19 important tips and tricks for inviting bedroom lighting

The bedroom is a busy place. Of course, we use them to sleep-but they are also places where we relax and read, places where we spend time with our partners, places where we are beautifully dressed for going out, suitable for social activities and in and out of our daily clothes. This means that before you dive in and start ordering our best bedside lamps, it is worth taking a moment to carefully consider your needs and how it works in the space.
The best bedroom lighting is a mix of mood lighting and lighting that accomplishes things: lights for dressing up, lights for makeup in the front, or lights for atmosphere. So how do you make the light do all this? We have some suggestions...
There are three main types of light: natural light, which enters the window; task lighting for work-reading, makeup, making sure to look good before going out-and mood lighting to create atmosphere. The most effective lighting to make the bedroom look attractive is soft mood lighting.
The spotlights are designed to be very bright and very focused, so if you plan to use them in the bedroom, make sure they are dimmable. Too many bright spotlights make the room feel like a store.
In most bedrooms, the bed is the single most important feature, so it's wise to start there: you can support it with a bedside table lamp or wall lamp, or use the headboard for some interesting things.
LED strips are much more flexible than standard lights, so for example, you can use them behind or next to furniture, on beams of high ceilings, in cabinets, behind headboards, or wherever you want to add lighting.
You may use different parts of the bedroom for different things, so if you are an avid bedtime reader, the bedside lighting you need is slightly different from the situation where you only use decorative lights; if you like to dress up For makeup on stage, you need proper lighting so that you don't overuse blush.
LED bulbs usually come in two flavors: white (sometimes called cool white) and warm white. The former is cooler, colder, and bluer, while the latter has the yellow warmth of candles and incandescent bulbs.
Whether it’s a light bulb or a light bar, color-changing smart light bulbs are absolutely wonderful in the bedroom: you can create color recipes and control them through a smartphone or smart speaker, so you may have one way to relax, another for tidying up, and another One for scooping. We highly rate the Philips Hue system, but there are also good choices from Hive and Lifx, etc.-head to our guide to the best smart light bulbs to learn more, or see how these two leading brands are in our Comparison of Philips Hue and Lifx. Avoid eBay bargains, they have a unique school disco atmosphere.
What is the style of your bedroom? Is it traditional? vintage? Full of modernity? Futuristic? Choose lighting that complements the furniture and decor: mixing incompatible styles may seem strange.
If you are considering installing smart light bulbs for your bedroom and you have not yet chosen an ecosystem, please consider what else you might want to add to the rest of the house. This way you can be sure that if you want to add more lighting elsewhere, you will not be trapped by a system that cannot perform the required operations. For example, if you use TRADFRI lights to go down the IKEA route, there will be some beautiful lights and various bulbs, but there are no outdoor options or colored LED strips behind the TV; on the other hand, if you choose Hue, each Possible accessories include a large number of smart bulbs and many beautiful lamps and outdoor lights, but they are usually very expensive.
Your existing non-smart lights are also worth considering: for about £10, you can add a smart bulb, connect any light to your smart home, and allow you to control it through an app or smart speaker.
This sounds obvious, we know, but do you plan to light the room during the day? If so, then the way you see the room is completely different from the night. Once the sun goes down, areas benefiting from natural light during the day may be darker.
The mirror is not just to prove that you are beautiful. They are also excellent at maximizing available light. Carefully placed mirrors can make the dark bedroom feel bigger, reflecting the natural and artificial light of the entire space.
If your closet has a mirror, don't put the light inside: if there is a downward-facing light outside the closet, the mirror will reflect it into the room while still illuminating your things when the door is open.
Three different parts of the room need lighting: ceiling, wall and floor. Try different types of lighting for each. For example, you may have subtle light on the wall, but something brighter above you; if you are prone to bumping into something at night, some motion sensing, floor lighting can protect you Toes.
Think about what you are going to do, for example, if you plan to use the wardrobe mirror to see what you look like before going out, it is important to have a light in front of you and not behind you: if you don’t, you will find it difficult to distinguish colors and details . If you put on makeup, do the same with your makeup mirror: you should direct the light source to your face, not the back of your head.
Using a few low-intensity bulbs or a string of small LEDs will get better results than using a bulb that is bright enough to see your skeleton.
Lights are a good thing, but in moderation: if you have already placed a light on either side of the bed and one or two lights have been placed elsewhere in the room, then this is a good place to stop. You don't want your room to look like the lighting department of B&Q.
If you have shelves, pictures, or open storage spaces, you can use lighting to highlight them and add interesting colors to the room.
Downlights may be cute, but they are best for indirect lighting, so place them around the room instead of directly on the bed. You don't want the GU10 bulb to pierce your eyeball directly when you wake up.
Don't just imagine the light in your head. Go to the place where you will be doing things and imagine yourself doing them. Will your bedside reading light annoy your partner? Will the wall lamp you want illuminate in the right place?
Author, musician, and broadcaster Carrie Marshall has been covering technology since 1998 and is particularly interested in how technology can help us live our best lives. Her resume is a Who's Who in magazines, newspapers, websites and radio shows, from T3, Techradar and MacFormat to BBC, Sunday Post and People's Friend. Carrie has written 13 books, ghostwritten two others, and co-authored seven other books and a Radio 2 documentary series. When she is not graffiti, she is the singer of the Glasgow rock band HAVR (havrmusic.com).
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