Some advice for beginners

Impenetrable darkness beyond an ice-covered window is a frame for the light and colour of the room, where people are waiting for winter holidays. “Blast like a bomb, sun”, destroying the most popular illness — seasonal depression. Let there be light! It is not a secret for anyone that the interior of a flat and general impression about the premises depend on the colour palette of the premises and their light decoration rather than on expensive furniture and de luxe floor. At that, light sources, their distribution within the interior and colour of the light flux are of primary importance.

Creating unusual light compositions within the interior, please try not to forget that different light sources cause different emotions.

The composition of the emitted light influences not only our mood but the perception of objects that surround us as well. For example, the larger is the blue component of the spectrum, i.e. the higher the temperature of the lamp incandescence, the sharper the contours of the interior objects seem to us. Neon lamps are an exception; their spectrum does not depend on the temperature regime but on the colour of the phosphor used.

The lower is the temperature of the incandescence, the softer are the contours of objects. Warm yellow light from low-temperature light sources “weakens”, while bright white light makes one feel more vigorous and able to work.

There can be only one bright colour accent in the interior. Selecting coloured light fixtures for your interior, please decide what kind of emotions you wish to feel in this or that room. Remember that light gets weaker after going through coloured filters, and not all colours are suitable for all types of premises equally well. Selecting a coloured luminaire, pay attention to the colour of walls, floor and furniture in your interior. 

Cold blue light sources are not suitable for the warm beige interior and vice versa. The red colour looks good in a sitting-room or anteroom — it invigorates and makes one’s attention sharper. The universal green light is suitable everywhere, especially in the study and sitting-room, while, in the bedroom, softer green light contributes to deep and undisturbed sleep. Blue looks effectively in the bathroom, it stresses the whiteness of ceramic tiles and chromium-plated surfaces of taps. 

The violet colour is very unusual – only very few people dare to use it in the interior design, but psychologists state that it stimulates human creative abilities. The only time when that colour could be excessive is the period of the winter depression. During that time period, the light saturation of a room should be closer to the natural lighting, i.e. uniform white colour with yellow fragments should be emitted.

If your ceiling is low

It would be better to reject the idea of a massive crystal chandelier – it will "press" the head. Cold light colours and shining textures make the ceiling visually higher. If the ceiling is illuminated by a linear light source, there will be a very interesting effect of the ceiling "hovering" over the room.

If your room is small

It is possible to widen space by uniform illumination of the walls and lower corners — the room will become larger visually. If it is necessary to make space narrower, illuminate the upper corners. In order make a rectangular room look like a square one, a light accent is made on the farthest wall, which is added to the monotonous illumination of three other walls. Antique fans often use massive standard lamps.

A room is easily subdivided into zones with their assistance. If you have a combined kitchen — sitting-room in your interior, the zoned lighting would allow to "switch off" this or that zone, by simply switching off or dimming the light there. It is particularly important in small-size flats, where the working place is combined with the recreation zone.

The zoned lighting is important and very convenient in large premises as well; it is regulated simply using a centralised (wall) or remote control panel (IR, RM). It is not difficult to adjust the atmosphere of comfort, let us say, during a birthday, business meeting or simple evening – it is sufficient to programme your lighting system. Try to experiment with “singling out by light” of separate items of the interior.

Make a light accent on your favourite vase, figurine or African palm-tree – it will cast an effective shadow on the wall. Illuminate a painting, panneau or photograph by point (halogen, LED) or linear (bank of lamps) luminaires.

Lighting in anterooms

The light there must not be dazzling. The anteroom has several functions: you look at yourself in the mirror for the last time before going out there; consequently, the combination of the mirror and the lighting in the anteroom must be right. On the other hand, when one returns home, he enters the anteroom first, and the anteroom is the item "making you feel at home" – the lighting must be warm and comfortable there.

An anteroom must be sufficiently brightly lit, but no brighter than all other rooms. If the anteroom is too dark, it causes the feeling of psychological discomfort in people, just like a too brightly lit one. Diffused light directed towards the ceiling is the ideal solution for an anteroom. When premises are illuminated by light reflected from the ceiling, dark shadow spots disappear, and the walls seem visually higher. If your anteroom adjoins not only the corridor but other rooms as well, it is desirable to have an additional luminaire with moderate intensity for permanent illumination.The principle of the "second light", which comes from glazed wall surfaces and partitions made of glass blocks will make your anteroom more colourful.

There is a functional as well as original solution: luminaries with special switches based on movement or heat sensors. In this case, lighting is switched on when a human arrives in the territory, while the sensors must be installed at such height that they would ignore the arrival of pets. It is possible to eliminate the shortcomings of an elongated anteroom, which looks "too close", too narrow and lacking comfort, with the bright illumination of the walls using scattered point luminaires, directed towards the walls, or linear diffused light, spreading along the wall.It is recommended to zone premises with irregular configuration, accentuating separate components of the interior.

Mirrors and light in anterooms

A combination of light with mirrors looks very effective — a luminaire placed above the mirror effectively stresses your charm.They visually widen space, but, if light sources are situated on the sides of the mirror, the light, doubling, dazzles you and makes defects in the make-up more visible. A large mirror should be hung in the anteroom, best of all — of the human height. The light should be directed from the mirror in a uniform fashion; then you would avoid the appearance of shadows. Do not use blue luminaries for the illumination of mirrors — your reflection will look cadaverous.

Sitting-room

It is the main room of a house. Combined lighting will ensure the zoning of space there as well. If your sitting-room serves as a dining-room as well, hang a bright light source over the dining table, and place a cosy lamp with a shade at the coffee table. Shades of green are suitable for the decoration of the dining-room — they make one calmer and make intercourse easier. The section of the premises meant for conversations must have sufficient lighting – in that case a person understands his importance and actively participates in the conversation. Using a certain lighting-technical approach, this area could serve as a spot for intimate conversations. Irrespective of the size of your sitting-room, use luminaries with adjustable lighting (with a dimmer), which will allow you to vary the surrounding atmosphere without great difficulties.

Kitchen

Intensive lighting is necessary for the working surfaces. The use of point or linear luminaries, built in the kitchen furniture, is a popular solution of that problem. The main thing is that the open light must not be dazzling. The blue colour is the only taboo in the kitchen design, since it makes the food look less attractive. It is good to experiment with that colour in bathrooms and toilets, in order to stress the whiteness of ceramic tiles, faience and chromium.

Bedroom

The bedroom lighting must be soft and diffused. Luminaires with rounded configurations look very well there; they make the interior light and airy. The bedroom is the place suitable for dome lamps and shades made of frosted glass, fabric or paper. A usual ceiling luminaire would be suitable for the general bedroom lighting, directing the light flux, predominantly, towards the ceiling and the upper part of the walls. It is absolutely unnecessary to place the main light source in the centre of the room. E.g., the space above the bed is suitable for that.
Special attention should be paid to the toilet table. Equip it with lamps with different light temperature — cold for the daytime and warm for the night. It will help to choose the right makeup just before going out.