Browse Forums Lighting + Lighting Design 1 Feb 18, 2013 12:08 am Hi, am wondering whether anyone has any advice for us? Both my husband and myself like to have a bright house (unless we intentionally want it darker, e.g.for watching a film or creating an atmosphere). I hate making dinner in my own shadow, we like to have decent light for getting dressed in the bedroom and in the bathroom, and we like to have bedside lamps that we can actually read by. Does anyone have any advice on what type of lighting we can use for these different requirements? We see a lot of lamps and lampshades etc. that we like style-wise, but I'm always nervous about whether they will actually do the job we want them to. We're building for the first time and really want to get this aspect right. (We do want them to look good as well though, as well as being functional!) Are anglepoise lamps the only option for decent bedtime reading lamps? We really like the look of those whadyacall it lights, the ones that are flush in the ceiling; however, we are building near a flight path and having lived under two flight paths before I want to minimise any areas where noise can come in. I read this style of lighting should be avoided to minimise noise pollution, so we're not going to go with those. We are thinking of putting wall lights in - mainly because my husband wants them, not sure why! I don't mind them, but to me they're old fashioned - anyone seen any cool, modern looking wall lights? I would also like to put dimmers in, at least in some areas, as I like the idea of control. Any thoughts on these, and anything we should be aware of? Ooh, also, we are thinking about ceiling fans, but I think the lights in them are quite dim, is that correct? Thank you all so much for any help you can give. Re: Lighting Types 2Feb 20, 2013 9:37 pm You can buy LED strip lighting which can go under overhead cupboards in the kitchen or over the bathroom mirror and so on, so you have direct lighting, even halogen ones. And yes there are modern wall lights most everywhere, I've been trying to find traditional ones and there's hardly any around Personally I don't like the appearance of ceiling fans with built in lights and usually they aren't bright enough to illuminate a good area. You haven't said if you have high ceilings or special requirements for cathedral or raking ceiling? Re: Lighting Types 3Feb 22, 2013 11:52 pm Hi Treeseachanger (interesting name!), thanks for replying. The strip/halogen lighting is a good idea, thanks. I don't really like the appearance of ceiling fance with built-in lights either, I'm just not sure how you have a light AND a fan, I mean how it would look having both up at the same time. I've never had fans (coming from the UK!), so I'm a bit inexperienced in this field! The main living areas are 32 courses, and the rest of the rooms and hallways are standard height, which I think is 28. Re: Lighting Types 4Feb 23, 2013 2:52 pm Yes the name describes that we're going from a sea change to a country tree change...(but still within a few minutes of the ocean- can't do without it!) We are having ceiling fans with LEDs and we planned for the LEDs being spaced far enough apart from the fans that they don't cause "flicker" - an unwanted "disco" effect- ! Since the LEDs are quite unobtrusive the fans are more what you'd notice. How much would also depend on the ceiling height (ours is very high) and the actual color of the fans. New fans act in reverse so they push down heated air in winter: they also have a moveable base so they hang straight no matter what the ceiling angle. Combining your table and standing lamps with central lights sounds like the way to go. Rather than having a central light that uses multiple bulbs at once, it's better to have singles and add table and lampstands that you can switch on and off. More cost efficient. Add sparkle and reflectiveness with glass based lamps, maybe a decorative mirrror, things to catch the light. Wall uplamps provide good mood lighting. You can also use one of the modern wall paints with built in high reflective qualities, and consider full gloss on door frames and trims, satin finishes for walls. It can all make a difference. Re: Lighting Types 5Feb 23, 2013 5:25 pm Your living environment sounds idyllic! Thanks for the advice, all very helpful. Your fans combined with LEDs sounds a good way to go. We decided against LEDs, partly because we will be near a flight path and I read some advice that said to help reduce noise transference don't have them. I do like them though - but having lived directly under two flight paths before I am keen to do anything I can to minimise the noise! I like lamps so we will get some of those. My other half is talking about having three ceiling lights in the living area part of the kitchen/living/dining area, as well as one in the living and one in the kitchen - I'm wondering if the three is a bit of overkill - the living part is 7.7m long by something like 4 - not huge. In the middle will be the tv and to one end is the stereo/cd area - we have hundreds of CDs! The lights would be about 2.5m apart. Re: Lighting Types 6Feb 23, 2013 8:44 pm Three may not be too many if the size of the light fittings is in balance with the room size and ceiling height. Is it 3 or 4 lights in the living area in total? Mandy67 three ceiling lights in the living area part of the kitchen/living/dining area, as well as one in the living and one in the kitchen Re: Lighting Types 7Feb 24, 2013 3:33 pm Yes, we would have to make sure they weren't too big. There would be three in a row, spaced about 2.5m apart in the living area, one in the kitchen (probably with 3 hanging over the island as well) and one in the dining area. Thinking about it, it could probably work, as long as they weren't too big and took over the whole place! Re: Lighting Types 8Feb 24, 2013 3:52 pm It's helpful to take your plans along to a lighting shop and they can usually guide you as to sizes to fit the space and not overwhelm it. Re: Lighting Types 10Feb 25, 2013 11:40 pm Strip lighting under overhead cupboards... How exactly do they wire them?? Have heard alot about them and seen them in a few lighting stores but haven't really considered as it seems maybe you have to provision for these lights before cupboards go in?? Building the Riva by Dale Alcock Homes. Follow our progress here: https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?t=57075 Re: Lighting Types 11Feb 26, 2013 5:34 pm I saw this article about home lighting that gave me some good ideas, it might help you too http://alternativemindset.net/tips-for-a-well-lit-home/. What I like most is the suggestion for using recessed lighting as we have this sort of canopy above our bed so we got those instead of bedside reading lamps. The ones I got were from http://www.illustralighting.com and so far I haven’t had any complaints, except for the initial price, lol. Re: Lighting Types 12Mar 02, 2013 3:00 pm Mandy67 Your living environment sounds idyllic! Thanks for the advice, all very helpful. Your fans combined with LEDs sounds a good way to go. We decided against LEDs, partly because we will be near a flight path and I read some advice that said to help reduce noise transference don't have them. I do like them though - but having lived directly under two flight paths before I am keen to do anything I can to minimise the noise!. Hi - I'm curious about flight paths affecting LEDs .. I googled but couldn't find anything - We live under a flight path and planning to get LEDs. What sort of noise transference are you talking about? Re: Lighting Types 13Mar 02, 2013 6:18 pm LEDs or downlights generally do lessen the ceiling insulation's overall effectiveness against heat or cold. So to make a logical guess, the noise of planes flying over would also be louder in a house where there is necessarily hole/s punched in the insulation for downlights. Re: Lighting Types 14Mar 02, 2013 8:41 pm Treeseachanger LEDs or downlights generally do lessen the ceiling insulation's overall effectiveness against heat or cold. So to make a logical guess, the noise of planes flying over would also be louder in a house where there is necessarily hole/s punched in the insulation for downlights. Yes if you're talking about insulation, I get that with downlights, which I don't like much, but LEDs don't necessarily mean downlights ... still don't get the connection between LEDs and noise transmission unless the OP was talking about downlights only, in which case it wouldn't matter if they were LED or halogen Re: Lighting Types 15Mar 14, 2013 8:53 am Hi lenarufus, I was talking about lights that are flush with the ceiling, not sure of the exact name, but as treeseachanger says, I think it's the fact that there's a hole in the ceiling and insulation to let the noise in. If you're not near the airport I suppose it wouldn't make much difference, but I was last time and am this time - although not directly under a flight path this time, but I'm not taking any chances! 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