Safety should be of first importance when planning the lighting in your home. Potential accident spots must be clearly lit at all times, especially if there are very young, elderly or short-sighted members in the family. Stairs usually present the main hazard. All stairs whether a full flight up to another floor or a couple of steps between levels, should be lit so that the beginning of the flight, and the nosings of the treads are quite obvious.
Although you may know about those two unexpected steps down to the kitchen, a visitor could trip on them and fall. Staircases are best lit from the tops of the flights so that the rises are in shadow and the shadow on the risers, however, an infill light below the flight is also recommended. And it may be necessary to keep stairs and halls lit artificially during the day, as they often have inadequate natural light sources. Few people consider the necessity for special night-time lighting, but it can be important.
A child may have a nightmare and need reassuring; you may have to go to the bathroom; the telephone or front door bell may ring. Many emergencies can occur in the middle of the night. Switching on lights at their normal level of intensity in a blackened room can cause temporary blindness—enough for someone to misjudge the top of the stairs. So, at night, a much lower lighting level is required for safe movement.
The staircase, corridors, bathroom area can be lit effectively with 15 watt night lights and at this wattage, the cost of running the lights all night would be negligible. Regular night risers people on shift work, or mothers with young babies to feed, for example, might also find an additional low wattage switched light useful, that they can turn on by the bed.
A hall can often benefit greatly from careful lighting as it is so often a dull, long and narrow corridor with no attractive feature. The first impression of your home needs to be bright and welcoming, and so have plenty of light here. A bright ceiling fitted downlighter is effective and downcast shadows will not matter so much in this part of the house. Otherwise try a cluster of beautiful glittering glass lamps, or a glowing ceiling lit with concealed indirect uplighters combined with attractive wall bracket lights. As halls are for ‘passing through’, you could try a more daring and experimental approach than would be appropriate in the living room. Just be careful not to have a brilliant lamp glaring at eye level.