Browse Forums Lighting + Lighting Design 1 Jun 02, 2008 9:54 am Hi all,
We have a huge open plan area at the rear of our house that includes the kitchen, meals area, family area (2 lights) and games room. The electrical plan shows five lights come as standard in that space. I am completely at a loss as to what light fittings to choose. I don't want to have only downlights because we will need heaps and heaps but I think that having 5 oyster lights on the ceiling plus a few downlights over the kitchen bench will look a bit crowded on the ceiling and also not very exciting. I am thinking about making a feature of two of the lights (with a five light pendant and a three light pendant that match) in the games area and the right hand side of the family area, with downlights in the rest of the areas but am having a really hard time trying to visualise it. I am worried that certain parts of the room will look a bit sparce with only downlights. Almost all of the display homes in South Australia only have downlights so I can't go and see what others have chosen to do in similar spaces. If anyone has any suggestions or want to post any pictures of what they have done in similar spaces that would help immensely. I have tried to attach a copy of our plan but for some reason it won't work. Re: Lighting in Open Plan Area 2Jun 02, 2008 10:00 am Craigburn2008 I am thinking about making a feature of two of the lights (with a five light pendant and a three light pendant that match) in the games area and the right hand side of the family area, with downlights in the rest of the areas but am having a really hard time trying to visualise it. What are your ceiling heights....may dictate the use of pendants....wouldn't want a billiard cue or the Wii smashing the pendant.... mmm....donuts Homer Simpson 1956- Links: Site Costs Ready Reckoner | H1 Addiction Medical Advice | Château TDL: The Backyard Re: Lighting in Open Plan Area 4Jun 02, 2008 10:27 am I guess it depends on the sort of look you’re after. Some people prefer the look of down lights in large open area’s because they don’t intrude into the room. It’s all about the aesthetics and what you prefer. IMO its no different to people using flush mount speakers for the audio and wall mounting the plasma so the box count in minimised.
I’ve seen the use of pendants in corners for instance where there will be a seat or couch located, likewise it could be for a statue or flower arrangement. You should take your plans into a couple of lighting shops and get their opinions. Lighting is all about setting a mood, so you’ll have main lighting for working, or if you’re entertaining for instance, then you’ll have other lighting like pelmet, table/floor lamps, pendants in corners, etc when sitting in front of the fire place and/or TV and relaxing. Re: Lighting in Open Plan Area 5Jun 02, 2008 11:23 am In response to Mike's question, we are having 9 foot ceilings so we have room to hang something from the ceiling although I wouldn't want anything overly low.
I know that lighting is a personal thing. I'm not an overly artistic person and I'm having trouble visualising things. Also, I am trying to balance the upfront and ongoing cost of running things like downlights (which do look nice and clean) with vs other options (which are much more cost effective). We spoke to the lighting shops about CFL downlights but they didn't recommend them because we are having dark granite benchtops and they said that they wouldn't be bright enough to do justice to the benchtops. Oh, the decisions that are involved in building are driving me crazy! Re: Lighting in Open Plan Area 6Jun 02, 2008 11:50 am Craigburn2008 I have tried to attach a copy of our plan but for some reason it won't work. Craigburn, thy using an image host like www.Photobucket.com and use the image file. Check this thread out: http://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?t=1272 We have a similar open area and we are using downlights throughout but over the meals table in particular, we have 5 downlights, 4 in a square arrangement and one in the centre....BUT we've now decided that the centre light will be for a feature pendant chandelier which should add some interest/oppulance to the room. We might do some pendants over the kitchen bench area but will wait until we move in to decide on that one.... I think it depends on what sort of look you are after. Check out the websites of some of the big builders for lighting ideas. They usually use lighting in a big way to add feeling to a room. Also, two of our members, that i know of, have lighting business, maybe PM them for some advice or check their website's out? They are: Ewan and MICA. I do like some of the things that MICA has on his site... Hopefully you will find something you like?? Re: Lighting in Open Plan Area 7Jun 02, 2008 9:23 pm I'll be really interested in what the "lighting" experts suggest. Can you post a house plan? we accidently spoke to a guy at the builders who was very much a keen lighting guy,. No idea what his job title was but came across him by accident when we were in checking out some of the display items. he was very keen for special downlights to highlight things like benchtops etc if you have a feature. we are thinking about ringing and asking for his input.
Please post you plan . I'm keen to see what people say. promise we'll do the same. Re: Lighting in Open Plan Area 8Jun 02, 2008 10:39 pm Quote: We spoke to the lighting shops about CFL downlights but they didn't recommend them because we are having dark granite benchtops and they said that they wouldn't be bright enough to do justice to the benchtops. Oh, the decisions that are involved in building are driving me crazy! Correct - CFL downlights are a bit dull compared to halogens but they are also half the power usage. It's a limitation of the small size limits their output. I'd be suggesting to consider some pendant lights and task LED downlights that are not recessed into the ceiling. And perhaps some wall lights to get a bit of variety across the room given it is one large living space, otherwise it will be too same same throughout. Billiard table - do some task lighting directly above, with a few floor lamps around when more light is desired. kitchen - yes dark granite needs to be lit - I'd suggest either LED or some drop down style lighting with 11 or 20 watt CFLs in bayonet fittings as these are going to improve with time due to greater demand and I'd also look at the really high bright LED's - They are $176 per metre of strip lighting - but very nice and available in 3 colours. Their hotbeam downlights are around $95 so a tad on the high side right now. http://www.hotbeam.com Downlights will require 200mm of non insulation around them which is a lot of lost insulation and they are expensive to run. Bad choice these days for 2 reasons. Heres some pics of what I'm thinking. Steve Billiard table Something like 3 of these which can go up and down. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Kitchen bench - have a look at these. http://www.hotbeam.com They really are quite bright and the strips are ideal for undercupboard and above a bench. Or this style as an option - Something like this http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v229/firthy26/bordeauxkitchen.jpg and the walls This sort of thing as you fell fit re the design type. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ And if you go LED or CFL then the running costs will not kill you. I'm just about to trial some other LED downlights that fit standard fittings so I'll let you know how they go too. Steve Re: Lighting in Open Plan Area 9Jun 03, 2008 9:47 am Hi all,
I have now worked out how to use photobucket. Our draft house plan and a few lighting options that I am considering are saved on there. We don't have a master plan from the builders yet so any suggestions re the layout are also welcome. In relation to my lighting issue, I am referring to the big open plan back area comprising of the kitchen, meals, family and games area. Here is the link. I hope it works http://s300.photobucket.com/albums/nn23/Craigburn2008/ I look forward to your responses. Re: Lighting in Open Plan Area 10Jun 03, 2008 10:33 am Craigburn 2008....sent you a PM.... mmm....donuts Homer Simpson 1956- Links: Site Costs Ready Reckoner | H1 Addiction Medical Advice | Château TDL: The Backyard Re: Lighting in Open Plan Area 11Jun 03, 2008 10:47 am mmm....donuts Homer Simpson 1956- Links: Site Costs Ready Reckoner | H1 Addiction Medical Advice | Château TDL: The Backyard Hello! We have a very large open plan living room and wanted to get layout options, and furnishing ideas for this space. Currently there is only a… 0 9296 CDC Housing Code 3 When to apply Floor Area external face of wall vs Gross Floor Area internal face of wall. Reading thru CDC Housing Code 3, lets take a lot 915sqm.… 0 16399 Cupcake.girl This really depends on your local council. Each one has different definitions and ways to calculate contributions. This is called a contribution… 1 3570 |