Light up your home with bright lighting tips

Lighting has an obvious function: it helps us see what we're doing, especially at night. But that doesn't mean that it's alright to just toss a lamp into the corner. Lighting a room properly does take care.

Harsh, glaring lights in the den or office can give you a headache, while insufficient lighting in the kitchen or workshop can be downright dangerous. To make sure that you and your family are safe, observe guidelines on wall lamps, floor lamps, and hanging lamps.

• The light source should illuminate the room fully and evenly.
• Light projected from the ceiling should not be so bright as to diminish the effect of nearby floor or table lamps.

Wall lamps supplement the main light source in your room and play an important role in mood lighting. Here are some hints for using them best:

• A beam of light shining up or down on the wall can visually separate different areas of activity in a room from each other.
• If you want wall lamps to help spread the light evenly in a room, make sure that more light is shining upward than downward.

Looking to liven up the living room or den? Why not opt for a floor light or two? Here's what you need to bear in mind:

• Floor lamps create a cozy atmosphere, liven up dead corners and provide reading light in a room.
• Torchères (lamps on tall stands) can add a striking accent and can also be used as reading lamps.

A hanging light fixture is a common sight in any modern home, but not all are properly hung. Here are a couple of hints for hanging a pendant light:

• Pendant lights are perfect for casting light on dining room tables. Hang them about 75 to 86 centimetres (30 to 34 inches) above the table (for a 2.5-metre/eight-foot ceiling) so that they provide enough light without disrupting sight lines or blinding your guests.
• If your ceiling is higher and you plan on using large, dramatic table centrepieces, you might want to hang your pendant light a little higher. You want your guests to see one another, after all.

The impressively glittering crystal chandelier is the most elegant form of the hanging lamp. Through the use of glass-like synthetic materials, such beauties have become much more affordable. That being said, your chandelier won't show your dining room to its best advantage if it's draped with cobwebs and a layer of dust, so make a habit of cleaning it regularly.

Helpful tip: In 1880 Thomas Alva Edison patented the incandescent lightbulb. But today the bulb's fate is sealed: many countries have either banned incandescent bulbs, or will begin phasing them out. That's not such a bad thing. Consider that energy-saving lightbulbs (such as CFLs or LEDs) use a fraction of the energy of traditional lightbulbs and come in many different forms, hues, and temperatures. Simply by making the switch, you can reduce lighting energy consumption by up to 80 per cent.