The Lighting Warehouse: Top Bedroom Lighting Tips

The bedroom is one of the only rooms in the home that you regularly spend time in when it is dark, it is daytime, or somewhere in between. It is a space where you can experience the entire myriad of natural light presented by every 24 hours that we live through everyday. As such, it is imperative that you get the lighting in this room right, so that you can rise and shine bushy-tailed in the morning, relax in the afternoon, and drop into a deep slumber in the evening.

Getting the lighting right however, can be quite a tall order, so we spoke to lighting expert, Melissa Davidson from leading lighting supplier, The Lighting Warehouse, for her top bedroom lighting tips:

1.) Layer it: Layering your lighting is the key to any successful lighting design, especially in the bedroom, says Melissa: “You need to find the perfect balance between ambient, task and accent lighting, so that you can create various moods to suit the different times of the day. Ambient lighting provides the room’s general lighting – pendants, chandeliers, flush- and semi-flush mounted ceiling lights, as well as multiple downlighters installed in a grid format on the ceiling are ideal. Task lighting provides targeted illumination for specific tasks, such as reading or doing your makeup for example – table, desk and floor lamps and wall lights are great options. Accent lighting draws your attention to a particular feature, be it artwork, an architectural element or an antique piece for example – picture lights, wall lights, spot lights and tilt downlighters can be used to provide great accent lighting.”

2.) Dim it: Melissa notes that dimmers are an incredibly important tool for layered lighting design, but they are arguably one of the most under-appreciated as well: “Dimmers play an valuable role in a layered bedroom lighting design – they allow you to add an extra dimension to the room’s environment, and they have the ability to make your existing lights multifunctional, moving between low lighting, to full brightness, and accommodating multiple lighting needs in the process.

3.) Develop it: The trick to getting a lighting design just right, is all in the planning, notes Melissa: “You really need to measure the room out and then plan where the best place to put the lights will be. For example, if you want to highlight a specific artwork, then I would suggest installing ceiling spots about 0,5m from the wall for a ceiling height of 2,5m, or farther in if the ceiling is taller. If you want to include a pendant or chandelier, then it is usually best either centred in the middle of the room, or above the bed. Unless your bedroom has an unusually high ceiling, it is advisable to hang pendants or chandeliers about 30cm from the ceiling.”

3.) Balance it: Melissa notes that it is advisable to include multiple types of fixtures in your lighting design: “For example, you can place a floor lamp next to an occasional chair in the corner of the room, include a statement pendant light in the centre, bedside lamps on either side of the bed, a feature table lamp on the dresser, and perhaps one or two wall lights, or two to three downlighters in other unlit areas of the bedroom. The goal behind this practice is to direct the eye right around the bedroom, instead of it just focusing on the bed. Bringing light to the different corners of the room makes it seem larger than it actually is. To create more visual interest, you can include shades to give the room a warm glow, as well as indirect light, such as wall lights that throw light back onto the wall behind for example.”