Lighting and Your Home

To select lighting for your home, you must first consider the room you're trying to illuminate. In a living or family room for example, you'll want to include general lighting for entertaining and watching television, task lighting for reading, and accent lighting to highlight artwork, plants, and other items of interest. In the kitchen, you'll require task lighting for cooking and other chores, and also general lighting for gathering with family and friends. In the bedroom, you'll want to create an overall atmosphere of quiet relaxation, while providing some task lighting for reading and other activities. Similarly, in the bathroom, you'll require task and general lighting

HALL AND FOYER:

Hall and foyer fixtures can create a welcoming atmosphere, while providing you with the general lighting you need to greet guests and assure safe passage into other areas of your home. Use flush and semi-flush fixtures, large chandeliers or pendants and sconces in hallways, stairways, and foyers.

HOW TO SIZE A FOYER FIXTURE

• To determine the overall height of a hall or foyer fixture, always keep in mind the bottom of the fixture should be at least 7 feet from the floor. This will determine whether you use a flush, semi-flush, or if you have a tall ceiling, a multi-tiered chandelier.
• When sizing a chandelier or pendant for your foyer, add the length and width dimensions of the foyer area together and convert the total into inches. Example: The area is 18 feet by 14 feet. Added together this equals 32 feet. Then convert your sum to inches: the chandelier's diameter should be approximately 32" in width.
• In a two-story foyer, if there is a window above the front door, center the chandelier so it can be seen from outside. If the foyer is extra-large, you may also want to install sconces in the foyer. Sconces should be installed 60" from the floor and 6 - 8 feet apart.
• Since most standard ceiling outlet boxes will only hold a maximum of 50lbs., some large chandeliers and foyer pendants require special mounting hardware. Fixtures weighing more than 50lbs. will come with additional heavy-duty support hardware and complete installation instructions

CHANDELIERS:

Chandeliers add sparkle and style to your dining room or foyer and provide general lighting needed for dining and entertaining. While chandeliers are traditionally hung in a dining room or foyer, a new trend is to hang chandeliers in other rooms such as the bedroom, living room and larger bathrooms. Mini-chandeliers are particularly great for adding drama when used in unexpected places like a powder room, hallway, or walk-in closet.

SIZING A CHANDELIER

To size a chandelier for your dining room or bedroom, you’ll need to measure the length and width of the room and add those figures together. The sum, converted to inches, will equal the diameter of the correct size chandelier. In the dining room, if this measurement seems inappropriate due to the size of your table, size your chandelier based on the width of your table. Take the width of your table and subtract 12 inches and that will equal the maximum diameter of your chandelier. If your table is 42 inches wide, you will have a maximum diameter of 30 inches for your chandelier. The bottom of the chandelier should be approximately 30-32 inches above the top of your table

PENDANTS:

Large inverted bowl pendants can be used in the foyer or dining room for general decorative lighting. Mini- or mid-pendants can provide task lighting when clustered over a kitchen island or a pool table. Think about using a pendant over end or night tables. They free up space usually occupied by table lamps. Outdoor pendants on a covered porch create a welcoming glow and provide security and safety outside your home.

FLUSH MOUNTS:

Ceiling fixtures, or “flush mounts,” can provide decorative general lighting. They are practical in busy areas such as hallways, bedrooms, kitchens, baths, laundry rooms, playrooms, dens, or areas where the ceiling is too low to accommodate a chain-hung fixture.

DECORATIVE SCONCES:

Wall-mounted fixtures, or “sconces”, can easily provide general, task, or accent lighting. Many sconces are designed to match and complement chandelier or foyer families. Sconces can be used in all areas of the home and are often used as accent lighting above the mantle and fireplace, above the buffet in the dining room, or lining the stairway or hallway.

BATH FIXTURES:

Bath fixtures supply task lighting in addition to supplementing the general lighting provided by ceiling fixtures. In the bathroom, you need plenty of even, shadow-free lighting for shaving, grooming, and applying makeup. In small powder rooms, single-light sconces will illuminate the entire room, but in larger bathrooms, an additional pendant, mini-chandelier, or flush-mounted fixture is needed for general lighting.

OUTDOOR LANTERNS:

Outdoor lighting enhances the beauty of your property, makes your home safer, more secure, and increases the number of pleasurable hours you spend outdoors. A well-lit front entrance enables you to greet guests and identify visitors. Wall lanterns on each side of the door will give your home a warm, welcoming look, while assuring the safety of those who enter. Under a porch or overhang, use a pendant or outdoor flush-mount fixture.

• A separate rear or side entrance can be lit with a single wall lantern installed on the keyhole side of the door. For the safety and security of family members using the garage at night, you can install a wall fixture on the face of the garage.
• When it comes to choosing your outdoor fixtures, less is more. For a dramatic effect, use lower-wattage lamps. If additional light is required to light the surrounding area, consider using low-voltage landscape lighting.
• Steps, paths, and driveways should be illuminated to make sure family members and guests are able to move about easily and safely after dark. You can install path lights, post lanterns, or attach lights to the side of the house. Low-level path lights, which spread circular patterns of light, will illuminate your walkway while highlighting nearby flowerbeds, shrubs, and ground cover.
• Decks, porches, and patios can be converted into evening retreats by concealing low-voltage lights under steps, railings, or benches. Another technique is to install a spotlight flooding down from the branches of a nearby tree creating a moonlight effect.

HOW TO SIZE AN OUTDOOR LANTERN

One of the biggest challenges of outdoor lighting is selecting the right-sized outdoor lantern.

• The height of a lantern should be based on the height of the door. If a lantern is only used on one side, it should be approximately one-third the height of the door. When two lanterns are used on either side of the door, they should each be approximately one-fourth the height of the door. In either case, if you choose a fixture with a long tail or top scroll, be cautious of the overall bulk of the fixture as the height should approximate one-half the visual height of the door.
• The lanterns should be mounted so the filament of the bulb is approximately 66” above the threshold of the door. Depending on the outlet box location, different mounting arms (on the top or bottom) can be selected to place the filament correctly.
• Don’t undersize your lanterns – As a rule of thumb, lanterns will appear about half the size from 50 feet away. Visualize the front of your home as guests and neighbors would view it from the street, and when in doubt, always go larger