Light Up Your Spaces the Smart Way

Light up your spaces the smart way

Text: Elin Kroon, images: manufacturers, private collection

Is there such a thing as enough lamps? And what is that smart lighting everyone is talking about? Interior decorator Angelina Orula helps clear things up –?let's ask her a few questions.

What are the current interior lighting trends?

Lighting is becoming more and more important. All kinds of accent lighting are being increasingly added inside walls, around features, and even in furnishings. Smart solutions are also appearing in homes, such as nightlights. For example, having a separate dim light in your bathroom saves you from waking up all the way when getting up at night. This may be in the form of a concealed LED strip in a recess or under the sink.

Lighting up staircases is crucial for safety when it is dark. Wardrobe and drawer lighting is also gaining popularity.?

Decorative lighting is a huge trend, with lighting fixtures becoming a centre point of the room. Design fixtures of various materials and colours are in vogue. Glass, both clear and coloured, is also popular. However, more traditional and plain fixtures also have their place.

General lighting is often provided in the form of track lighting. Magnetic tracks have a minimalistic and neat look. Minimalistic recessed lights in the ceiling also continue to be popular.

Can you have enough lights in a room?

You certainly need enough lights to make the room comfortable to live and work in. For lighting design, one should consider the changing seasons which require different amounts of light, as well as the potential to adjust the lighting to various events and moods.

There's a lot of talk about smart lighting. What is it and how can it be used?

Smart lighting can be controlled remotely (i.e., from a mobile app or using a remote).

Let's say you have just gone to bed and remember you left the light on downstairs. Just open the app and turn it off. Smart lights are also dimmable and temperature- and colour-adjustable. It all depends on the specific product. For example, you might set a light to turn on when a sensor detects motion or at a specific time of day. These solutions can come in handy in every home, but especially so in larger multi-story homes.

Smart lighting is an excellent way to change the character of a room by manipulating light.

Is smart lighting difficult to install?

Modern smart lighting solutions are exceptionally user-friendly and easy to install. There's no need for special wiring, teardowns or other hassles. Smart lighting can easily be installed during construction or retrofitted at home.

All sorts of LED lighting strips require a bit more forethought. For example, if you want to make all your home lighting app-controllable, you should plan for a smart LED strip when designing your kitchen countertop lighting.

Which rooms are suitable for smart lighting?

Besides the kitchen countertop, smart lighting may be suitable over the dining table. In addition to dimming, some models allow you to adjust light colours to match the mood.

This lets you provide cooler and brighter light at the kitchen countertop for cooking and light the dining area more intimately and warmly or provide plenty of light to enjoy the dinner and turn it down afterwards for cosy conversations.

In the living room, smart lighting is great for accents – a floor or tabletop lamp by the couch, as well as recessed lights. This lets you adjust both brightness and colour temperature for different activities. In the kids' rooms, smart lighting can be used to enhance studying or playtime. It's a well-known fact that cooler light helps you concentrate, while warmer light is great for relaxing and resting.

How to make it cosy?

Creating cosiness is one of the main goals of lighting design. This can be achieved by combining lights. Switching off general ceiling lights and switching on lower-placed lights lets you quickly make the room feel cosier. For this, it is important to choose lights and bulbs with lower wattage.

Another good option is adjustable lighting or the above-mentioned smart lights which let you turn the mood in a room around with a touch.

Designer lamps can be placed on shelves as softly luminescent sculptures.

In terms of style, materials, shape and colour of lighting fixtures, softer and more naturally-coloured lampshades and fixtures provide more cosiness (think textiles, straw and wood).?

Smart lighting: a quick overview

Here's a quick overview of smart lighting according to Aron Koppel, project manager at Euronics.

Firstly, there are two essential differences between smart and regular lighting:

• the ability to adjust brightness and colour (automatically if necessary),
• remote or automated switching.

Secondly, smart lights can be positioned anywhere you may find traditional lights – in the ceiling, on the wall, on the floor or elsewhere. It's easy to do using special brackets or double-sided tape.

Finally, when choosing smart lights, firstly you should consider compatibility (whether, how and where can it be used and integrated with existing devices). Equally important is the light's functionality, as well as the desired design and effect.