Lighting schemes for your refurbishment

Well thought out lighting can make all the difference. I am not the best at this when it comes to development projects, but I am determined to get better. Here is a little of what I do know along with some photos of recent projects.

Layers of light form the basic building blocks of a great lighting arrangement; low level, mid level, ambient, task based. The attached kitchen photo has dimmable ceiling lights for the ambient lighting - this is white light for the kitchen.

The worktops are then lit by undercabinet lighting, for task based food preparation.

Note that the ceiling lights sit just off of the line of the worktop, so that you minimise shadows when stood at the worktop and maximise light onto your prep space - equally they are not set too far to the wall such that they just down light the tops of kitchen cabinets.

The dropped lights over the dining table are offset from the centre line of the room on purpose so that they sit over the centre of an offset table - It is offset to create a more natural corridor space from behind the camera (open plan lounge) leading to the kitchen. The light is also a warm yellow light which creates a much nicer evening dinner lighting, which works well when combined with just the kitchen under cabinet lights and ceiling lights turned off.

Behind the camera of the photo above is the lounge, this has separate circuits for wall lights, ceiling lights and feature lights around the inset TV - finished with a floor lamp. All but the floor lamp are dimmable.

These different layers of light serve both function and form - they provide for daytime use and night time ambience. They are all dimmable LEDs.

By giving tenants a combination of lighting choices, they can create the homely feel they crave. That means splitting off some circuits for greater control, thinking about low level (lamps, uplighters), mid-level (wall lights lighting up/down etc) and high level for overall ambient lighting. As a general rule, white light in kitchens and yellower light in lounges / bedrooms.

Consider getting lights in as features, just as much as you consider a feature wall / art etc.

So, there you have it, a little bit of some of the things our sister Company is thinking about during the design phase that regretfully are often an after thought.