Family Room Lighting Design and Installation

Your family room is where you gather to spend time together, and next to the kitchen, it’s likely the center of activity in your house. You spent time choosing the furniture and decor, but perhaps the most important aspect of your family or living room is the lighting. From the central fixture to the floor lamps, you want the lights to be just right. At a Lighting One® member showroom, you’ll find options that fit your style and your budget.

Where to Start?

The best way to know where to start is to determine your lighting needs. Are you building a new home, or are you renovating the home you already own? If you’re starting from scratch with new construction, your options can seem virtually endless. If you’re renovating, you may have a theme in mind that ties in with the current design or layout of the room. If you’re transforming an unfinished space, such as the basement, into a living area, you can choose fixtures that reflect your personal taste and provide the light you need to make the most of your new space. Whether it’s watching TV, reading, or playing games, the lighting experts at Lighting One can help you determine just the right lighting fixtures for your project.

A Quality Selection

At each Lighting One location across North America you’ll find quality selection from the world’s top lighting manufacturers. Whether you’re looking for pendant lights or chandeliers, sconces or table lamps, you’ll find options from Kichler, Hinkley, and many other brands that create amazing options that will look fantastic in your home. Lighting One member showrooms offer access to high-quality fixtures that will meet your needs and provide the light you need for years to come. The staff at each showroom can explain the technology behind each fixture and how modern lighting upgrades will benefit you and your family.

Designing Your New Family Room

It may be your dream to design and build a new home, and if you’re starting the process, you may have a beautiful family room at the center of the plans. You want the common area to be a place where the family can relax and have fun, and somewhere you can make memories that will last a lifetime. However, before you can sit down on the plush couch to watch TV or gather on the floor to play a board game, you have to design the room as you see it in your mind.

Ambient Lighting

The ambient, or general, lighting is a good place to start when building a new home, and the same is true when designing your new family room. The central fixture will be the main source of light in the space, but you want it to be both functional and appealing. Some people opt for the traditional flush or semi-flush mount light with a glass shade or globe, or a ceiling fan with a light, but you may be thinking about something more impactful. There are many modern chandeliers that can work perfectly in your family room, and they can set the tone for the rest of the lighting, while also being a focal point for the entire space. If the room is to have several “zones,” such as a seating area, entertainment area, and play area, then you’ll want to be sure there’s enough ambient illumination for each zone.

Accent Lighting

Your living or family room is where you may display the artwork you’ve collected, as well as the majority of the decor that you’ve selected for your new home. You may have a built-in bookshelf lining one wall, while several paintings hang on another. Accent lighting is key to drawing the eye to these decorative touches, and to highlighting the beauty of the room. You can achieve this through options such as track lighting and recessed fixtures.

Task Lighting

When thinking about the tasks you’ll be doing in the family room, you likely immediately think of the light you’ll need for each one. You might have added a small reading nook to the room, which is where you’ll sit with your favorite books. You’ll need a suitable floor or table lamp for this nook so that your eyes don’t get tired after reading just a few pages.

You may have set up specific “zones” in your family room – one for seating, one for entertainment, and one for play. The seating area will need table lamps and other illumination for accent lighting, but if you’re going to be putting together puzzles and playing board games in the play area, then you’ll need task lighting that helps you see as you spend time together as a family.

How Do You See the Room?

Regardless of what type of lighting you’re choosing – ambient, accent, or task – it’s important to always keep in mind how you see the room. If it is to be the heart of the house, then you’ll want the light to be inviting and appealing. You’ll want to achieve a good balance between light and shadow so that no one area is too bright or too dark, and so the room has that perfect dramatic feel to it. If you’re going to have a vaulted ceiling in the room, consider how you can uplight a wall, perhaps with sconces or lights tucked into the perimeter of the room that shine toward the ceiling. Above all, make sure that you understand what you like and don’t like when it comes to lighting so that you can leave your local Lighting One showroom with the perfect options for your new home.

At Lighting One, we want to help every homeowner find the fixtures they need, and if you’re looking for ideas for your new family room design, take a look at our Inspiration Gallery today. We know that you’ll find something that sparks your imagination!

Family Room Lighting Controls

If you have a fixture that you never use because the switch is in a strange place, or because you’re not able to set the light at the proper level, then it might be time for an upgrade. When it comes to your family room or living room lighting, it’s important to have the proper lighting controls. You may like the fixtures you currently have, but you know that the room would be much more functional and dynamic with dimmer switches, sensors, and more. At your local Lighting One showroom, you can find the controls you want!

Zone Lighting Controls

You may have split your family room into “zones” that have individual lighting needs. In the entertainment zone, you may want dimmer switches so that you can lower the lights while you watch a movie or play video games. You want to create that perfect viewing ambiance, and lights glaring off the screen would quickly ruin that.

For your seating area, you’ll likely have an overhead fixture for ambient lighting and a few lamps for accent lighting. Being able to raise or lower the lights depending on the time of day can make this space more appealing, and you can set the lamps on timers so that they come on at the same time each evening. If you’re hosting a party, you want the lights high enough so that people can see while conversing, but not so bright that the space feels oversaturated with illumination.

As for the play area, you’ll want lighting controls that are easy to use, as well as easy to reach, especially if the kids will be using this area on their own.

Renovating Your Family Room

Perhaps you’re not building a new home, but you want to renovate your family room so that it’s more functional and more comfortable. Maybe you’re adding on to your current home and the family room is the center of the design. Maybe you’re transforming part of your basement into a beautiful space where the family can gather in the evenings and on the weekends. With any renovation or remodeling project, it’s important to have a lighting showroom that can help you choose the right fixtures for your new space. At Lighting One locations across North America, you’ll find a great selection and an experienced staff who will guide you every step of the way!

Continuing a Theme

When building a new family or living room in your current house, or when you’re adding on, you may want to continue the lighting and decor themes that already exist in your home. You want the entire house to feel cohesive, and if the lighting in one space is drastically different from another, you may feel like things are disjointed or discordant. Some homeowners want the new space to blend perfectly with the existing, and the staff at your local Lighting One store can help you find fixtures that fit with your current theme.

Creating a New Theme

On the other hand, you may want the new room to feel more modern and sophisticated, and perhaps set the tone and theme for the rest of the house, which you plan to upgrade sometime in the near future. The new family room can be a blank canvas where you try new things, including the lighting that you put in the space. If you’ve always wanted a chandelier hanging from a vaulted ceiling, or you love the idea of wall sconces for your home theater area, then you can find the fixtures you need and create the space you’ve always envisioned.

Working in an Existing Space

Perhaps you’re not adding on to your home, but you simply want to update your existing family room. Replacing some old or outdated light fixtures can breathe new life into the space, not to mention it can give you the illumination and energy efficiency that you’ve been wanting for years. If the previous homeowners left behind some antiquated flush-mount lights, replace them with modern pendants or a small chandelier. If you want to expand the light in the room so that it makes the space more functional, think about adding recessed fixtures in a grid-like pattern across the ceiling. If you need help with lighting design, your local Lighting One showroom may have an expert who can assist you.