:: Enhancing room décor with proper lighting ::

Ayesha Sandhu The writer is a professional interior designer

Lots of people think lighting is one of the elements of interior design that should be considered in the end or at the time of the final finishes to the room. On the contrary, a number of people like me think that lighting can dramatically change the mood of the room and it needs proper planning like the other elements, right from the beginning of project.

You have might have observed that different colours and fabrics come out different in different lights. Therefore right from the beginning of designing decide what kind of light you need; for example, do you need yellow light or white light for that particular room? First of all, you have to decide that what kind of activity will the room be used for, then decide what kind of light you require you in the room. Then check your selected colour scheme and fabrics in your selected light and check if both these colours and fabrics look good or unpleasant in the selected light.

Once you decide about the light you need for your room, the second issue related to light comes the amount of light for your room. The amount of light does not at all mean how many bulbs you need to illuminate your room, this mean: the number of watts of lighting you need for your room. You can calculate the accurate amount or watts of lighting by yourself with some easy calculations which I give as follows: first you have to measure the accurate length and breadth of your room then you have to multiply length of the room by breadth of the room by 1.5 (LxBx1.5). After this simple multiplication you will have the accurate watts of light you need to illuminate a normal room. For work areas like study, laundry or studio more lighting is required so the calculation will be like length of the room multiplied by breath by 2.5 (LxBx2.5).

If you have a multifunctional room like a TV lounge or bed room, rooms where your kids do their homework, relax, play, chat or watch TV, you require different amounts of light during different activities. Dimmers are an ideal solution for multifunctional rooms because you can adjust the amount of light according to your ongoing activity.

Now you need suitable lights near to your desired watts of lighting. For this purpose visit light shops in different areas because in different areas you will see different varieties of lighting. Select any light you like and tell the shopkeeper the number of watts you need for your room and they will fit in bulbs in your lamps or chandelier according to your requirement.

Another important thing is the fixing of lights at the proper height. Eight feet from floor to ceiling is considering an ideal height for the fixing of a light. When we talk about height then another issue comes to mind, the width of the light, especially when we deal with a chandelier. The diameter of a chandelier is another issue after the height of the light. Like watts you can also calculate by yourself the diameter of the chandelier: Length of the room + breadth of the room (L+B) and you will have an approximate diameter of a chandelier according to your room size.

Besides wall fixtures, floor lamps and table lamps, try different casual hanging lights, not only for the centre of the room, but in less formal rooms instead of the centre try them in the corners of the room. Try to brighten the corners of your small room so that your room looks good. Avoid large floor vases; place some sleek and stylish floor lamps in the corners. Try these lighting ideas in your rooms and feel the difference.