Lighting does more than simply enable sight, designers are now experimenting with how lighting can affect mood and improve well-being.
Lighting can be designed to create a certain atmosphere, environment or even feeling. Experimenting with lighting is an excellent way to alter the way you experience your home, whether you want a brightly lit, mood boosting living room or a more relaxing, low lit bedroom.
Mood Lighting Innovations
Lighting designers are experimenting with the use of light to reduce stress levels and help improve health and well-being. In unfamiliar places and stressful situations, a welcome distraction can alleviate these negative emotions.
Hospitals are adopting new lighting innovations for the benefit of their patients. London’s Great Ormond Street Hospital have transformed the corridor to the surgery room into an interactive ‘Nature Trail.’ The illuminated nature trail wall helps both engage and soothe children who are on their way to the operating room. Animated glowing gold forest animals, including rabbits, hedgehogs and deer, come to life and move across the wall when the sensors in the ceiling detect movement.
Using Mood Lighting in the Home
When we think about lighting, we should think about it in layers. We need task lighting for practical daily living, ambient lighting to enhance our surroundings and our mood, and accent lighting to highlight our home’s most beautiful decorative features.
For task lighting, overhead track lights, ceiling fans or recessed lights work well. To create ambiance and highlight features, consider using uplights and downlights , as well as floor lamps. A smart home enables more control over the mood of a room by allowing you to adjust a bulb’s brightness. A customised lighting system from Lutron, for example, also allows you to control each light individually without having to add extra wires and cables.
Though we may not realise it, we are psychologically attracted to light. Placing lighting at the end of a hallway or a certain space draws you into that space. The same effect will happen for a well-lit fireplace, painting or even a spotlight illuminating the wall.
Lighting can be used to create a family hub, encourage guests to sit together in a certain area, or even help the transition from day to night.
Lighting design is an art and can make or break the ambiance of a home. At KAV London, we offer bespoke lighting design and state of the art lighting control in the London area.