You can add a border to the top of the wall and clouds and stars to the ceiling. Make sure the walls are washable. Kids love bright colors but keep them for decorative compliments. Unless you have a big room, in that case you can add one bright color wall.

8. Allow the child to pick the rooms theme. For example, race cars, underwater, outer space, jungle motifs, airplanes, trains, dragons, etc.