Changing The Rules Of Design: Little Lights Big Ideas
Lighting is an important part of any design. The source of lighting can change the feeling and effectiveness of a room. Lighting comes from many sources including natural direct or indirect light, tungsten lighting, fluorescent lighting and LED lighting. LED light bulbs have come a long way. LED bulbs were once too expensive to be considered part of interior design options for the basic consumer. Advances in technology has reduced the expense of producing usable white light for the home. Light Emmitting Diodes offers many advantages and are a greener choice for lighting.
stands for light emitting diodes. LEDs are solid state lighting sources that can convert an electrical impulse into light. They last much longer then tungsten bulbs and because of the solid state, handle shocks and jolts better. These bulbs are small and sturdy. LEDs run the range of the color spectrum into non-visible light like infrared and ultraviolet with out the need for filters. These traits make LED lighting attractive for many projects.
Light Emitting Diodes send a narrow beam that is excellent for task lighting, like workbench lighting or kitchen work station lighting. The illumination of a wider area can be accomplished with reflectors and strip lighting. Stair cases and cupboards are great examples of places these lights can be used. LED’s are great for safety lighting and are used in airplanes, theaters and other places where lights can help illuminate passage ways without spilling into other areas. These same principles can be utilized in home lighting for stair cases, walkways and closets.
One of the great advantages of these lights is the ability to paint areas with specific light and a variety of colors. Using LEDs in interior design for space lighting is becoming less expensive and more adaptive. Like track lighting these lights can focus on very specific areas. In addition, some LED lights can actually change color depending on the need and desire of the home owner. A room can have walls that change color depending on the resident’s mood. Using carefully chosen colors the lights can alter the hue of the room. Matching the colors of paint and lighttakes a bit of experimentation and foresight. The room needs to be able to stand up to natural light as well as artificial light. Areas of the wall can also be lit or shaded. Light sculpting creates a sense of texture and depth to an area that may actually be a flat wall.
LEDs can also be employed special decorative purposes. Door knobs can light up red or green to indicate occupancy or vacancy, faucets and shower heads can be lit up creating an attractive stream of water. The color can even indicate if the water is hot or cold. These lights can be sensitive to the temperature of a room, shifting the color to help create a better ambiance. If the room is cool, the lighting can shift to warmer colors and in a warm space the lights can shift to color tones. There are a lot of uses for light emitting diodes and the possibilities are endless. Interior designers will use LEDs more as the price drops and applications increase.
Post a comment