La Jolla Living Room Lighting Design Tips: Five Lighting Mistakes and How to Avoid Them in Your Living Room

Do you have a tight living room lighting budget, but you still want to improve the way it looks? If that is the case, the last thing you want to do is fall victim to common lighting mistakes.

Your living room should be comfortable, functional, and have all the decor you love, yet a poor living room lighting design can change all of that.

Learn the top five living room lighting mistakes people make and how you can rectify them for your La Jolla home. 

 

You’re Using the Wrong Bulb

When it comes to ideas for lighting, it’s important to light each space for the way it will be used. This means that even though different lighting fixtures are there to enable you to see, they don’t need to be ultra-bright and remove every shadow in your home. In fact, daylight bright bulbs are best reserved for task lighting. 

Many people reserve their living rooms for entertaining and relaxing. For this reason, look for light bulbs with a soft, warm white color profile between 2700K and 3000K. These types of lightbulbs are similar to the color of candlelight, creating a relaxing and welcoming atmosphere compared to bright, stark white LED lighting. 

You’re Not Using Multiple Types of Lighting

Regardless of whether you’re using the right lightbulb, many people make the mistake of relegating the lighting in their living room to bright, overhead light. This ambient light casts stark shadows across features, creating an uncomfortable environment when you’re trying to relax.

Instead, you should use two other types of lighting in order to create a more welcoming environment. Task lighting is a small, bright light that can help you complete a task comfortably. In the living room, consider adding a reading lamp in a cozy nook. 

Accent lighting helps highlight certain features of the home and helps draw the eye around the room in a natural way. Along with these types of lighting, you’ll naturally choose different lighting fixtures. This will give the room a more balanced appearance. 

The Styles for Lighting Don’t Match

Some people ignore the style of a lamp or chandelier because they see them in a totally utilitarian way. However, these light fixtures can easily be the largest pieces of decor in a room.

Even if you have a beautifully decorated room, a mismatched lamp is hard to miss. We recommend matching the style of your lamp to the main style of the rest of your interior decor, whether that be bohemian or mid-century modern. 

This also means that you might be choosing the wrong light fixture for the space as well. For instance, in small spaces, a large floor lamp will dwarf the furniture and make the space feel small. On the other hand, a tiny lamp on top of an end table won’t give off enough light and create an unbalanced appearance.

You’re Not Embracing Dimmers

It can be hard to get the lighting quality of your living room in check if you’re used to having ultra-bright lightbulbs. For more flexibility, consider installing dimmer switches for your main light fixtures. These switches allow you to fine-tune the brightness of your lights depending on the time of day or what you’re doing.

For instance, you may want it to be brighter in your living room if you’re entertaining guests, playing a board game, or doing some work out of the office. However, you still have the flexibility of enjoying a peaceful, dimly lit living room when you’re watching a movie or just having a sip of wine.  

The best dimmer switches are affordable at an average of $20, and they can blend with any kind of interior decor. 

Too Many Lights

There can be too much of a good thing when it comes to certain types of lighting. For instance, recessed lights can be perfect for a mixture of accent and task lighting. They’re also a great choice if you need to light a space that has low ceilings. 

However, lights need to be able to reflect on walls or a ceiling in order to properly illuminate a space. With overuse of recessed lights, you won’t be getting the light you need, and you’ll be paying for it in increased electric bills in the process. 

The same is true for too much task lighting. These lights look perfect underneath cabinets or even beneath furniture; however, it’s easy to go overboard. If you have too many strips of bright lights throughout your living room, this can create a chaotic and disordered appearance. 

La Jolla Living Room Lighting: Stay Flexible

When it comes to living room lighting, the best tip is that you want your lighting to be flexible. Use layers of lighting instead of one main, bright light fixture. You’ll also want to avoid using too much of the same kind of light, such as recessed lights or accent lights. 

An even blend of ambient, task and accent lighting will create a more comfortable and welcoming environment. If you’re having trouble with this adjustment, dimmer switches give you the best of both worlds. When you want to illuminate the living in bright light for entertaining, it can easily be done without sacrificing your peaceful sanctuary. 

Last but not least, take time choosing your light fixtures so they match the overall style of your living room. Unless, in some circumstances, you don’t want your lamps to stand out from the rest of your beautiful decor. 

Our interior lighting solutions start with specialized designs. Request a free consultation with us today.