Best Types of Lighting for Each Room 

Lighting comes in all shapes, sizes, and color, but when it comes to the best function a light can have, it’s important to consider how the light will be used for each room. Light has the power to shape each room by the amount and the temperature of the light. This not only affects the overall look but even the atmosphere that a room provides for your needs. So, to make sure you have the right lighting for your room, we made a list of the best lighting types, style, and temperature for each major room in your house.  

An important thing to consider with lighting is the overall style of your house, where something with more traditional wood and warmer tones would do best with a warmer color temperature; a more modern cooler colored furniture would do best with cooler lighting. All that to say, there is a large range of temperatures, so we will mainly say what is preferred for each location but be sure to consider the other tones used throughout your room. 

• Kitchen For kitchens, and much of the house, recessed lighting has become an extremely popular style. It has a sleek and modern look that works very well in making the kitchen look smooth and clean. Kitchens tend to do their best when there is more lighting involved, so undercabinet lighting really helps with the overall function of your kitchen. Color temperature here is more based on preference, with cool lighting providing a bright and clear space to work in and warm lighting providing a warmer and more inviting feel. 

• Dining Room A dining rooms lighting tends to lean towards trying to separate the eating area from the kitchen and living spaces. A great way to do this is by having accent lights that differ from your other room; a chandelier or wall mounted lights are a couple of examples. Depending on the style you go with, they can really add to the ambiance of your room and help distinguish it from other locations. The main kind of color temperature we would recommend would be warmer to feel more inviting, but as we mentioned with the kitchen a cool lighting would provide a clean feel as things tend to look crisper in a cool light.  

• Living Room Living rooms tend to do their best with smaller lights like lamps. In this setting, it’s important to create a comfortable space to want to spend time, and warm lighting would be the best way to achieve this. By not having any larger lights it allows you to really wind down and relax in your living space.  

• Bathroom Bathrooms, hands down, work best with cool lighting; it creates a clean and neat space. If there’s any place you want to look nice and clean, it’s your bathroom! The most common lighting type for these spaces is wall mounted lights as they allow for more room to move around and provide a wider spread of lighting.  

• Office An office is a space you want to make sure you can focus on your work, and the best color of lighting for this is cool, as this best simulates sunlight. From personal experience, working on things in warm light has made me far more prone to get distracted and bored. When I switched to the cooler light, however, I felt much more attentive and focused on my work. The best kind of lighting for these spaces is lamps, but the placement is important as you want to make sure areas of highest traffic have more light to provide more focus. As opposed to bathroom lighting covering more ground, having a light by a reading space or just on your desk helps you stay in one area without feeling pulled to a different location.  

• Bedroom Finally, in your bedroom, this is MOST important when it comes to lighting. Getting good sleep is essential to being your best possible self each day! Warm lighting has won by far. This creates a much cozier and relaxing environment to wind down after a long day. As for the types of lighting, like the office, keeping it in specific places allows you to break up where you are getting the light from. However, unlike the office, you need more varied areas for lighting as it also is where you dress, which allows you to see more of what you’re picking.  

As you can see, the lighting and style definitely vary per room, so when decorating your room with lighting it’s important to remember what the light is for and how much light you need! Whether you are looking for a cooler, more focused and neater environment or a warmer, cozy and relaxing atmosphere, it’s essential to consider what lighting you are looking for. For examples of our work with houses check out our residential services. Shureline is here to help with any dream lighting you have in line, contact us for more information on how we can help you optimize your spaces for YOU!