Lighting is one of the most underused design elements in home decorating today. You can choose the most stunning furniture, drapery, paint color and accessories, but your space is not totally finished until you consider the lighting. Lighting design is uncomplicated. Just start off with the basics – there are three layers of lighting and you want to be sure to include all three forms of light throughout your room. As a basic guideline, remember – an overabundance of light will make the room seem washed out and not enough light will make the room become uninviting and boring.

start off with general or ambient lighting. It is the major source of lighting in a room. Chandeliers over tables or an overhead light in the center of the room are great examples. All you really have to do is establish where the major activity will happen in the room and locate the light there. Also think about a dimmer switch on an ambient light source. It will let you control the mood of the room with the touch of a button. Most people stop once the ambient light source is finished. But that is a mistake.

The next stage is to look around the room and ascertain if there are certain items or features in a room that would increase visual interest. This is known as accent lighting. All you have to do is ask yourself what you’d like to highlight. Think of accent lighting as a mini-spotlight drawing interest to an item or space. Unless your room is very spacious, one or two items is enough, but even a single accent light can add quite an effect. traditional examples of accent lighting include artwork, sculptures, recesses in the wall or a can light above the fireplace angled down on the mantle. Accent lights are vibrant and are focused on a tiny space to bring out the details of the item.

The last stage is to take into account adding a task light to the layering. Many rooms will be alright without task lighting, but some, particularly the kitchen, bathroom or office will certainly benefit from task lighting. Task lighting concentrates a beam of light on a precise spot to make it easy to highlight details of whatever is being focused on – reading, sewing, food preparation or working on hobbies like puzzles, models or painting are good examples of pursuits that require task lights.

Installing new lighting is not tough, but it can be challenging. If you’re not comfortable working with electricity, and you will need electrical support, remember to call a professional electrician.