A Room-by-Room Lighting Guide for Home Living

Lighting creates the ambiance and soul of a space. It fills our homes with serenity and our workspaces with inspiration. Here at Gantri, we’re interested in exploring the bounds of space and light and bringing the future to you. This guide will showcase how to create a next-gen living space in any room — from the fundamentals of lighting to incredible products and technology to brighten your life.

How to Choose Lighting for Your Home

Choosing the right lighting for your home depends on a few factors. You should keep in mind the size of each space and the lighting requirements that come along with it. Also, what sort of ambiance are you hoping to bring to each space, and how can you utilize color temperature to achieve the perfect look? These are a few of the important, inspirational questions that we’re here to help you with today.

Size of your space

The size of your space is a key factor in the lighting decisions you’ll make for each room. Larger spaces will ask for more ambient light to make the entire room feel adequately lit without dark corners. Layering your light sources with multiple ambient sources and accents can be useful in giving you more control over your lighting needs, and creating a room with variable lighting moods. More on accents later.

Lighting color

Consumer light bulbs come in a wide spectrum of color temperatures that can create much different light and atmosphere. Many commercial bulbs are in the 2500K—6500K range as that’s the most comfortable range for enhancing mood and livening up spaces. Gantri lights come with LED bulbs at 2700K. To better understand what these numbers mean, let’s look at the science behind color temperature.

Source: Birddog Distributing 

The spectrum of color temperatures features a numerical representation of how “warm” or “cool” a light’s color is measured in the degrees of Kelvin (K). The warmest end of the color temperature spectrum (1000K) features orange tones like a sunset or candlelight and is meant to emulate soothing natural lighting conditions without being too harsh for relaxation.

At the midpoint (5000K) is a bright white temperature that’s neither cool nor warm — think the light of the direct sun in the middle of the day. This is commonly marketed as the light for work for productive spaces that value high visibility above aesthetics. The other end of the spectrum (10,000K) is a very cool bluish light. Many offices use this lighting since it’s less harsh for computer screens and has an “uplifting” energy.

Types of lighting

There are three main types of lighting: ambient lighting, accent lighting, and task lighting. Each has a different function and lights up rooms in unique ways, and aren’t necessarily interchangeable. This is why such a crucial aspect of home design is the layering of different lighting solutions.

Ambient lighting: These lights provide an area with filling light. You could compare it to prepping a canvas for paint. A room needs a solid base coat to make accents pop and for the whole area to feel complete. Lights in this category have a wide throw and are often bright, such as floor lights and hanging, or recessed, lighting fixtures.

Accent lighting: These help highlight specific spaces, whether they contain artwork, furniture or home design elements such as a fireplace or stairs. These lights can emphasize the unique elements of rooms that reflect an individual’s personality. They’re typically more focused with a more narrow throw.

Task lighting: Task lighting is specifically utilized for working or performing a task. As the name implies, utilizing these lights is often a balancing act between form and function. They tend to be brighter and centered on the workspace necessary for the task. For example, they can be lights over a stove or desk or a reading lamp.

Lighting living areas

You might be wondering why layering lighting is important, and what it means. Layering your lighting means investing in multiple “layers” of lighting solutions to give a space more versatility. 

Say your room has an ambient floor lamp combined with overhead recessed lighting and a reading lamp. These lights can be used individually, turned on all at once, or in pairs for lower intensity. This kind of layering means you always control the lighting of your space to set the mood as needed throughout the day. Let’s take a look at what layering can mean for individual rooms.

Living room lighting

Living rooms are one of the spaces people spend the majority of their relaxation time in. That’s why good lighting is critically important to making a living room feel truly livable. 

There are many options for creating a versatile living room. Bring floor lights to your favorite reading corner for a cozy feel. Use wall lights to help bring the entire room together for larger gatherings. You can even get table lamps for quiet nights watching TV. Combine them all for a bright welcoming space for family. 

There are dozens of amazing Gantri varieties to choose from, each with our unique eco-friendly polymer blend which keeps our products sustainable and stylish. Take a look at our shop to start getting ideas on how to brighten up your living room today!

