Designing your home lighting is sometimes often left to the last minute. In a construction process, everyone is tired of timetables, demands and details, and most homeowners just want to get the job finished. Unfortunately hasty and perhaps minimal lighting decisions are often made, with a lot of regret in the aftermath.
Lighting Design is a process – a process similar to what you and your architect went through in renovation design – including a drawing phase, contractor selection, and construction supervision. Conversation occurs about what the needs are in each space and those requirements are translated into lighting recommendations. Lighting home interiors ideally should be done in conjunction with space planning and decoration planning, because it is so integral to the success of any design. If this does not occur, the lighting designer is often called on to correct inadequate or ugly lighting after the home is already in use.
Proper lighting design gives focus and function to every room. But even more important, after the colors are chosen and the walls and carpet are in place, only the lighting system will make your space continually changeable and dynamic. Designed-lighting will allow you to adjust the light levels, set your own combinations of lighting elements in a room, and create an environment that fits your work patterns or your mood. Most residential spaces do not require much artificial light during the day; however at night all spaces need light. Designed lighting is flexible and planned so the user can adjust the light to their personal preferences and their tasks.
A lighting design offers you the designer’s experience in understanding the variety and value of light-fixtures. A client should know that lamps (or light “bulbs”) are available in different wattages, color-hues, and in different beam-spreads, which create a variety of effects and which produce different energy costs. And the careful selection of controls (switches, motion sensors, and dimmers), make a significant difference in the safety and function of a home. A lighting designer makes suggestions that are both practical and creative, and the designer will offer an understanding about “layers of light” which produce the most aesthetically successful rooms and the happiest clients.
A lighting design process is done in a consultative manner, interacting with the needs and desires of each client, and considering budgetary and aesthetic issues. All lighting recommendations are in compliance with local and national codes electrical codes.