Browse Forums Lighting + Lighting Design Re: Best option for living/dining room lights - opinions ple 21Dec 26, 2011 5:37 pm I prefer the drum light out of both of your chosen lights. My main reason for doing the mock-up below the same lighting is I think in a large room all the ceiling lighting that is going to be very obvious should all be the same. Because you have high ceilings you can put 3 of the drum lights in no problem as they will help bring the ceiling height down and not crowd the room. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ These are my cousins drum lights in his family room; they are always a show stopper for me when I walk into his house. He has a high ceiling also. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Internal and External Building and Colour Consultant Online - Worldwide http://www.denovoconcepts.com Re: Best option for living/dining room lights - opinions ple 22Dec 26, 2011 7:16 pm Thanks Michelle, that was quick.... You have certainly got us thinking - my husband originally thought 3 drum pendants was the best idea but then we started to think that we needed to use lighting to define the spaces a little more......and we had 2 drums in our last home (can't imagine 3) if we went with your idea would we avoid pendant lights over the island bench?? The ceiling comes back down over the island. We had pendants in the last home like this Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ we did consider doing same again but not sure because they only light 1metre so we'd need 4 and maybe 3 of something would look better! Also, last time they were the only pendants in the room (rest were downlights). Re: Best option for living/dining room lights - opinions ple 23Dec 26, 2011 7:39 pm The reason why you have an open plan design is for just that, you want the spaces to flow with each other in the area. I wouldn’t use any other drop lighting in this large room. Since your ceiling height is lower over the island bench I would just use chrome down lights. In your kitchen itself try and find a nice oyster light, they throw good lighting. Make sure if you think you have any areas in the kitchen that need extra lighting you use under head lighting under you top cupboards. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Internal and External Building and Colour Consultant Online - Worldwide http://www.denovoconcepts.com Re: Best option for living/dining room lights - opinions ple 24Dec 27, 2011 8:11 pm Thanks again Michelle! I think I might be more confused now - I was really starting to lean towards downlights with the rectangular pendant over the dining table!!! Now, I'm not so sure! Anyone else want to share an opinion?? Thanks. Re: Best option for living/dining room lights - opinions ple 25Dec 27, 2011 10:22 pm I guess it depends on your tastes, desired effects and budget (which should also take into account property value). Personally I'm not a fan of downlights, having seen too many Swiss Cheese. I'm also not a fan of lights in the centre of a room, as it casts shadows in all the wrong areas, and causes glare. From what I've eat, divide your lighting into: 1) Ambient or background 2) Task 3) Feature 4) Highlights Ambient lighting is to provide a general light, and aims to light without glare, and be flattering. Generally not a cold colour temperature, and a horizontal light (as the eye perceives more light with less). Task light is for work areas, and are generally vertical lights such as downlights, and are to be used sparingly. Can also be a shaded reading light beside a chair, or under bench lighting. Feature lighting is just that; the Wow! light, to draw the eye to it. Should not be cause glare, as you then can't look at it and appreciate it. So your drum light or my PH 5 is that, although they do work as task lights as well. Highlights are to showcase something such as a featured painting, plant, sculpture, usually also minimising things around it (to draw the eye away from less desirable features if you like). The problem with downlights is that to provide adequate lighting, you end up washing everything out, at a huge energy cost (both electricity and also by penetrating your building insulation envelope). One way to think about it is like women's makeup and jewellery; you want to provide a general even background, highlight the best features and minimise the less desired, and with the right adornment, complete the look. Downlights, especially used indiscriminately, and excessive feature lights, would be like someone is feels that the more cosmetics and bling, the better. Re: Best option for living/dining room lights - opinions ple 26Dec 28, 2011 8:53 am Thanks for your response PHL. We definately have Modern tastes and the desired effect was always to have lights to do their job without being 'in your face' and showy except for maybe 1 feature light. We are pretty flexible with budget in regards to lights because as you know it is important to get it right!! 