Lighting

The types of home lighting include table lamps, floor lamps, pendants and chandeliers, ceiling lights and sconces, task lights and outdoor lights. Use our expert Free Design Services to choose the best lighting for each room in your home. Our helpful design associates can help you customize your home lighting to fit your design style. If you want to get inspired, check out our galleries Lighting Ideas or Pendant Ideas. The best types of lighting for different areas of the home are generally: table lamps and floor lamps for living rooms and bedrooms, chandeliers and pendants for dining rooms, ceiling lights for kitchens and task lights for offices.

Lighting temperature refers to degrees on the Kelvin scale, where a lower number is warmer light and a higher number is cooler light. A higher number of lumens means a light is brighter, while a lower number means it’s dimmer. Use LED bulbs between 2700-3500 degrees Kelvin (similar to an incandescent bulb), to get soft, even lighting and help save energy. When it comes to brightness, a home office may need 7,000 lumens while a dining room may flourish with only 4,000 lumens.

Use light bulbs with the same color temperature throughout a room for consistency. Think about other light sources in your room, including overhead or recessed lights and natural light from windows or skylights, and how the light changes throughout the day. Lighting with a three-way socket or dimmer switch allows you to adjust the light level, making it more versatile.

To create a warm and inviting space, use table lamps, floor lamps, task lights and natural light. Use our guide How To Light Your Room to learn how to layer lighting in your home. Sometimes overhead lights like sconces, pendants and chandeliers can be too bright.  Other times they can be a tasteful addition, especially if they have dimming functionality or you want a brighter light (such as above your kitchen or dining room). You can create mood lighting in your home by using fabric shades and warmer temperature lights with three-way switches or dimming functionality to lower the lighting level.

To improve the lighting in your kitchen, hang pendants about 28-34″ above your dining table or kitchen island. Choose light fixtures that are about 12 inches smaller than the width of your table for the best proportions.

To improve the lighting in your bathroom, add scones on either side of your bathroom mirror for even lighting on your face. Consider adding overhead lights with dimming functionality to easily change the mood of the room.