INTERIOR

CHANGE YOUR HOME’S MOOD WITH LIGHTING There aren’t many single factors in your household that can change your mood, your health, the comfort of your home, the appearance of colours, and the feeling of a room with just one aesthetic – lighting. Most of us are trying to find the trendiest sofa to put into our living room or best shade of blue to put into the office room by for getting about the most essential factor i.e. lighting. INTERIOR |

- By Peram Srija Reddy

Know the impact of light on your mind Did you know that cool, white lighting makes you want to move, and helps you eat less, whilst warmer, yellow light encourages you slow down or eat more? This is very important to know when lighting your kitchen or dining room. Also ensure you have layers of lights here: white light in the morning allows you to keep moving and yellow or dim lights at night makes you feel sleepy. Make sure you avoid coloured lights unless you want to make a statement.

Interior designing is about designing the spaces which can connect to people who live in them. The most important aspect is enhancing and highlighting the spaces with appropriate lights. Most of the designers keep in mind the importance of lighting in Home Interior Design. You cannot experience the interior architecture to the fullest if you don’t have proper lighting. Good lighting can be used to enhance colours within a design. Also, lightings can add or subtract from the overall colours of a room. Use of darker colours makes a room feel smaller and cramped. It is beneficial to test colours using different lighting types when selecting colours in the design phase. Some lighting such as directional lighting soften the wall colours. The light emitted may be a warm or cool colour depending upon the type of fixture. Color preferences are objective in nature when coming to decorating your home. Considering right Lighting is required to enhance the colours aspects of the living spaces. Ar. Vinay Rathi Architect & Interior Designer @vinayandrashmi

Create light ‘layers’ Another way to ensure a room is never too dark or too bright is to add number of lighting layers to your space. Place floor lamps behind large furniture pieces and table lamps on any unlit surfaces such as console tables or sideboards. As for any tricky corners or recesses, there’s a massive amount of wall lights available. To easily layer light, combine plenty of lamps and floor lamps, fairy lights and even candles at different levels, with different wattage bulbs to vary the mood in your home: much more interesting than a single, lonely pendant light, or a ceiling full of indiscriminate down lighters!

Merge indoor with outdoor Don’t abandon the garden just because the night are drawing in, invest in some lights which draws the attention out of interior to the spaces beyond. This will extend the view from indoors, making the room look larger whilst making the garden look great and ensuring it’s bright enough to enjoy well into the dark nights. | INTERIOR

Lighting, single handedly plays a very important role in creating impact to any given space. Any thing and every thing else can be improved with this. Its definitely worth spending sometime planning out the layering in lights in homes. Basically there are three types of layers in lighting, First one being Ambient light, which is also called general lighting, which includes natural light coming in from windows, french doors or skylights etc in day time. Where as during evenings we use artificial lights like tube lights, ceiling lights, etc. Second layer is called Task lighting, this is most functional type of layer. This can be achieved by adding Table lamps, side lamps, floor lamps, mirror lights, vanity lights, under counter lights etc. Third layer is Accent lighting. These can be also called as mood lighting, or mood boosters. It can be added to accent any given space or things which requires ones attention, which you want to highlight or disguise. Ar. Amit Shah Principal Architect @kamitshah

“Lighting is a simple design element that transforms the ambience immediately! It is super versatile and works with all spaces and every style of décor. In Architecture & Interior design lighting is both functional and aesthetic. Outdoor lighting elevates the residence façade while providing visibility. It’s also a great way to ensure the setbacks of your residence are well lit which provide a sense of security as well. Most home owners normally ignore outdoor lighting because job sites close after sunset.It is important to plan the outdoor lighting design during the construction stages itself to make necessary electrical provisions. No matter the size of the house, generally, outdoor lighting can be used in home porticos/ corridors, sconce (wall lights) in sit-outs/balconies, up-lights for plants and name plates, façade lights to highlight cladding details, etc“ Varsha Prabhu @varshaprabhu Architect

Allow natural light How you light your rooms with artificial light and how much natural light pours into your home can make all the difference. Natural light is needed for all humans to thrive and our skin, eyes, hair, mind and all well-being need natural light to be healthy. At the same time, your home reaps the benefits as well. Natural light can kill bacteria that loom in dark and wet spaces in your home and it creates an ambiance that can’t be rivalled by artificial lighting sources. INTERIOR |

Consider lighted decorative objects This is an idea for anyone who likes a sense of fun in their home. Neon signs or lighted objects like photo frames, not only add to space but also add to light layers while making a statement that illuminates décor. You can get useful objects that just happen have lights in them. For example, some clocks, picture frames, even essential oil diffusers come with LED lights which in conjunction with aromatherapy, they breathe out, can really change the mood in the room.

‘Light plays the most crucial role in interior design. Without proper lighting, the design does not get that appeal. Whatever you spend on your interiors, without proper lighting it won’t stand out, whether it’s natural or artificial. Lighting has two be given utmost importance. Natural light gives a sense of calm and positivity. Whether it’s home or office, natural light adds freshness to the place. We should try to keep our homes well ventilated so that we can get the natural light. If it’s villa, then we can try to get skylight. Apart from normal windows, it will give a good amount of natural light throughout the day. Try having big windows wherever possible, specially east and west side of the houses. Natural light plays a crucial role in interiors. The shadows gives a drama to the ambience, plus natural light is healthy too. Try to have your homes well ventilated. Natural light makes your house look bright, spacious, adds freshness, hygienic, kills germs etc.’ Varun Mehta and Rahul Jain Partners at Think Designz @varunmehta77 @jainrahul9

Lighting is something which needs to be conceptualized along with the interiors as it sets the mood and ambience of the space, and should not be considered as an afterthought. Interior lighting design should be in accordance with the space, decor, placement of furniture, colour of the room, and the function for which the room is needed. Decorative lighting creates a visual impact and can be used for accentuating -a wall lamp to highlight a painting and for specific tasks like wall or table lamps to read. Decorative lighting also gives a personality and style to the space. For example, in a bedroom, if a person likes to read on the bed, more emphasis should be laid on having certain wall lights which direct light onto the book which will be more convenient. For a powder bathroom, a decorative pendant would be a great idea in order to create a statement and visual interest for the guests. If there is a neutral scheme in a space, a statement light fitting can add character to the space and enhance the architectural details. Mounika Kodali Architect @beyondspacedesignstudio