Lighting
You can put light where you want it Resist the temptation to deliver an even coverage of light across all your space: if you light everything evenly, you’ll end up highlighting nothing. Also, this is your home, not an office with regulatory lighting demands! So have some fun with it, and plan for how you’re going to use the space and what you need the light for. A lighting designer should be able to give you great, shadow-free task lighting on your work surfaces, good ambient lighting, and interesting accent lighting to pick out focal points and areas of interest.
Brilliant Lighting SaveEmail You should always plan early If you only take one idea from this guide, make sure it’s this. The single biggest mistake people make when planning lighting is leaving it too late in the process. The temptation is to consider lighting as a first fix item, because that’s when the cabling goes in. However, first fix is the time to implement your lighting design, not start it. In this bathroom, the cabling and installation sleeves were installed 18 months before the bath was put in. Planning ahead means you can work around the other demands of your build – in this case, the need to lay the screed for the underfloor heating.
You shouldn’t treat LED as you would halogen LED has largely replaced halogen in new builds and renovations requiring Building Control. However, they are very different light sources and need a different approach in design. Things you need to consider are colour temperature, output (the amount of light a fitting delivers), beam width and colour rendering (how accurately a fitting renders specific colours). You also need to consider how you’re going to dim the lighting. LED behaves very differently when being dimmed and you don’t want nasty surprises. It’s really best to test the light sources you’re planning to use to make sure you’re happy with the quality of light. Ask your lighting designer to show you fittings and lighting control in action.
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