In the mood? How lighting can influence your home’s ambience.

Whether you’ve got guests coming over for a dinner party or you’ve just finished a stressful day at work and you’ve been looking forward to kicking back on the sofa as soon as you step through the door, the lighting within your home can have a direct effect on the atmosphere it creates. When deciding on the lighting for your home, it may be overwhelming with the amount to choose from.

Don’t worry, we’ve got a few ideas and put together a how to guide to get you started on creating that perfect atmosphere within your home.

When you want to create a welcoming atmosphere within your home, the positioning of your lighting is very important. Although it will produce a more dramatic effect during the winter months when we lose the light earlier in the day, you can make your house look inviting by placing lamps close to the windows to make it look cosy. Something like our Dar Lighting Tripod Floor Lamp placed by a window can create that effect.

So you’ve had a busy day at work and you just want to kick your feet up and relax, we’ve got the perfect solution. You’ve probably seen these popping up in all the new trendy bars and restaurants. We’re talking about Filament Bulbs – which come in varied styles and are best hung from the ceiling using something like our David Hunt Lighting Ceiling Pendant. With their warm colour and interesting

filament design, they create a very relaxing atmosphere allowing you to unwind once you’re home. Make sure you install a dimmer so you can adjust the intensity of the light – too much glare and your eyes won’t get a chance to rest.

One place where you need the light is the kitchen. Not only do you need the light to prepare food and navigate around the oodles of doors and drawers, the kitchen is often the place of congregation when you have guests over at your home. Using bright and vibrant lighting helps create an atmosphere that encourages people to engage in conversation with each other. LED lights in the kitchen are a good choice because they are very versatile and also produce a vivid light. You can use them in a traditional bulb form or in something like our Firstlight LED Strip Light, which can be placed under kitchen units to illuminate the worktop.

There comes times when you have to make the outside of your home just as inviting as the inside. In the summer months we usually hold garden parties and BBQ’s, all of which require lighting for when the sun begins to fade on these warm nights. This is a great opportunity to use Solar Lighting as it saves you the job of finding and unwinding those extension cables which can become a hazard if the great British weather suddenly turns. The use of solar lights in the garden creates a great party atmosphere as it means you won’t have to pack up and head indoors as soon as the sun sets.

Maybe you want to treat your partner to a home cooked meal at the dining table? You can use the traditional candle on the table to create a welcoming atmosphere, but you’ll still need extra light fed into the dining room. You want to have enough light so you can see what you’re eating and soft enough to give that romantic feel. As suggested earlier, a dimmer switch is a great way to achieve this effect so you can control the intensity of the light easily. Also, have the lights positioned so the light spreads evenly over the table so one of you isn’t left in the shadows.