Hello AT,
My husband and I are renovating a recently purchased apartment. We have one large living space (appx 540 sq ft) and would like to use light to carve out the lounge, work space and kitchen/dining areas within. Is it realistic to accomplish this without making light fixtures the apartment's aesthetic focal point?...
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I am attaching a computer simulation of the space, and should add that we both dislike fluorescent light.
Can anyone help resolve our difficulty deciding on the type and position of the light fixtures?
Many thanks! Veli
Dear Veli,
Very nice pic! Can you insert light to shape the space without adding visible fixtures? Yes, of course you can, and you would do it in very much the way you have pictured: by installing light fixtures in or on your ceiling that would create indirect light baths down your walls.
If you have lights recessed into the ceiling, these would shine light directly down on the room without creating glare on the eye. Use flood bulbs to diffuse the light in this case.
In short it's either recessed or track lighting.
Where? Spread track light evenly around the room about 4-5 feet off of the walls so that the light can be directed at the wall. Recessed lighting can be dotted about the ceiling evenly.
Anyone else?
We just finished a renovation in a similar space. We have some of these recess lights with the flood bulbs. and one modernica light over the dining room table. However, upon finishing our project we realized that lights coming from our old lamps provide the nicest light for the living room area. Otherwise the space feels like it has less intimacy. Having said this, our ceilings are 10 ft high, so maybe it the lower lights have more impact in our space. I totally understand not wanting more lights,as I am a minimalist.
oh, just re-read your question, not sure if I answered it. UUuummmm, I'm not sure that you can,but I'd stay away from the track lights you have there. You have to think about the ceiling. It's very busy. Track lights, and recess lights and then some more track lights?
Nulux specializes in recessed light fixtures that blend into the ceiling and achieve all sorts of effects. Their fixtures could do exactly what you want. Thing is, they sell to the trade only, and they are $$$.
So if you have a big budget, go for it. If not, I'd go with Maxwell's advice.
don't forget "indirect" light sources. lights recessed into the floor to wash the walls with light can also help you define spaces. light doesn't always have to come from above.
if you have beams or soffits crossing the space, they can be used to "hide" track lighting, at least from one end of the room.
Recessed recessed recessed. I don't have the luxury of having a ceiling to recess into, so I was forced to use flex-track. That said, the lighting completely defines the spaces, and it is actually really cool to see that if the light is taken down in a certain area and brought up in another, the dark area 'disappears'. My technique involved lighting the walls and objects around the spaces instead of direct lighting over them. You could easily do the same. Also with recessed lights, smaller is better. Try for halogen as they are the smallest visible presence (sometimes as small as 2.5" across).
what a lovely space!
Hi Veli,
What a great space! Any interest in being featured on HGTV's Small Space, Big Style when it's completed? If so, email me for more info. nicole@brainbox.tv
i installed the highest end hallogen recessed lights and i absolutely regret it. a huge monster pain when a bulb burns out and hot.
Veli-
Nice rendering, but rendering programs are nutorious for providing misleading lighting within spaces. By looking at the soft lines of the shadows, your rendering seems to be illuminated with a number of very even light sources which do not allow you to play up the focal elements of the room such as the artwork & furniture groups. Also, when you look at the walls there are scallops of light very high up on the wall where lights are not shown... How mysterious.
For this sort of thing, MR-16 based halogen accent lights either from track or recessed fixtures so you have a high degree of adjustabiliy, and can control the various beams of light by selecting different lamps to sculpt areas with light and dark. Start in layers, and provide some accent light for the artwork (Min 2 per) since they should probably be the focal elements of the space, then provide some splashes of light on the furniture group to define it as a seperate space. Two pieces of track mounted to the vertical side of each beam should be enough. Hopefully you are doing enough of a reno to provide some dimmers for these where the Art, Furniture, & other can be controlled seperately for fine tuning. Get one nice decorative for over the table or better yet a floor lamp between the two longer windows to further seperate the space & switch up the directionality of the light sources.
Enjoy.
I would recommend track lighting for halogens over recessed lighting any day. You can move or change the lights (and change the bulb!) just by clicking the fixtures into or out of the track. Lately, it seems, you can even add pendent lights to the track -- and if the track is up to a few feet from the wrong place, just screw a hook into the ceiling and drape the pendant light over it (yes, this means you will have cords running across the ceiling, but it lets you try out pendant lighting before calling an electrican.
I agree that I would not like to try to change a halogen bulb in a recessed light fixture. That would suck. Track is the way to go.