How to Get the Light Right in Your Living Space

[caption id="attachment_764" align="aligncenter" width="560"] Kichler Lighting using LED tape in the kitchen[/caption]

Ever struggled over how to make your furniture and decor look great in the light of your living space? Most of us have experienced bad lighting, not the ghastly fluorescent kind you experience in office and commercial settings but the kind that makes your stuff look different at home than when you bought it in the store. You can blame it on the color temperature of light. The way your eye sees the object and interprets color will vary depending on whether you are using a warm colored light or cooler colored light. The color of light is measured in Kelvins, the higher the Kelvin number, the cooler or bluer the light appears. Lower Kelvin temperatures from 2700K to 3000K emit a warmer light.

[caption id="attachment_766" align="aligncenter" width="560"] Kichler Lighting using LED tape in the bathroom.[/caption]

I recently returned from the National Kitchen and Bath Show in New Orleans where I met with Lighting Expert Jeff Dross with Kichler Lighting and he sums it up best:
"The advice I would give for the selection of light bulbs is to look for something 2700K or 3000K. If your decor uses  beige neutrals or warmer colors, then go with a color temperature of 2700K. For a cooler color scheme with gray neutrals, I think a color temperature of 3000K works well." Dross also advises consumers to select a light bulb that is Energy Star Qualified because it guarantees a minimum CRI of 80 (CRI is the ability of a light bulb to accurately render color). Any light bulb with a CRI of 80 or above is decent quality. Energy Star rated bulbs also guarantee a minimum operating time of 6000 hours.



In my quest to understand the ever-elusive subject of lighting, I have interviewed numerous lighting designers and manufacturers to distill the information down in a way that makes sense to us all. So here's a look at how to get the light right in your living space.

As a writer for Houzz, I have put together this lighting ideabook below that can be your guide.

How Lights Can Make Your Stuff Look Better

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