LIGHTING
When consulting with the client about designing their room and choosing fabrics, lighting is an important consideration. Almost any room can be made to look better and to function more effectively with the right lighting. L IGHT ING I S A COMPLEX SUBJECT:
• Natural light infuses a room with life. There is a great difference in how colors and fabrics appear when they are in bright sunlight or on a gloomy gray day, the difference is in the intensity of light and depth of shadow. • Artificial light can imitate nature in its large range of effects. The quality of artificial light is as much about shadow as illumination. Both are important. • Standard incandescent light bulbs show more red, orange and yellow colors. • Fluorescent light, which had a bad name in the past, is now often color-corrected to simulate daylight. Fluorescents are available in standard tubes as well as in bulbs that fit screw-in sockets (CFLs). • Halogen bulbs produce the whitest light of any bulb and do not influence the color of furnishings or art, they’re considered the best choice for task lighting. • Soft white bulbs are usually a good choice – especially for shades that are see-thru. CFLs are not a good choice for see-thru shades. • LEDs (light emitting diodes) are essentially a miniature light source encased in a plastic lens. LED lighting is ultra-compact and more efficient than incandescent bulbs (some reports say up to 85% more efficient) and 10% more efficient than CFLs. They produce minimal heat and there is no filament to burn out (they can last up to 20 years), and they don’t contain mercury or other toxic materials. • If there is a glare from the lamp, the wattage is too high.
• The Kelvin Scale is used to measure the temperature of color of a particular lightbulb. Household fixtures are commonly found in color temperatures on the Kelvin scale of 2700K (warm incandescent), 3000K (warm white halogen) and 3500K (household fluorescent). Color temperatures higher than 3500K are typically used for commercial and hospital applications. • Discuss the lighting plan for daily activities versus entertaining when creating the lighting plan as these different situations require different lighting. • Is lighting critical for the function of the room? • What mood do they like to set when entertaining? • Many homes are built with a lot of built in lighting these days, to ensure you suggest a complete lighting plan ask questions about their built in fixtures. • Consider safety and comfort when creating a lighting plan: improper placing of lighting can lead to serious accidents. Wires should not be placed where people might trip over them and switches should be easily reachable. • Encourage your clients to use swatches of their fabrics to view the colors in their homes with their wall color and lighting (and at different times of day/night).
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