Bedrooms - Lighting 

 

The bedroom is a great place to experiment with lighting and is a very cost-effective way of changing its look in an instant.

But before you start, two major factors should always be considered:

1. You need to provide the ideal soft lighting to create an ambience and mood for winding down and setting the scene for a good night's sleep.

2. And strong lighting for waking you up in the morning!
The first place to start is with the natural light already coming into the room.

Quite obviously at night this won't be a problem, but in the morning, when the sun rises, it can be. Being woken at the crack of dawn to streams of blinding light through the bedroom window is not everyone's idea of the starting the day - especially on a lazy Sunday morning!

Position your bed to either make the most of, or avoid, natural light in the morning.

Position your bed to either make the most of, or avoid, natural light in the morning

At the same time, you don't neccessarily won't to completely block out the light altogether, choosing curtains made of muslin that diffuses the light are a good compromise. Blinds are also an excellent option that can also add a modern touch to your bedroom makeover.

 

As a general rule:

East facing windows attract the most light early in the morning, but not so much as the evening draws in.

South facing windows generate a consistent level of light, but it does vary throughout the seasons.

North facing provide the lowest level of natural light.

West facing can get glary as the sun shines during the hottest part of the day.

Once you've gauged the level of light coming into the bedroom, the next stage is to decide where to situate the main light.

Normally in the centre, it needs to be adjustable so that you can alter the brightness as well providing a general level so that the room is illuminated consistently.

For key area such as the mirrors and the dressing table, it pays to provide extra lighting such as spots of tubes - once again adjustable.
The switch for the door should always be positioned near the door so that you switch-off on the way in and out.

The key light, however, is the bedside one.

This is the one you'll need for reading your favourite book or the Sunday papers - and it needs to be convenient for switching on and off! And you will need two of them! You may want to watch the late film or catch up with the papers, but your partner may not.

The solution is easy and normally takes the form of two lamps on seperate bedside tables. But if you want something a bit more contemporary, there are now plenty of different styles and mountings on offer, most at very reasonable prices.

In short, the ideal main light and bedside lights will:

1. Have a switch nicely positioned so that you won't need to perform gymnastics to turn them on and off.

2. Incorporate a dimmer so that you can change the mood - both from the main switch and bedside.

3. Light up all the right areas correctly such as the mirror areas and the dressing table.

And one final piece of advice - don't use candles in the bedroom (as a rule). Falling asleep while their still burning is a definite possibility and a risk not worth taking.