Home Décor that Uplifts with Light
The Vignettes Home team knows that light is one of the most powerful tools in design because it affects everything it touches. It can highlight or hide aspects of a room, it changes the mood and ambiance of a room, and it can even affect the perceived size of a room. So, when it comes to planning or updating your home décor it is crucial to consider the role that light, both natural and artificial, will play within your home.
There are four types of light that are most commonly used in residential design:
- Ambient: Usually, this is the type of light we get from overhead lights. It floods a space with illumination with the goal of making everything visible. We see this kind of light in kitchens, bathrooms, and home offices.
- Accent: Accent light is meant to focus on a specific item or area of a room. Its range is far less than ambient light because its goal is to showcase or highlight one specific item such as track lighting focused on lighting artwork.
- Task: The most focused use of light is task lighting that is meant to aid in specific chores. We might see task lighting in rooms like the kitchen where under cabinet light can illuminate countertops for cooking.
- Natural Light: All sunlight that enters a home can be utilized in home décor. Though our homes are not the ones producing this type of light, we can control it with the smart use of window treatments.
The real interior design challenge comes in when deciding what combination of those four types of light would work best in each room. To do that, we must start with one question: how is the room used?
- Is the primary purpose of the space work or relaxing?
- Are you spending 8 hours in the space or 30 minutes?
Human behavior will have as large an influence on lighting schemes as personal style preference or décor aesthetics. After all, you would want brighter light in a workspace than in a cozy reading nook. Ergo, make sure in your interior design consultation that you are talking about not only what kind of style and décor you like, but also what kind of lifestyle you lead and behavioral patterns within your home.
With a clear understanding of your household’s style and needs, a designer can then help you formulate a lighting plan using overhead lighting, lamps (table or floor), mirrors, and window treatments. The latter being one of the most important elements in a lighting scheme because not only do they control natural light, they are also very visually prominent in a room thus affecting the style of home décor on several levels. For the latest in style and control look to the Hunter Douglas collection of sheer shadings. These modern treatments use translucent and opaque materials in an innovative pattern to create soft shades with a striking style that can filter or block sunlight and yet still provide view-through visibility.
Hunter Douglas Sheer Shadings
- Horizontal applications: Silhouette® Window Shadings, Pirouette® Window Shadings
- Vertical applications: Luminette® Privacy Sheers
If you are ready to uplift your home décor with the smart use of light, contact Vignettes Home. With an extensive inventory of furniture, accent pieces (including lamps and mirrors), and window treatments homeowners can find all the tools they need to control light in their home. And the friendly, knowledgeable team at Vignettes Home can help homeowners on every step from crafting a lighting plan to shopping for lamps and mirrors. Request a consultation today or visits one of Vignettes Home’s two convenient locations near Galena, IL and Dubuque, IA. Vignettes Home serves the communities of Dubuque, Cedar Rapids, Davenport, and Platteville in Iowa and the greater Galena area in Illinois.