Seattle Lighting Design

INTERIOR LIGHTING

In our view, interior and exterior lighting have two distinct areas; main lighting and accent lighting.  On this page we will focus on interior lighting and give an overview of these two areas.

MAIN LIGHTING - is exactly what it means.  The main lighting is what provides the light that makes your home functional inside.  There are many different types of lighting available in today's houses, condos, and apartments.  Some have a single light in the center of every room, some have recessed cans, some have switched outlets that you plug lamps into and turn on with a single switch, and some will even have sconces on the walls to provide the light to a room.  Many homes have a combination of the above and that can work well together. 

The problem we see with most main lighting in homes/condos/apartments these days is that they were installed merely to provide the lighting the room needs.  Yes, that is the ultimate goal.  But there are many ways to provide that main lighting and also add beauty and style to the room.  Many architect's do excellent work at designing a house, an addition, or remodeling a home.  But they rarely give much thought to the lighting of the home.  They'll put lighting in to cover the electrical codes for that particular area, but don't really care what kind of light it is or how it looks in a given room.  That's where we come in.

We've worked with many of those types of plans.  We've seen many very beautiful rooms and designs that haven't taken advantage of the lighting opportunities available and we think it's a shame.  More often than not we can persuade the homeowners and architects to consider our innovative ideas, and we can honestly say that our input is always appreciated afterwards.  At least that is true for the homeowners.  Some architects and designers feel slighted like we're stepping on their toes or trying to tell them how to do their job.  That is not our intention whatsoever.  We just don't feel that it is in the homeowners best interest to not know or be told how appropriate stylish lighting can really accentuate a room.

To get a closer look at some of the styles of main lighting for the interior of your home, click HERE.

ACCENT LIGHTING - Accent lighting is designed solely to provide a stylish accent or ambience to a room.  It's not there to provide functionality to a room, though depending on what type it is it may provide some functionality to a small or medium area.  But that is not it's purpose.

Accent lighting in a kitchen may be under-cabinet lights, above-cabinet lights, in-cabinet lights, toe-kick lights, or pendants.  In a living room it can be spotlights or eyeballs pointed at an important item you want to be highlighted, or stylish track lights on a dimmer, or a low-voltage track light around the upper moulding that encircles the entire room.  Stairs can have toe-kick lights or stair lights.  Hallways and bathrooms can have beautiful low-light sconces.  There are many other areas and styles of lighting that can accent and/or highlight a room, and function independently of the main lighting.

To get a closer look at some of the styles of accent lighting for the interior of your home, click HERE.