Manhattan Home Design's Lighting Guide: Accent lighting

Accent lighting is the third aspect of lighting on interior design. It’s all about making the right kind of choices to make things stand out. Like task lights, accent lights are directional and they’re meant to be brighter than bigger ambient lights (but also smaller). Accent lighting is divided into two categories, according to most interior designers: functional lights and mood lights. Functional lighting is what we would refer to as task lighting (if you read the previous articles you’ll know what I’m talking about).

Accent lighting is defined by the angle of the beam, meaning the direction in which light travels from the bulb. Ambient lights usually disseminate the light across the room, meaning that they don’t have shades. Most accent lamps and fixtures will include a shade in order to direct the light towards the desired item or space, but this is not a general rule.

How and when to include accent lights in your living space

One great example of accent lighting has to do with works of art. Most museums use accent lights in several paintings for the viewer to experience every color naturally, as it was meant to be experienced. Think about how things look below warm and cold light. Warm lights will make your room, and every color in it, look warm, that’s the whole point. Alternatively, cold lights will do exactly the opposite.  Ceiling lights can illuminate a whole room, but a painting’s particular details will probably be lost to the naked eye if they’re not illuminated properly.

Museums also implement a lot of ambient light in order to achieve this without having to resort to accent lighting, but that’s just an example. What things should you accentuate? Well, for starters, you can apply an accent light to a closet space, a niche on your apartment, book shelves, other kinds of shelves, the entrance to your home… You name it. It’s all about putting a small beam in the right place and fir the right reasons. Some people accentuate certain spots on their homes for safety reasons, like backyards, back doors, etcetera.

Here are some basic tips to go about accent lighting: for starters, try to focus on what you want to see. Secondly, use dimmers, always use dimmers. In fact, try to use dimmers for every single light in your house, you’ll thank yourself later. Besides, they are not as expensive as they used to be. Third: try to favor backlighting, meaning bulbs that are hidden or not completely visible, as they will provide a more efficient accent and minimize the effect they have on other spaces or items. Try to use incandescent lights whenever you can, and try to get the smallest possible accent light.

With this article, our three-part series on lighting finally concludes. We want to add another consideration for all types of lighting, which is the use of fluorescent versus incandescent lights (warm versus cold). We’re not suggesting you use only incandescent bulbs because they will lead to increased energy consumption, and there are many ways to remain both warm and green. Truth be told, we favor LED bulbs, but understand that there not available for every lighting solution. In any case, if you light your home properly (and eliminate the bulbs you don’t need) you can lower your energy consumption and enjoy a more comfortable home. Manhattan Home Design is all about comfort, but we also care about the environment and your wellbeing.