We all want a beautiful home. Let’s start wondering. A huge living room with varied pieces of art, a nice and big dining room reflecting grandeur, a king-size bedroom with a surreal view and rooms to accommodate your unending imagination.

For the audience that has it, well, bravo! But for most of you- Alas! Welcome back to the real world.

Now, what if you were walking through your dream in that beautiful house and it was dark all around?

What if the art pieces hung on the walls in darkness and the crockery lied on the table under poor lighting?

As good as the interiors and decor of your house may be, well-planned lighting impacts the way one sees it.

You could resort to the conventional idea of general lighting or, you could try the idea of layered lighting in your home. Layered lighting is an effective method of lighting in the world of lighting design.

What is Layered lighting?

As the name suggests, layered lighting refers to the usage of multiple types of lighting to distinguish different layers and spaces within a room. This lends a balanced and well-lit ambiance to the room.

The layers are broadly divided into three- Overall/Ambient lighting, task lighting, and accent lighting.

Overall/Ambient lighting

Overall/Ambient lighting is a general illumination of the room. When you open the door and turn on the light, it is this layer of light that enables the task of vision.

You could consider the use of pendant lighting, wall sconces, coves, chandeliers, torchiere, flush mount lamps, table lamps, floor lamps, etc as the instruments of ambient lighting. Broadly speaking, almost all types of lighting can be accommodated into the frontiers of overall illumination depending on your need and innovative capacity.

While considering your options for this lighting, estimate the number of lumens desirable for general illumination. Ideally, one square foot in a room demands 20 lumens of ambient lighting.

Task Lighting

While ambient lighting enables vision, it is not enough to undertake particular activities

like studying, cooking, makeup, reading, etc.

This is why task lighting forms another layer of lighting and complements the overall layer of lighting.

If you often find yourself struggling to get the right angle to work in a room, task lighting is the solution to your problem. Pendant lighting, under cabinet lighting (commonly found in kitchens), floor lamps, lighted mirror, table lamps and desk lamps, etc could be ideally used to create the required lighting environment.

These layers of lighting play a functional role in illumination but, accent lighting plays a role in highlighting the decor of the room.

Accent lighting

Accent lighting adds impact and effect on the defining features of a particular space. Ideally, accent lighting must be brighter than overall lighting to stand out from the rest. Use accent lighting to accessorize the wall art, paintings, photos and showpieces in your living space. Uplighting, cove lighting, track lighting, counter lighting, recessed lighting, wall sconces, etc fit in perfectly to dramatize the required elements.

You are free to customize your layout of light layering. Explore different types of lighting and accommodate them into your personalized layout.

Once you achieve this, you are all set to control the lighting abilities of your living space as per your desire and mood. Dim, bright, dull, or romantic- you are the master of your choices.