Bedroom lighting

Bedrooms are often lacking in tabletop space, which is why accessories such as floor lamps or pendant lights (or even a well-placed wall light) can be great additions to anyone’s sanctuary. Consider if you use your bedroom for more than sleeping, and install lights as needed. Floor lamps for reading, bright pendant lights to check your outfit before you leave, or simple wall lights to help wind down after a long day.

The good news is that Gantri pendant lights are now the newest addition to our extensive catalog (which includes floor and wall lights as well). With advanced production designed for easy installation, our high-quality dimmable lighting solutions can be put up by anyone. Bring the perfect ambiance to any night or morning, and make your bedroom the most envied room in town!

Dining room lighting

Dining rooms are places for us to come together and share in some of the most significant moments of our lives — with lots of food to boot! Since we’re generally not looking to place lights on our dining room tables or kitchen counters we have to be more creative. This is another room where area lighting solutions such as pendants or wall lights can excel in creating a homey, bright atmosphere.

Lighting working areas

Working areas have different lighting requirements than recreational areas. More often than not you’ll need something bright and focused to light your work area. Whether you’re handling food or report sheets, it’s important to be able to stay motivated, alert and focused. We’re

Kitchen lighting

With kitchens, it’s best to utilize some more utilitarian lighting solutions. Handling food and knives requires a lot of attention, so the lights should be up to the task of making cooking safe and easy. If you have a large island, look at installing a pendant light overhead. Also, consider smaller LED strips or tap lights under cabinets to keep stove tops and counters well-lit while cooking.

One great solution to saving on space in a crowded kitchen is a clamp light by Gantri. This versatile and powerful lighting goes anywhere you need it. Plus, they’re perfect for crafting the perfect midnight snack without blinding yourself on the overhead lights.

Study and home office lighting

These days one of the most important spaces in our homes is often the home office. From video-conferencing setups to late-night work sessions, it’s important that office lighting is built to help keep us comfortable and keep the burnout from creeping in. You want the light bright enough to see, but not too intrusive that you make your eyes burn. Natural light (if possible) is great to utilize in a space like this.

Lighting a home office can be complicated due to limited space or surfaces. However, a good place to start is to choose bright area lights with adequate diffusion to prevent glare and on-camera artifacts. If you’d like to learn more about great tactics to create the perfect home office, Gantri has made a guide just for you!

Home gym lighting

Those of us who enjoy home gymnastics can benefit from well-implemented lighting solutions. Mirrors or reflective surfaces are helpful to have and can help bounce light throughout a space helping a single light do more with less. This is especially helpful because we all need as much space as we can spare to break a sweat. Often wall or floor lights make excellent choices for bright, and safe, lighting in the gym.

Lighting extra spaces

Many spaces in our homes are overlooked when it comes to lighting plans. These spaces help guide the flow of our homes and enhance comfort and livability. No one wants to rush down a dark hallway or have to welcome guests in a spooky entry. Here are some options for those extra spaces we use every day.

Bathroom lighting

Most bathrooms have very specific lighting solutions pre-equipped, making additional lighting difficult. Plus, you have to make sure lighting isn’t too close to water sources to avoid dangerous electrical situations. Table and floor lights are likely out, leaving clamp or wall lights as excellent options if you have room and adequate cord clearance. Look to revamping preinstalled wall or recessed lights to fit your style.

Entryway lighting

Often one of the most under-appreciated rooms in a home is the entryway. What better opportunity to create a grand impression for visitors and family alike than beautiful lighting? Picture yourself stepping through your doorway at night after a long day of work. Flipping on the entryway light can be the best feeling of the day. Make it shine with a radiant pendant light or wall lights.

Hallway and stair lighting

The proper lighting in a hallway or on stairs can make a huge difference in the feel, and safety, of your home. You want to make sure your stairs are well-lit to avoid falls, and your halls don’t feel too creepy. Focus on wall lighting for halls and overhead lighting (if space allows) for stairs.

Check out Gantri’s easy-installation wall lights. Guiding the flow of our homes makes an excellent opportunity for unique accent lighting. The unique shape of a set of stairs helps the lighting pop, creating beautiful soft shadows and bright angles.

Make your home your style

We hope you’ve enjoyed this guide on creating lighting that enhances your mood and makes your home come alive. As always take each room and its function into consideration when picking lighting solutions. Take your next step at creating your perfect living space at Gantri, and check out some of our products and other amazing guides!