Not only furniture, colors and accessories play an important role in the interior. The right lighting is just as crucial for the feel-good effect. After all, it determines whether we perceive an ambience as cosy – usually even unconsciously. Light not only provides brightness in the room, but also structures it. We’ll tell you here which lamps are best for which room and what you should pay attention to when furnishing your rooms.

The right living room lighting

One thing is clear: A single source of lighting is not enough for a living room. You should expect to use four to five lamps as needed.

First and foremost, you want to be comfortable in the living room. So make sure that you have warm white, soft and even light for the basic lighting, but it should not be too dim. It’s best to opt for a dimmable lighting system that you can adjust to darker or brighter depending on your needs.

For reading on the sofa, a reading lamp (for example, a floor lamp or a table lamp) is indispensable. You need enough direct brightness on the book pages, otherwise it will strain your eyes too much.

You should watch TV with the lights on, which should be about as bright as the screen itself. A strong contrast of brightness (for example, bright TV screen, dark room) tires the eyes.

Tip: If you have ceiling lights or other direct light sources, make sure you don’t point them at the TV, otherwise it will create annoying reflections.

To make the ambience atmospheric, accent lighting comes into play. You can create these with illuminated shelves, desk lamps, hidden LED strips (e.g. behind picture frames) or even wall lamps.

The right lighting for the dining room

The dining table is the center of the dining room – this is where people eat, play or do their schoolwork; accordingly, you also need good light here. Above the dining table, a pendant lamp with downward, direct light is the ideal occupation. Hang them at a distance of about 60 cm from the tabletop. To illuminate long dining tables, so-called multi-flame lamps are recommended.

Again, you can create a mood in the background with accent lighting, e.g. with table lamps on the sideboard.

Discover more dining room lighting tips!

The ideal bedroom lighting

Sure, it has to be dark to sleep. But for dressing, tidying up or reading, you need light. As here, too, a mix of basic lighting, accent lighting and functional lights is needed.

A pleasant mood is created by a warm, diffused light, which you can create with one ceiling lamp (or several, depending on the size of the room). If you use dimmable lights, you have more options: Dress? Make it bright! Going to bed? Turn down the lights.

For reading in bed, you absolutely need a good bedside lamp, because reading in dim light spoils the eyes (yes, mom was absolutely right!). Pinpoint, downward light from a lamp with an adjustable arm is best if you don’t want to disturb your bed neighbor with too much basic brightness.

Tip: By the way, for dressing and finding your way around the dark room, a wardrobe with cabinet lighting is extremely practical!

Lamps for the bathroom

In the bathroom, too, you have different requirements depending on the situation, for which the respective lamps should be available. If you want to relax in the bathtub, soft, warm and subdued light makes the atmosphere cozy. Your overhead light should either stay off or be dimmed. Of course, it gets really atmospheric with a few candles around the bathtub.

Around the mirror, on the other hand, you need a good view. For make-up, eyebrow plucking or a critical look, you need a light that makes the colors appear as unadulterated as possible. That’s why neutral white light with a color temperature of around 4,000 Kelvin is best here. Most mirror lights are tuned to this, and the bathroom lights also emit light in this color range.

We don’t need to emphasize that electricity and water are not a good combination. In other words, all lighting installations must be carried out professionally, and the desk lamp has no place near the bathtub.

The right lighting for the kitchen

The kitchen has long since ceased to be the place where we “only” prepare meals, the trend continues to be towards the kitchen-living room, where we prepare food and eat it in a pleasant atmosphere – a mix of cooking and enjoying. This makes it all the more important to deal with the right lighting in the kitchen in order to find the right light for all cases.

Tip: When planning the kitchen, always think about sufficient sockets and power connections to avoid expensive purchases afterwards.

Of course, the right basic lighting is also important here. First of all, it is best to use easy-care materials, as grease stains are almost unavoidable. So, fabric lampshades are rather unsuitable. Neutral white light with a brightness of 300 lumens per square meter is recommended here. In the best case, the basic lighting in the kitchen should radiate over a wide area. For example, multi-flame, rotatable and swivelling spots are suitable for this purpose. Pendant lights with narrow lampshades are less recommended because they only direct the light to a small, selected area.

