Choosing the correct lighting for your Toronto home can be a tricky proposition. There are so many varieties of lighting and fixtures available that deciding on the perfect illumination can take some time.
There are three types of light in a home: ambient, task and accent.
Ambient lighting is the light that fills the room. More modern ambient lights tend to come from pot lights, although fixed centre ceiling lights are still quite common. The amount of ambient light in each room of your home will vary with kitchens and bathrooms requiring the most light.
Task lighting refers to lighting used for specific applications – to help you apply makeup, read a book or work easily on a counter. Task lighting need not be hardwired into your walls – although it can, but can also come in the form of lamps sitting on desks or floors, bulbs on mirrors hanging in your room or even be mounted on a wall. Task lighting really is meant to provide light in a very small area.
Accent lighting is meant to be decorative and to draw the eye to a specific object or spot in the room. Accent lights come from any number of light fixtures, but are usually the kind that can be directionally focused on one area or object.
Usually a good lighting design incorporates all three forms of lighting into a home. For instance, kitchens usually have ambient lighting in the form of pot lights on the ceiling, task lighting in the form of under cabinet lighting and accent lighting in the form of pendant lights over the centre island. Bedrooms usually have one overhead ambient light and smaller task lighting for bedside reading.
The kind of lighting fixtures chosen will have a huge impact on the look of your overall home design. Whether it is recessed, flush mounted, pendant, chandelier or sconces will help pull your room’s style together. So, when choosing lighting for your home, it is best to have a unified look or theme. Whether your home has a modern design sensibility, a contemporary aesthetic, a traditional feel or a country-home vibe, the correct lights will go a long way towards creating the kind of ambiance that will make your house a home.
