The rooms in your home have a specific purpose, and we believe your lighting should reflect that. Whether you need task-oriented lighting for your kitchen or more indirect light for a living or media room, we know exactly how to light your space in a way that is comfortable and easy to operate with automated solutions. Here is Origin Hi-Fi's breakdown of the best lighting options for every room of the house.
Lighting for Kitchens
The kitchen serves as an important space for food prep and cleanup as well as a place for friends and family to gather, and thus requires a balanced mix of task and ambient lighting. Take advantage of the natural light from windows and supplement it by adding a ceiling-mounted or recessed fixture to provide ambient lighting for the whole room.
Light sources directly installed above a workstation are a fantastic way to provide task lighting, whether you'd like a pendant over an island (hang it 35-40 inches above a surface) or undercabinet lights for your countertops. By using a dimmer with energy-efficient lightbulbs, you can also lower your energy bills. Certain smart light bulbs also change color, so you can encourage productivity under cooler light, and relax in the evenings under a golden glow. We recommend your ambient kitchen lighting range between 5,000 and 10,000 lumens, while the task lighting for workstations should be a minimum of 450 lumens in each spot.
Dining Room Fixtures
For your dining room, you'll want lighting that puts a spotlight on your conversations with a nice fixture placed directly above the table. Chandeliers are a common solution and should hang 33 inches above the table in a dining room with an 8-foot ceiling. Dimmers can help create a more relaxed environment, so you have both ambient and task lighting with only a single signature light fixture. Automated smart lights allow you to dim your lights from a keypad or an app on your phone.
It’s important to consider the color of the walls, which will reflect less light if they’re painted a dark shade and therefore require a brighter solution, such as wall sconces, flush-mount, or recessed can lights. For dining rooms with glass French doors that lead to your yard, simply light one outdoor element to eliminate the distracting glass reflection that can hinder your visibility. Overall, we recommend 3,000-6,000 lumens for your dining room ambient and task lighting.
Living Room Lighting
Layered lighting solutions can adapt to the many purposes of your living room. We recommend bouncing light off the ceiling cove or valance lighting for ambient illumination that creates more brightness than the downward direction of a recessed light. For media rooms, a pendant may be the perfect option when your TV is off. Home theaters can benefit from a range of lighting options depending on your preferences. Task lighting can be created with table lamps, while accent lighting may highlight architecture, specific artworks, or other décor.
We’ve been seeing more flexible track lighting that moves, swivels, and rotates to switch up your lighting scheme as your mood changes, which is easier than ever to do with remote-control systems for automated lights. You could even preprogram different automated light settings such as "reading," "entertaining," or "all on/off." Your ambient living room light should be 1,500-3,000 lumens, with task lighting for reading at a minimum of 400 lumens.
Bathroom Lights
The traditional strip of lights above the mirror is not the ideal way to light your bathroom; it casts harsh shadows that warp your face. Instead, we recommend placing pendants or sconces on either side of your mirror for a balanced brilliance that will correctly light up your face as you prepare for the day. In a shared bathroom, adjustable sconces can create the specific lighting needs of each user. Ambient lighting should reach 4,000-8,000 lumens, and we recommend the task lighting at the mirror to be at least 1,700 lumens.
Bedroom Lighting
Your bedroom should act as a relaxing sanctuary, so you don't need much light here. For bedside reading, we recommend an individual wall-mounted fixture on either side of the bed with its own switch within reach. Instead of ceiling-mounted fixtures, ambient lighting will keep the mood calm through floor lamps, wall sconces on either side of a mirror, or gentle architectural lighting. Your closet's recessed or ceiling-mounted fixtures can provide the necessary brightness while choosing your clothing for the day. With smart automated solutions, you can choose specific sets of lights to automatically turn on at a particular time and slowly increase in brightness for a gentle way to greet the day. We suggest 2,000-4,000 lumens for ambient lighting, a minimum of 500 lumens for reading lights, and 400 lumens for close lights.
Lighting for Hallways
Your points of entry and transitional spaces between rooms don't need much more than ambient lighting, which could be provided with wall sconces or a flush-mount ceiling fixture. Motion sensor lighting may be the perfect option to provide just enough visibility to pass at any time of day or night without wasting energy. You can highlight focal points with accent lighting, while a double-height entry with a staircase may require a pendant or chandelier to brighten the space. Your entries and stairways should be 1,200-4,000 lumens, while ambient hallway lighting can be 1,200-2,500 lumens.
Whether you’re renovating your current home’s lighting or considering a layout for a new build, we recommend incorporating automated smart solutions into your design. Whether you have questions about motion sensor capabilities or are ready to install a whole-home centralized system, contact our team at Origin Hi-Fi today to begin!