Living areas
The living room and dining room are likely to call for flexibility of approach. The lighting requirements of a family breakfast will be very different from those of a sophisticated dinner party in the same dining room. And you may want the option of lighting only certain areas of an open plan room, so that you can ‘lose’ the kitchen while dining, or simply highlight the areas you need.
The variety of effects you will need can best be produced by using several different lighting methods, each of which has a wide range of practical and decorative uses. With direct lighting, such as spotlights, 90% of the light falls downwards and, although it can be very harsh, it gives a strong clear light where needed. This is ideal for reading or paper work. I f the fittings are imaginatively positioned, this strong light will also bring out the form and texture of objects illuminated, and can be effective when directed onto a special ornament or other room feature. Semi-direct lighting also falls mainly downwards but gives a softer effect as some of the light diffuses around it. General-diffused lighting is equally distributed upwards and downwards.
This is the effect you get from most glass fitments, and round paper lampshades for example. The light is usually quite bright and generally useful, but it usually needs to be supplemented for activities that need strong light and dimmed for intimate atmosphere. Semi-indirect lighting has to be used with care. It throws a small amount of light downwards and tends to give a rather dull, fiat effect. (And yet, with a pendant fitting, this is the most commonly used lighting in the average living room.)
In attractive wall or movable fitments, however, semi-indirect lighting can give a gently relaxing background light. Ceilings would seem to benefit most from indirect lighting as it gives more than 90% upward light, but it does produce a shadowless, completely dull appearance. Depending on colour and intensity, it could vary from being bright and practical in the kitchen, to being soft and warm in another room. Otherwise indirect uplighters can add a touch of glamour to a wall of long curtains as long as they are positioned safely away from the fabric.