Bedroom Lighting Guide – Stylish Bedroom Lighting Trends
Your bedroom is a place to unwind, relax, and recharge. While a comfortable bed and soothing color scheme are important to creating a well-designed space, bedroom lighting is the key to a calming space. Use this bedroom lighting guide to create a thoughtful bedroom lighting design for an atmosphere you’ll love.
How to Properly Light a Bedroom
Proper lighting is so important for a bedroom. Proper lighting will turn the space into a ozy getaway and your favorite place to relax after a long day. Without proper lighting, your bedroom may feel cold, uncomfortable, or even keep you up at night.
One of the most foolproof ways to make sure your bedroom lighting works in your favor is to layer your light. This means using all three types of light–ambient, task, and accent–to create a well-rounded lighting design that feels comfortable and balanced.
Read on to learn more about the three types of light, as well as some of the best bedroom lighting trends, in our bedroom lighting design guide.
Task Lighting
You may not think of your bedroom as a place where you need intense, focused light, but it can be more useful than you might expect. Task lighting is functional for more than just professional work. Tasks like reading, journaling, and applying makeup are all made more pleasant and convenient when you have proper task lighting.
Getting creative with your task lighting can add both style and function to your bedroom. A traditional desk lamp is a great place to start, but other types of bedroom lighting fixtures can provide task lighting, too.
For example, stylish pendants on either side of your bed can act as bedside lamps. When installed with a dimmable LED, these versatile fixtures can even double as ambient light, depending on the dimmer setting and time of day.
If you have a vanity area for getting dressed, applying makeup, or doing hair, two wall sconces on either side of your mirror will provide the most practical and flattering light.
Reading Lights
Reading in bed is a treat–but much less enjoyable when you’re struggling to see the words on the page! Reading without proper light can cause eye strain, headaches, and fatigue.
Small bedroom lights on either side of your bed will keep you turning pages late into the night. Wall sconces work well for small bedrooms, because they don’t take up surface area on your bedside tables, leaving more room for your stack of nighttime reads.
Sleek, low-footprint table lamps are also a great option, especially if they’re dimmable. Dimmable LEDs are great for bedroom lighting, because they allow you to adjust the levels of light depending on the time of day and task at hand.
Bedroom Accent Lighting
The bedroom is arguably the most personal space in a home. Falling asleep and waking up surrounded by objects that bring you joy makes for a bedroom that feels wholly your own. Emphasize those objects–art, family photos, your favorite jewelry box–using accent lighting. As a bonus, using accent lighting alone at night can serve as a cozy, dim version of ambient light.
There are many types of accent lighting to choose from. Hidden lighting creates a glow from within, maintaining clean lines in your bedroom while highlighting features vignettes. Recessed lighting can act like subtle spotlights for art or other items below.
Even a desk lamp with an open lampshade can cast light upward toward the ceiling, illuminating whatever is hung above it on the wall. Spend a day experimenting and getting creative with your bedroom lighting fixtures–you may be surprised what you can turn into accent lighting!
Lighting Color for a Bedroom
If you only consider lighting color for one room in your home, make it the bedroom.
Why? Exposure to different colors of light throughout the day affects our Circadian rhythm. Bright, white light from the sun tells us to wake up, while warm light tells us it’s time to go to sleep.
When designing your bedroom lighting, it’s important to incorporate warm light, so bright lights don’t accidentally keep you up all night. Blue artificial light, like the lights in our phone and computer screens, actually blocks melatonin (the sleep hormone) and causes us to stay awake.
Warm lights are best for bedside table lamps and any other lights you might use when winding down after a long day.
Brighter blue and white lights promote alertness, so they are better choices for task lighting for focused activities.
No matter what color temperature you’re looking for, TCP offers energy-efficient LED lights across the full spectrum of lighting colors and temperatures, as well as dimmable LED lights.
Modern Bedroom Light Fixtures with LEDs
LED bulbs turn even vintage or antique fixtures into modern bedroom lights. With their low energy usage, long lifespan, and high quality of light, LEDs are quickly becoming the new home lighting standard.
Ready to transform your bedroom? The lighting experts at TCP are here to help. Contact us today!
