Professional Interior Design & Decorating

Do you think proper lighting is a big deal? If you answered YES, your correct. Adequate lighting can make or break your design. However, the typical person isn’t aware that there are 4 different types of lighting that could be present in every space.

Natural lighting obviously, which is windows, skylights and patio doors. There’s ambient lighting, which is your everyday light, your recessed lights, your ceiling lights and ceiling fans. There’s task lighting, which are your table lamps, vanity lights, your floor lamps and your desk lamps. And then there’s decorative lighting, which is your pendants, chandeliers, wall sconces and all other decorative lights within a space.

When you visit a properly designed home you will find all 4 types of lights throughout the space. For instance, a kitchen will always have recessed lights (for currently built homes) then it will have decorative lights which will be the pendants, a task light which will be the stove light and they usually always has natural light which would be a window, patio door or something that funnels natural light into the kitchen. The 4 levels of light will give you a different ambiance for different times of the day. So remember when designing your space to try and achieve all 4 of the lights available.

Take your living room for example, it will have natural light from the windows and your ambient lighting, which are your recess lighting and/or ceiling fan light. Next is, your task lighting, which will be table lamps or desk lamp if you have a desk or work surface. Last is decorative lighting, maybe your ceiling fan is your decorative light as well as your ambient lighting. Those are examples of levels of lighting. See image below for reference.

With obtaining all levels of lighting you can really set the lighting for any mood you may be in. However, make sure your lighting isn’t overpowering. Stick to lights that work well with your colors. Install dimmers if needed. I myself am a fan of LED lights (for energy purpose) but I also prefer halogen bulbs because they’re softer. You DON’T need 100 watts light bulbs anymore. It’s too much light for a home. Your table lamp only needs 60 or 40 watt bulbs. If you do a 100 watt bulb for task lighting. On a workers table, a desk or something that requires high wattage. But your everyday table lamp goes lower on wattage.

If you’re in an older home I recommend installing recessed lights throughout the home. They are standard in newer homes, but if your house was built before 1995 you probably don’t have them. Have a lighting technician visit your home and install adequate ambient lighting throughout the space, hallways, bedrooms, kitchen and living room. Then you’ll be able to achieve the multiple levels of lighting available and needed for a properly designed home.

If you’re buying a new home in today’s market this is probably one of your obstacles. Great rooms. A lot of my clients run into Great Room obstacles , they just don’t know how to tackle the spaces point.

They have a problem with how to design as a whole and yet as separate spaces. My solution to that problem is, to design them as separate spaces, giving them their own zones.

If you address it as separate spaces versus one large space it will be easier to design. So let’s start with your living Room space. With the living Room open to the kitchen everyone has a problem with how to place furniture and where your focal wall is. Most homes’ focal wall can be seen from the kitchen so do what’s natural. Now, furniture. Another big mistake I see often is furniture size. Which is an easy mistake. Most people buy their furniture in a retail environment, which retail spaces are deceptive. Why? Because they don’t have 4 walls, or a ceiling gives you a better visual idea of its size. That’s how people end up with the wrong size furniture. That and they don’t measure their space before buying it.

Word of advice. Measure first.

Now once you have selected your focal wall, and have the right size furniture the last big thing you need to anchor and separate the space is an area rug. Area rugs help to define visual space. It tells your eyes, everything on or around this rug is one space and anything behind it is another space. Using area rugs to create walking paths (runner), entries and visual separation will help break your great room up. Making it easier to design.

Next obstacle is the accurate amount of furniture needed to accommodate the square footage of the area. In other words. Do you have enough or too much furniture in your space? Touching back to model homes. When you enter them, you usually feel like it’s balanced. That the entry doesn’t feel cluttered, that the living room has enough seating to accommodate the house whole.

And yes, I know they aren’t lived in, but you can still picture yourself in the space, sitting on the sofa, eating at the table and cooking in the kitchen. Which means, the designer of those homes did their job right.

You can also break up and define the spaces with lighting. Ambient lighting, task lighting, and decorative lighting can help focus the space making it its own. The problem that occurs mostly are too many finishes. So select finishes that you like and try to bring those finishes throughout the whole space creating a cohesive look with separate designs. If your kitchen has certain finishes try and incorporate them within the living room and dining room bringing it all together full circle. This will make your design intentionally and more professional. I hope this helps. If you would like to discuss your project further please message me at

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