The work area should be well lit so that nothing goes wrong when cutting tomatoes, decorating cakes or deboning fish. Here, uniform, direct lighting ensures optimal visibility. Recessed luminaires, e.g. under-cabinet lighting, as well as rotating spotlights are just right when handling sharp knives or measuring to the gram. A neutral light colour and a brightness of 500 lumens per square metre are recommended here. To avoid shadows, the light should come from above, not from the side.

For all those who use the kitchen as a dining area, the homely character should not be missing. To create coziness, it is best to choose a dimmable lamp with warm white light, such as a chic pendant lamp. LED strips are very popular for atmospheric light, which you can easily attach under your kitchen cabinets.

Lamps for the children’s room

Playing, doing handicrafts, doing homework, sleeping – there’s always something going on in the children’s room. In addition to the right furniture, the right lighting in the children’s room also plays a decisive role.

In any case, the room should have a certain basic brightness. Dimmable ceiling spotlights illuminate the children’s room evenly. A warm, glare-free light is just right.

For handicrafts or homework, selective lighting is important. Above all, the light for working should be nice and bright in order to protect the eyes and promote concentration. With swivel and rotatable desk lamps, the light cone can be individually aligned. Important: Make sure that it is light around it to provide additional strain on the eyes. With wall lamps or floor lamps, you can illuminate the space around the desk in a wonderfully subtle way.

Tip: To ensure that the luminaire does not cast shadows during work, the correct orientation of the lamp is crucial. If your child is right-handed, the light should come from the left, and vice versa.

Therefore, it is also recommended to place the desk to the side of the window in order to be able to use daylight to work, especially in the sunny months.

Of course, bedside lamps are just right for reading before going to bed, as they are not too bright and provide selectively oriented light. In addition, sconces at the head of the bed are worth considering, as are night lights – they are a wonderfully gentle sleep companion, take away children’s fear of darkness and provide orientation.

The ideal lighting for the study

In addition to the right desk and the right office chair, optimal lighting at the workplace is crucial for healthy working. This has an enormous impact on our health and performance, as good light is not only easy on the eyes, but also promotes our motivation and concentration.

First and foremost, the lighting should be bright and glare-free. The combination of sufficient daylight, direct and indirect ambient light (through floor, wall or ceiling lamps) and the light of your swivel and rotatable desk lamp, with which you can selectively align the light cone, is ideal. This so-called zone lighting protects your eyes while working.

LED lights, but also halogen or energy-saving lamps are recommended as light sources. 500 LUX or a neutral white light colour of 4,000–5,000 Kelvin is considered optimal working light.

Tip: As already described in the children’s room, the light at the workplace should ideally come from the side of the opposite side of your writing arm. Also pay attention to low-reflection surfaces so that they do not dazzle you.

The right hallway lighting

Mostly neglected, but completely unfounded: the hallway. He welcomes and says goodbye to you and your guests every day anew and deserves more attention, doesn’t he? The lighting in the hallway is also crucial to ensure a warm welcome here.

A combination of basic lighting, wardrobe and/or mirror lighting and warm white accent lighting result in a perfect lighting concept for the hallway. Pendant lamps, if they distribute enough light in the room, or ceiling lamps can serve as basic lighting; You can set homely accents with small islands of light, such as table lamps on the shoe chest of drawers or wall lamps.

Tip: Experts generally assume a basic brightness of about 100 lumens per square meter in the hallway.

In terms of atmosphere, also not to be underestimated: the lighting of the mirror. Soft, glare-free light, such as from wall lamps, is ideal here.

The size or length of the hallway is always decisive for the right lighting in the entrance area. For long corridors, for example, spots on the ceiling are very suitable – they “run along with the entire hallway” and illuminate it in its full length. You can create a homely ambience with additional wall or table lamps. For smaller entrance areas, on the other hand, two wall lights are suitable, for example (depending on the length of the hallway).

Result

Rule of thumb: It’s all in the mix. Use your lights strategically to put every living area in the right light. Depending on your needs, you will have a specialist for each task.

We hope we were able to give you a bit of enlightenment!