15 Living Room Lighting Ideas That Instantly Brighten Things Up (2024)

FAQs

What is the best lighting for a living room? ›

Opt for softer 'warm white' or 'soft white' bulbs over harsh or 'daylight white' colour options. Natural finishes are preferable over lacquered ones. Lastly, look for sculptural details, elements of interest in your lights or any furniture in the room,” says Nikhil Paul, creative director of Paul Matter.

Use uplighters

With uplighters proving to be most effective when it comes to brightening up dark rooms. This is because uplighters reflect light towards the ceiling, rather than horizontally or vertically like table lamps and ceiling roses do.

If you prefer a cozier space, focus on accent lights to create lighting zones with a few darker pockets. Fixtures with tinted or colored globes and fabric shades are great for providing moody, ambient light as well. Dimmers are also a great way to have more control over the tone and quality of light.

Large floor lamps and bulky overhead fixtures will make a space feel smaller and closed in. Instead, look for fixtures that cast light over a wide distance and into dark corners, such as a floor lamp with multiple lights. Look for table lamps that are themselves brightly colored and top them with white lampshades.

We recommend 100 lumens per square metre. So if your living room is 20 square metres, you need a total of 2,000 lumens. For example, the central ceiling light can contribute 730 lumens (equivalent to a conventional 60-watt bulb), while indirect backlight luminaires provide 100-200 lumens each.

Soft White (Yellow Range, 2700K to 3000K): This is the standard color of incandescent bulbs. These bulbs are perfect for illuminating bedrooms, living rooms or dens and highlighting dark woods.

Opt for a White or Neutral Color Scheme

A dark room isn't the place to try out a moody, dark color palette. “Light hues on the walls and ceiling can really help lighten a naturally dark space,” Schuster says. If your walls are neutral, paint the ceiling a shade lighter to help light bounce around the room.

'Start by using a large centralized ceiling light to create an even layer of background lighting,' says Will Earl, director at J Adams & Co. 'Use a combination of dimmable task lights, such as floor and table lamps, across the room to allow you to adapt the mood of the space for day to night.

How to create warm lighting in a living room? ›

Install a set of sconces.

Instead of using a single intense light source, scatter multiple low-wattage fixtures around the room to produce a softer light. Hardwired sconces are a surefire sign of a grown-up home, but if you rent or don't want to call an electrician, check out our 13 favorite plug-in sconces.

The most effective way to light a room with no overhead lights is by using a range of different types of lighting. From wall lights and sconces, to floor lamps and table lamps, by combining multiple light sources you can provide plenty of practical light while also creating depth and atmosphere.

Room-brightening hanging light fixtures, such as pendant lights and chandeliers, are both practical and decorative. Track lighting, recessed lighting, and directional spotlighting work well on their own and when paired with lamps and other light fixtures.

While living room lighting is a personal choice, soft white and warm white are ideal for living rooms, as they emit a warmer, golden glow. Cool white and daylight bulbs, on the other hand, tend to be a little harsher and reminiscent of commercial spaces.

Hang a mirror across from a window to bounce light around the room, making it feel both larger and brighter! b) placing a mirror in this spot across from a window bounces a ton of light back into the room, making the whole space feel bright, clean, and spacious.

Living room – The ideal lighting for the living room is a very warm white, with a color temperature lower than 3300°K. This color temperature is ideal to create a decorative lighting, ideal for a romantic dinner or to design domestic spaces which are cozy and relaxing, perfect for unwinding after a long day.

A living room requires ambient, task, and accent lighting. Opt for LED or CFL bulbs with a color temperature of 2,700 – 3,000 K (warm white) and a brightness level between 1,500 – 3,000 lumens.

A good living room lighting scheme uses different kinds of light, set at different levels, that work together to make the space warm and attractive. Allen says if you want people to linger, use dimmers that allow you to control the level of light to suit the activities that take place in the space.

LED lighting

LEDs are by far the most energy-efficient type of bulb and are rapidly gaining popularity due to their energy savings and long lifespan. LEDs work by using a semiconductor to convert electricity into light, with very little energy wasted as heat.