While changing your window treatments and doing a lighting
makeover may seem like two separate projects, they both focus on one of
the most important elements of your interior decor: light. An important
part of the ambiance you create in your home is the light you let in and
allow to radiate out. While time must be spent choosing curtains and
lamps, successful makeovers depend on choosing the quality of light you
want to create.
Varieties of Interior Light
In planning both natural and artificial light, design
professionals identify four categories of light: ambient, task, accent
and decorative. Both ambient and task lighting can be strongly affected
by the size and placement of windows and the curtains, shades or other
decorative treatment you choose for them. Ambient light describes the
overall atmosphere of a room; task lighting is related to how well you
can see what you want to do in a specific room. Some portion of both
ambient and task lighting is natural light. Accent and decorative
lighting are primarily created by lighting fixtures, are chosen on the
basis of how they highlight and reinforce the decorative scheme of the
space.
Ambient Light
To create a comfortable ambiance, examine your
window-treatment choices in both natural and artificial light -- that
is, both day and night. While some decorators may favor dramatic
differences between daytime and nighttime looks in a room, lush dark
drapes can look overly formal in a den during the day, while frilly,
light-accommodating curtains can make a kitchen or bedroom look chilly
at night. Natural light may itself cause problems, glaring in the living
room during the afternoon or keeping north-facing bedrooms dim for most
of the day. Ceiling fixtures may produce a downward glare or even cast
shadows. Lamps alone may create pools of light bordered with darkness.
One solution may be to add indirect lighting to your overall plan;
window valances can perform a dual function. The goals of both window
treatments and lighting choices for ambient light should be to produce
consistent illumination at all times of day.
Task Lighting
Anyone who has ever taken a needle to be threaded into the
bathroom or the front hall is familiar with problems in task lighting.
Task lighting makes it possible to see what you're doing, whatever that
may be in any room. Usually, task-oriented window treatments let you
control natural light easily; curtains can be parted, shades easily
raised and shutters moved as needed. Washable, durable materials and
sturdy hardware make it easy to use natural light for chores, then
quickly restore the look of the window treatment. Artificial task
lighting is all about focus. For counter-based tasks, under-cabinet
fixtures bring light exactly where it is needed. Recessed or pendant
lights illuminate just the area where you are working.
Accent and Decorative Lighting
Both accent and decorative lighting play important roles in
pulling colors and stylistic elements of your decor scheme together. Use
a turquoise-shaded pendant light to emphasize the blue in your
paisley-print drapes. Echo the cream and muted red of your curtains with
red-based table lamps. The echo resounds in both directions: back an
ornately shaded Victorian lamp with ruffly sheer priscilla curtains to
create an old-fashioned vignette in the upstairs hall.
Flexibility
While redoing window treatments or lighting arrangements
involves making decisions, one of the secrets to long-lasting
satisfaction is flexibility. Plantation shutters may be securely
installed, but their louvers can be adjusted to let in more or less
light as needed. A window rod with classic finials can accommodate a
variety of scarves and swags as the seasons or other elements of your
decor change. You can also make lighting choices both firm and flexible.
Designers note that adding switches in different locations lets you get
the most out of your lighting design because you can make more frequent
adjustments and use lights in different configurations. Using different
kinds of light bulbs and placing fixtures at different heights within a
room offer you flexibility in lighting arrangements.
Green Choices
When doing a window-treatment makeover or redesigning
lighting, keep energy efficiency clearly in mind. Fabrics that insulate
or reduce sun damage save energy as well as expense. Innovations in
light-bulb technology deliver more light for less money than was the
case even a few years ago. Directly and indirectly, window treatments
and lighting choices strategies make energy-use more efficient and
effective in your home.
