5 Questions You Need To Answer If You Want To Light Up A Small Space
A lot goes into decorating the room just right; the décor not only needs to be striking but also needs to be functional. One of the more important things is lighting. Getting the lighting right in a normal sized or big room is hard enough but it is far more difficult in a small room or a cosy space. And make no mistake: the lighting in the room can affect not only the mood in the room but can also embellish or demolish its overall look.
Before you start looking for small space lighting ideas, there are 5 questions that you need to answer before you can find that cute little lamp that you have always wanted to put in the small room. So, without further ado, let’s take a look at the points that you need to keep in mind before you go out for shopping.
1. What will you be doing in the room that you want to install the lights in?
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That’s the first question that you have to answer; the lighting needs differ depending on what you will use the room for. For example, if the room is just for watching TV or spending some downtime, relaxing then you don’t need bright lighting. In fact, dim lights work best in such situations. However, if you plan to read or write in the room or do something which requires a brightly lit environment then, naturally, you will need more light in the room.
That’s why you need to determine what will be the primary purpose of the room. If you are unsure what you need the room for or if the purpose of the room will change over its lifetime, then the best solution is to get controllable lights so you have the ability to change the brightness as you please.
2. How big is the room?
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This question is not as odd as you might think. Yes, the room is small but you need to get a bit more technical if you want to get enough light in the room. The optimal amount of light for a room is easy to calculate: it’s usually one and a half times the total area of the room. So, if the area of the room comes out to be at 200 square feet then 300 watts should be just enough.
Once you have calculated the wattage that you are going to need to illuminate the room, you can then decide what you can use to achieve that number: for example, a simple lamp or multiple smaller lamps. But remember this: this isn’t a hard and fast rule. It’s just there to give a basic idea of how much wattage is going to be necessary.
3. Do you prefer cool or warm colours?
Once you have settled on the wattage (and the number of lamps or bulbs) that you are going to use, the next thing that you need to decide is the warmth of the light. Some people prefer cool white which can is closer to the natural light while others prefer the warm white. The truth is that this boils down to your personal preference and that is what will matter the most here.
What you intend to use the room for might have a little effect on the temperature of the colour but no matter what you have in mind can be accomplished both in warm and cool lights if they are bright enough.
4. How long will the lights stay on for?
Lights produce heat and that can turn into a problem if the lights in a room stay on for the better part of the day especially in a small space. If the room is windowless and you can’t rely on the natural light even for a little bit, then you should use light sources which use less amount of energy and in turn produce less waste heat. This will also help you with your electricity bill and the cooling solution in your home.
If natural light is available then you can opt for bigger and brighter lights as they will remain on only for a brief amount of day. If preserving the energy is high on your list then you should still pick efficient lights.
5. What method are you going to use?
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Last but definitely not the least, you need to answer the question of how you are going to illuminate the room. The options are practically limitless:
You can use floor lamps to light up the room or you can opt for accent lamps spread throughout the room. Using ceiling mounted lamps is also a choice or using wall-mounted tube lights will also have the same effect. You can also get creative with fairy lights that are spread out on the walls of the room and you can also use LED strips to illuminate the darkest, hard to reach corners of the room.
Using stylish fixtures is the way to go if you want to add to the decorations of the room but if you want to be your light source as discrete as possible then using the LED strips or even the fairy lights is a better idea.
So, there it is. These are the questions that you should ask yourself before you install the lights in a room that is rather cosy.
Do you think that there is something I missed and needs to be added to the list of the questions? Is there anything that you would like to add? Then feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below. I am sure that the other readers would like to hear from you.
If you liked the article and if it helped you light your room in just the way you wanted to then don’t forget to share it with your friends and family so that they can benefit from it too.