1) Ambient light - are you doing this purely through your uplights? We have got 3 of the uplights in between the high windows in the living area. Is this enough? I think they are the same as yours. I love uplights and the look they achieve but in the last house they were a cheap version and certainly did not light the room. Are you just using them (with your PH 5) for living/dining??We were looking at putting only 2,3 or 4 LED downlights over living area. We were thinking that because they were higher up they wouldnt light with too much glare (as long as we got the right LED) We also have 2 small low LED wall lights either end of the room. 2) Task lighting - we have lighting under the overhead cupboards for task lighting and will light the island bench, most likely with LED downlights (at this stage). We also have strip LED lighting at the top of the overhead cupboards. 3) Feature Lights - was going to be the pendant over the dining table which has a diffuser on the bottom and does defintely not cause glare 4) Highlights - we were going to put 2 LED downlights over the TV area which will have display shelving above it. It sounds like alot of lights but it is a reasonable size space that has to perform different duties!!! I appreciate your knowledge. Thanks again. I like the woman with make up explaination (and for the record - I don't wear any make up & only jewellery is my wedding ring - I am definately a less is more person so maybe I need to think more like that for my lights!! ha ha ha) Re: Best option for living/dining room lights - opinions ple 27Dec 28, 2011 5:37 pm We're still in the building stage due to delays from greater than expected termite damage (we didn't expect any structural damage, but it turned out that 75% of the framing had been eaten, which made for an exciting time with jack to keep the roof up and reframing the house). In our open plan living/diing/kitchen (9m x 7m), we will be having a group of 3 uplights on a short wall and 2 uplights on the long wall between the dining and sitting area. The two PH 5s are over the dining table, there is a bulkhead over the island bench (where the cooktop is) with provision for 2 x 4' T5 fluoro tube uplighting to be concealed in the bulkhead on both long sides (in case we feel there isn't enough light) and 2 x downlights over the bench part; the cooktop will have 2 downlights from the canopy, and there will be lighting into each of the two pantry cupboard. There will also be a 3m strip of LED under cupboard lights over the sink area. There will be a 2m strip of under bench lighting on the sitting/dining room side of the 3m island for effect. There will floor lamps around the TV area, which does not have any fixed lighting. Re: Best option for living/dining room lights - opinions ple 28Mar 18, 2012 9:19 am When it comes to Living Room / Dining lighting or lighting of any kind for that matter, it really comes down to Budget, style and quality of the lights you choose. Don't do things on the cheap as you will only encounter a miriad of problems later on and believe me, I speak from experiences shared. The biggest thing is to ensure that the lights you choose need to be carfefully considered. Size of the chandelier or fixture in proprtion to the dimensions of the room are critical so you don't go putting too much fuel in the tank so to speak. Secondly, overall ambiance and design qualities to match your Decor is the second factor to consider. Most commercial lighting these days really limits you on what you can choose, what colours, sizes, lighting options etc which really makes choosing the right lighting solution extremely difficult. There are other solutions available that don't restrict you and give you the freedom to express your own creative flair to match any Lighting Decor solution within the home Dean Dean Cato - CEO Murano Italian Decor and Glass Lights http://www.italiandecor-glasslights.com salesandsupport@italiandecor-glasslights.com Re: Best option for living/dining room lights - opinions ple 29Mar 27, 2012 8:34 pm Hi Your options for Living and Dining room lighting really need to be considered carefully. Does the lighting solution you choose provide you with the ultimate in flexibility and style? Well there is only one that can do this for you with a solution that can be customised totally to suit YOUR own ideas and Decor. Food for thought? Dean Dean Cato - CEO Murano Italian Decor and Glass Lights http://www.italiandecor-glasslights.com salesandsupport@italiandecor-glasslights.com Re: Best option for living/dining room lights - opinions ple 30Mar 31, 2012 10:30 am OMG till I saw this thread I just thought that lights were... well.... lights. Now I have no idea what to do with my lighting system once I get my plan sorted! Can anyone suggest a house layout where the kitchen-dining - living runs the length across the rear of the house left to right where our best view will be we… 0 4348 Hello all, bought a block of land and would like to find designs now. We want a void over the living/dining room. We’re looking at Savoy 32 from Eden Brae, are there any… 0 105 Hi, I'd like some advice on the best option please on the estimate options we've been provided from our builder. This is for the… 0 4071 |