By: Amanda Gibbons, General Manager of Sunlighting, Ltd.

As lighting is one of the most essential design features in your home it is important to understand the fundamentals of lighting design and layout. The lighting in your home should not only reflect the style of your home and its décor, but it should reflect and complement you and your lifestyle as well. It is very important that the lighting in your home not just look amazing, but be functional as well. This is where “lighting layers” come in.

We all know what layering is; we wear layers during a cold to hot temperature day, we create layers with ingredients when we cook, and for women, we use make-up in layers too. The same principals apply to the lighting in our homes and can create a stunningly beautiful yet very functional effect.

There are three basic types of lighting: general, task and accent. Most of the time we employ only one or two of these types, but it is essential to use all three when trying to create a practical lighting design scheme. Where to start? Start by taking each room in your home and categorizing it as a functional room or a decorative space. Functional rooms such as kitchens, bathrooms, and offices will most likely use all three types of lighting and homeowners will use the layers more frequently. Areas such as bedrooms, dining rooms, and outdoor light landscaping will most likely lean toward the decorative aspects of lighting rather than the purely functional.

General lighting can be achieved by using the largest fixture or wattage within a space and should be the main lighting focal point. In today’s market, where many people own larger homes with high ceilings and vast spaces, consumers are using chandeliers in non-traditional ways. Chandeliers can be found in bathrooms, bedrooms, hallways, even mudrooms which can help take up some of the visual space. Recessed lighting plays a major role in the general lighting of newer homes as it creates a large amount of light very unobtrusively. Lighting companies have now expanded their recessed lighting lines to include decorative trims, which is an easy face-lift to dingy tired trims without spending a lot of money.

Take a look at your lifestyle as well. Do you have children? Where do they do their homework? Where do you spend most of your time as a family? These questions should lead you to decide where you will need most of your task lighting. There are so many decorative options available now for task lighting. Pendant lighting, recessed lighting, track lighting, or under-cabinet lighting are all examples of task lighting that give you countless options as far as decorating style. All of these come in a variety of finishes, materials, and glass options. Current lighting trends are leading customers to select natural finishes, fixtures with simple lines and an unusual glass shape or color.

The last layer is accent lighting. It can be used in almost every room where you want to highlight a certain aspect within a certain space. This includes any artwork, fireplaces, or display cabinets. What do you want your guests to see and focus on when they visit? Wall sconces are a wonderful addition to any large room to help equalize an oversized space and yet they create an architectural detail that is both dramatic and adds to the general illumination of your room.

Table lamps are often overlooked as an easy way to instantly update your home décor. Gone are the days where heavy brass lamps are handed down through the generations that probably cost a fortune when purchased. Now they are being replaced with simple home accent lamps that are inexpensive and can be updated every few years to match the current trends. Adding fresh paint and new lamps can easily update your home without spending a significant amount of money. However, when you buy, buy quality. Choose metal finishes or castings, do not buy anything with plastic as those will tend to look dated even within a few months. Select a lamp with a silk shade rather than a parchment or paper shade as those will discolor within a few years.

As summer approaches and we start to look to our homes with a new light, consider updating your lighting scheme using the “layers of light.” Most of the time changing out your lighting is simple and easy and does not cost as much as replacing furniture or building additions or even remodeling rooms. Walk through some model homes in your area and take notes as to what you see in the way of lighting. Dramatic lighting can be seen in almost all new homes and, I promise, it is easy to do. Come in to Sunlighting and we will show you how!

For more information, contact Sunlighting, Ltd. at 302.998.7779 or stop by their showroom at 115 Kirkwood Square, right off Kirkwood Highway entrance to Delaware Park in Wilmington, DE. Sunlighting is open Mon-Thurs 10-6, Fri 10-9, Sat 10-5, Sun 12-5.