Music is not the only thing that can create a mood. Lighting – the type, fixture, bulb, and intensity – all work together to set the tone of a room and create moments. Like the feeling of calm walking in the front door after a long day, the comfort of a family dinner, the infectious fun of a friend’s laughter. Part of living and loving a home is the way you feel inside it. 

Lighting helps create that atmosphere, but it can feel overwhelming to find the right type and fixtures best suited to your home and style. A lighting specialist in the showroom can make the selection process easier with a personalized lighting plan and products ideally suited to your room. If you don’t already have your lighting needs and preferences pinned down, it helps to envision some of your favorite environments away from home. It could be a favorite vacation spot or cafe — any place where the lighting is amazing and makes you feel great. This exercise is a fun jumping-off point to begin collaborating with your local showroom. 

A Kitchen That Feels Like a Favorite Cafe

The clink of cups, the aroma of something good in the oven, and the low rumble of conversation atop a soundtrack of relaxing music. The cozy hustle and bustle of a neighborhood cafe is

welcoming and familiar. If you feel good in this kind of atmosphere, try recreating it in your kitchen. In a kitchen, it helps to think about lighting in layers to balance aesthetics and functionality.

Here are the three types of lights to consider:

Ambient lighting: A good source of overhead lighting is essential in a kitchen so you can prepare meals and wash dishes. Recessed lighting, track lights, flush mounts, and semi-flush mounts fall into this category. 

To get your creative juices flowing, consider Hinkley’s Ariel chandelier by designer Fredrick Ramond. 

Hinkley has been crafting design-forward residential lighting since 1922. The company offers a complete range of lighting products for every room in the home in on-trend and timeless styles.  

Task lighting: Light up your kitchen’s nooks and crannies (the areas ambient lighting can’t reach). Pendants over an island and downlights affixed under upper cabinets illuminate work surfaces. 

Accent lighting: This lighting offers the more aesthetic and final touch to a kitchen’s design. These include interior cabinet lighting, toe-kick lights, and any other fixtures that highlight a kitchen’s features.

A Living Room That Feels Like an Inviting Library

Maybe because it’s winter, but the idea of a living room bathed in warm colors and a soft glow gives us all the feels. But whatever the vibe you want in your living room, from a cozy library to a late-night lounge, a lighting showroom can help you create it. 

Enlist the guidance of professionals at a local lighting showroom to see photos of your space. They can make specific lighting suggestions and product recommendations tailored to your living room’s size, layout, and furnishings. Home orientation and where your living room is located in your house may impact your lighting choices as well because the space gets different amounts of natural light depending on the season.

They will want to understand how you and your household live in the space. Do you watch TV or movies, listen to music, read, or enjoy entertaining guests? 

A good source of overhead lighting provides the room with general illumination. Make it a style statement with the Wells Chandelier. From there, think about accent lighting like wall sconces and downlights to showcase artwork, cabinets, and shelves. 

Lamps are also wonderful sources of accent lighting and mood enhancers. Best of all, they help you control the amount of light throughout the day and evening. Remembering how you use the space, your lighting showroom may recommend specific task lighting like a floor lamp or table lamp for reading and entertaining. 

The amount of light and its intensity play an important role in creating the ambiance you want. For a living room, 1,000 to 3,000 lumens is a good range to aim for, and this can come from a variety of light sources. And consider installing dimmer switches to control the amount of light depending on the time of day and how you want to use the room. 

 

 

A Bathroom That Feels Like a Vacation 

Everyone deserves a relaxing bathroom retreat, and lighting is a big part of creating a luxurious spa-like experience. Create a sanctuary space for getting ready for the day (and for unwinding after a long one) by separating the bathroom into zones of activity to help guide your lighting selection: where you bathe or shower, where you get dressed, and where you brush your teeth and hair.

Your lighting showroom will want to understand its size and dimensions, if you have a separate bathtub and shower and the number of vanities to start. They’ll ask you questions about your morning and evening routines too to help make suggestions for different types of lighting.

Here are a few of the primary light sources in a bathroom:

General lighting: Your bathroom should include at least one source of ambient light. This could come from recessed lighting or a ceiling light fixture like a chandelier, flush mount, or semi-flush mount. In a smaller bathroom, your vanity lighting could be the ambient lighting source.

Bathroom task lighting: You’ll also need the right fixtures to illuminate the area above the vanity for hair, makeup, and personal grooming. This may look like a fixture above the mirror, a wall sconce on each side of the mirror, or an LED lighted mirror. The Facet light by Hinkley offers just the right amount of light at eye level that’s ideal next to a vanity mirror. 

Accent lighting: Depending on the size and scale of your bathroom, it may benefit from accent lighting to brighten up darker areas or highlight design details. Wall sconces, LED strip lighting, and uplights help highlight wall decor and illuminate areas under floating vanities, cabinets, and shelves. 

 

Create Your Favorite Feel 

The right lighting is an important element in creating a unique mood depending on how you want to use a space. It can call up memories of your favorite destinations, all from the comfort of your home. Get the creative conversation started by connecting with a member showroom near you.