Home Lighting Tips

Living room, bedroom, dining room, kitchen, and task lighting

"Let there be light!" might be easy for a god to say, but if you're a home decorator, such a creative statement is nowhere near detailed enough. "What kind of light?" an interior decorator would ask, and the ensuing debate would cover everything from ambient and accent lighting to the use of floor lamps, pendants, table lamps, and wall sconces. Because the best home lighting results are often achieved by choosing lights on a room-by-room basis, here's a quick but helpful guide for using floor lamps and other types of lighting in living rooms, bedrooms, dining rooms, and kitchens.

Living Room

The living room is the one place where virtually every kind of lighting should be available: natural light from a well-positioned window, accent lights for artwork, task lights for reading, attractive floor lamps for ambience, and a sconce or two by the door to brightly welcome guests. Unlike smaller rooms, living rooms can't rely on a very bright primary light to dominate the room. Instead, choose two or three end table or floor lamps with lower maximum wattages. Track lighting could be used to highlight a focal point. Torchieres with dimmers and adjustable task lights are versatile enough to handle most living room situations.

Living room floor lamp tips: Because the living room is such a high-use area, both style and function should be important considerations when choosing living room floor lamps. Consider the available seating and the tasks commonly performed in each spot, and choose lamps accordingly. Torchiere lamps might work well in a more open area of the room, while a desk or piano might look more attractive and be easier to use (i.e. fewer headaches) with adjustable floor lamps that provide flexible and focused lighting. You should also weigh the benefits of multi-light floor lamps versus the classic single-bulb design. Our floor lamp styles are suitable for traditional, transitional, and contemporary decors, and include Asian, rustic, Tiffany, and Victorian floor lamps.

Bedroom

Rest, relaxation, and romance are the three Rs of bedroom lighting. Dimming control on the primary ceiling fixture is handy, but you can achieve the same effect with soft lighting from a wall-mounted fixture and a brighter table or floor lamp for reading, web browsing, and television watching. With bedroom windows, blinds are better at filtering light, but drapes will keep the room darker during those much-needed Saturday morning sleep-ins.

Bedroom floor lamp tips: Floor lamps with shades are often more suitable for bedrooms than functional floor lamps or torchieres, as they provide a softer, more soothing light. Contemporary floor lamps or Asian floor lamps with a full-length, column-shaped shade are also ideal for bedrooms; they're typically lower wattage and better at creating a relaxing or romantic mood than helping you perform a light-intensive task. Bedroom floor lamps with dimmer switches are a popular choice as well.

Dining Room

A chandelier might be a little too dramatic for spaghetti night, but chandeliers are hard to match for sparkle and traditional elegance. The functional and formally social atmosphere of a dining room makes it an ideal spot for decorative wall sconces. Candelabra could provide a unique look for special occasions, as could a pair of sentry-like floor lamps, complete with beautiful glass shades, benignly guarding your festive meal.

Dining room floor lamp tips: Warm and welcoming is the kind of atmosphere you want in a dining room, and dining room floor lamps are an easy way to get it. Consider using dining room floor lamps of different heights to create layered illumination. Dining rooms can be hard to decorate; bright floor lamps with attractive shades would add color and character. Floor lamps with more ornate posts are also a smart choice for dining rooms, particularly if your dining room set features carved wooden dining room chairs or other heavily stylized pieces.

Kitchen

Bright and functional without too much glare is the ideal lighting scheme for kitchens. If you're redecorating your kitchen, consider direct lighting options such as pendants (including mini-pendants) and ceiling fans or indirect lighting such as rope lights or under-cabinet light fixtures.

Kitchen floor lamp tips: A floor lamp is an unconventional choice for a kitchen, but in some homes it can be a quirky or useful addition to the kitchen decor. If your kitchen lacks task lighting, for example, adjustable kitchen floor lamps would be an inexpensive alternative to installing recessed lights or some other form of ceiling light.

Task Lighting

Finally, a word on task lighting. Home decorators often overlook the need for function-oriented lighting. This can lead to needless eye strain and even headaches from using inappropriate lighting for activities that require a great deal of hand-eye coordination, e.g. reading, knitting, playing an instrument, or working at a desk or home office. Task-oriented or functional floor lamps provide healthier and more comfortable light, which will enhance your comfort and enable you to work longer and experience less fatigue. Try one of our task lighting floor lamps; you'll be surprised at how much better you feel.