Layered lighting - a short guide and rules you need to know!

Layered lighting - why we need it?

If you are at the stage of choosing lighting for your house or apartment, remember that one lamp will never meet all your needs and will not allow you to adequately illuminate the room. In both domestic and commercial spaces, proper layering of light, divided into general, task and accent / mood light sources, helps to enliven interiors, adds functionality and makes them much more stylish.

The use of multiple light sources distributed on multiple levels of the interior (its different "layers") allows for a smooth transition from a bright room - used for work during the day - to a sophisticated space for evening entertainment, tranquility, relaxation. A thoughtful combination of general, task and accent lighting allows you to create a visually appealing as well as functional interior.

Types of lighting needed for layered interior lighting

General lighting

This type of lighting should provide general illumination for your space. This light should be neither too dark nor too bright. Of course, it's also a good idea to make the most of the natural sunlight coming into the room during the day, for example, by means of bright ceiling and floor arrangements.

Exactly how much light do you need to properly illuminate your room? Before we help you determine how much light you will need, let's explain what parameters determine the brightness of the light emitted by the bulb. The value to pay attention to is the number of lumens (not watts). Simply put, lumens are a measure of the total amount of light emitted by a given light source. As a general rule of thumb, you need 20 lumens per square meter to provide adequate interior lighting. If we assume that your living room is 23 square meters, you will need a total of about 5000 lumens. Of course, they do not have to come from one, but from multiple light sources.

In providing optimal general lighting in the interior will help you:

- Daylight: natural lighting from windows, skylights, skylights, etc. allows you to provide effective interior lighting during the day.
- Chandeliers: multi-arm light fixtures with multiple light sources, allow you to illuminate a relatively large space.
- Pendant lamps: fixtures usually consisting of a single shade or several shades hanging from the ceiling. Since they tend to have fewer bulbs than chandeliers, these lamps are most often used in larger groups (or in plate or ceiling bar versions) or to illuminate smaller spaces. The classic way to arrange them - if they are in a larger group - is a straight line or to gather several lamps over a dining table or kitchen island.
- Recessed ceiling lights or spotlights on rails: under- and surface-mounted ceiling lights used most often in rooms with modern, minimalist decor or in interiors with low ceilings.
- Wall lamps and standing lamps that illuminate the ceiling: light that, thanks to appropriately directed and shaped shades, reflects from the ceiling, illuminates a large part of the surrounding space.
- Recessed lighting: lighting in niches, shelves, cabinets (including LED strips) that is not visible at first glance, but which directs light toward the ceiling.

Once you have taken care of the general lighting of your interior, you should focus on further light sources that will provide illumination to facilitate specific activities and build the desired mood.

Task lighting

Task light will allow you to perform specific tasks around the house effortlessly, providing the right level of focused, bright illumination. The lamps most commonly used in task lighting are:

- Pendant lamps: pendant lamps with shades directing the light stream downwards, provide good light for working or reading.
- Table, desk and floor lamps: small, often mobile light fixtures with shades that focus the light beam in a chosen direction, used most often around a table or desk. Their intensity, as well as the direction of light, can often be adjusted, making them extremely functional.
- Under-cabinet lighting: under-cabinet lighting for kitchen countertops is perfect for supplementing the overall lighting of the kitchen and helps with food preparation, cleaning kitchen surfaces, etc.

Task and general light allows for good, effective and functional interior lighting. However, it is not the most user-friendly light or one that adds style and character to interiors. This function is performed by the accent light.

Accent light

Accent light like no other, creates a cozy atmosphere in the interior and a mood conducive to tranquility, relaxation, long conversations or evenings spent in front of the TV. Soft, diffused light perfectly exposes decorations and architectural details, introduces coziness, depth and gives interiors multidimensionality.
As a general rule of thumb, an accent light should be three times brighter than the surrounding general light sources.
Some of the best accent light sources include:

- Wall sconces: available in all shapes, sizes and styles. Wall lamps are ideal for creating points of light on walls and highlighting selected areas, decorations and furniture. Wall sconces directing light downward and upward create an hourglass shape on the walls and add drama and theatricality to the interiors. Wall sconces as sources of accent light, are perfect for hallways, but also in the dining room.
- Table lamps: table lamps with lampshades covering the bulbs, often made of soft, thick fabrics perfectly diffuse and soften the light, providing an intimate atmosphere conducive to tranquility. Also check out our comprehensive table lamp selection guide and make sure you know all about these atmospheric light sources.
- Recessed lighting: soft, almost invisible lighting in recesses and suspended ceilings is great for creating an atmospheric interior character.
- Gallery / picture wall lamps: indispensable in illuminating paintings or graphics, perfectly create the mood.

Layer light, and choose the right bulbs and accessories

If you already know how many and what types of lamps you need to create layered lighting for your interior, remember that it is extremely important to choose the right bulbs. Work light requires a cooler color temperature, which promotes concentration and stimulates work. In turn, when choosing bulbs for lamps acting as general and accent light, it is worth betting on warm light (2700-3000K), which has a positive effect on the household and promotes relaxation.
It's also worth getting dimmers to reduce the intensity of the main light, depending on our activity and the time of day, remote controls to control the lighting remotely, and smart solutions to change the mood at the touch of a button.