Last week on Instagram I spoke about how the color of the light bulbs that you choose for your lighting fixtures affects the mood of the room. Selecting the right color bulb can be the difference between a space that’s warm and relaxing or one that makes you feel attentive and focused.

If you’ve been following me for a while, you will know that I love to match unique and eye-catching furnishings with bold colors and patterns in my interior projects. Instead of giving you a long course on light bulbs, I’d like to highlight a few fixtures from my projects and share with you a few tips for selecting the perfect lighting fixtures for your home.

A Few of My Favorites

Copper-Coated Labor of Love

The Labor of Love project is a fan-favorite and one of my most successful projects to-date. This home has several awesome fixtures throughout its different rooms; but if I had to choose one, it would be this fancy copper sphere light that was installed in the dining room above the dinner table. It is the perfect fit for this dining room and the copper (bronze) is a nice balance for the clean, white interiors and bold moldings.

Geometric Flowing with the Petersons

This geometric chandelier in the Peterson’s house was the perfect contrast to the spherical lights installed over the kitchen countertops. When helping my clients select furnishings and appliances for their space, I give a lot of consideration to how the different pieces fit with their personalities. Let’s just say the geometric flow of this chandelier fit right in with this very analytical, hard-working couple.

Let’s Keep it Beal

This tiered chandelier that was installed in the Beal’s Home Office did not disappoint. When you have a fixture as fabulous as this one, you don’t want to overwhelm the eyes by doing too much! In this case, less is definitely more. Because we decided to take a minimalist approach, we had the opportunity to pick a fixture that was grand and made a statement.

Step Your Lighting Game Up

If you’re interested in stepping up the lighting game in your home, check out this slideshow of fancy chandeliers that you can purchase right now and have shipped to your home.

3 Tips on Selecting Lighting Fixtures for Your Home

When remodeling your living spaces, it can be hard to narrow down your selections when it comes to furnishings. You might find yourself with a pool of 5-10 options to choose from and no criteria to help you narrow it down. I’d like to give you three things to keep in mind while you’re going through this process.

1.Choose lighting fixtures based on the room that they will be installed in.

Each room in your house serves a different purpose. With that in mind, the type of lighting fixtures, the intensity of the light bulbs, and the location of the lighting fixtures will depend largely upon the intended purpose of the room.

Kitchen - A kitchen will typically need several types of lighting. For ambient lighting, choose a ceiling fixture that will evenly distribute light around the entire space. For work spaces such as islands and counter tops, pendant lights are a great choice. Use accent lighting such as tape-lights to illuminate the area for late night kitchen runs.
Dining Rooms - Dining rooms are typically used for socializing. Selecting a fixture such as a chandelier or recessed can lighting would provide great overall lighting to the area that is not too dim or too bright.
Living Rooms - Living rooms are multi-purpose spaces so want to consider lighting sources that can easily adapt to different activities. Flexible track light is great for this space because it provides ambient, task, and accent lighting all-in-one. For living spaces with a television present, adding pendant lights could be a great choice to reduce glare.
Bathrooms - In a space as personal as a bathroom, you want the lighting to be flattering. Pendants or sconces placed on either side of the mirror are great for providing more balanced lighting with the least amount of shadows. Overhead lights are not advised in this space.

2. Choose lighting fixtures based on the amount of space that you have available.

Space-planning, as I’ve said before, is very important when remodeling and furnishing your homes. You want to make sure that the pieces that you choose don’t overwhelm the space that they’re in. If you are considering hanging fixtures such as pendant lights or chandeliers, you want to allow space between the fixture and any surfaces that may be beneath it. Here are a few rules of thumb:

Pendant lighting - Allow 35-40 inches between the fixture and the surface
Chandelier - Allow 33 inches between the fixture and the surface for an 8-foot ceiling. For every foot above 8 feet, add 3 inches to the above-surface measurement.

3. Choose lighting intensity based on the mood that you’d like to set in the room.

When considering lighting sources for your space, the intensity and the color of the light are the most important parts of the equation. For the most part, how you feel in a particular room is largely dependent upon these two factors. Color not only creates the atmosphere, it also has a significant impact on our bodies. The more intense the lighting, the more intense your emotions may be - whether positive or negative. When choosing the color of your lighting sources, consider these tips

Red is known as the libido booster. It gives more energy and is ideal for people who are often tired after a long day at work.
Yellow is known as the depression killer. Yellow color therapy has used to combat depression and difficult digestion.
Blue is known as the bringer of peace. Blue has been known to calm people down and is great for people who suffer migraines and high blood pressure.
Green is known as the strength provider. As the color of nature, green light therapy has been used to boost your body’s immune system and strengthen muscles.
Purple is known as the nightcap. Purple can help to reduce emotional and mental stress and help you fall asleep.
Orange is the creativity source. Orange has been known to stimulate the creative thought process and help you develop new ideas.

If you’ve found these tips helpful or you’ve used them in the remodeling of your space, please share your thoughts below. Don’t forget to signup for the newsletter to receive more content from the team here at LA Weddings & Interiors!

3 Tips on Picking the Perfect Lighting Fixtures for Your Home