What is the most important design detail for happiness?

Lighting helps change a room for different uses more easily than any other design detail. We can light a room for the occasion or the activity of the moment. The change and variation provided by lighting enhances the rhythms of our daily lives.

From flickering candles and twinkling party lights to advanced micro-lighting systems, lighting gives us either a comfortable or a miserable emotional atmosphere. Understanding the effects of different lighting helps you select the exact fixture and light source to create the desired emotional setting.

EIGHT PHYSIOLOGICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL RESPONSES TO LIGHT
1. Poor lighting causes eye fatigue and headaches.
2. Absence of natural daylight triggers depression and poor immune defenses.
3. Bright light stimulates us, while low levels of illumination quiet our senses.
4. Dim lighting or harsh contrasts produce eyestrain.
5. Too much artificial light and overly-bright rooms hurt our eyes and make us feel jittery.
6. Insufficient lighting is linked to emotional stress and to physical ailments.
7. An excess of unnatural light does not replace the calming effects of natural daylight.
8. Uncovered light bulbs cause irritation and disturb tranquility.

Notice how too much artificial lighting or too little supplementary light bring about the same harmful side-effects. Choose your lighting design carefully to assure emotional and physical comfort. Look for types of light fixtures with covered light bulbs. Use daylight-like light bulbs in combination with colored light to set the mood.

Consider another fact: people feel more comfortable with lighting from many sources. Combinations of lighting add variety and vivacity to our lives. Contrasting mixtures of brightness and darkness cause dramatic and lively changes in our home ambiance. Uniform lighting is good for working, but it is boring. Blending light sources halts insipid monotony in our rooms and in our lives. Selecting from a gentle radiance, a warm glow, to a bright, intense light involves understanding the effects of lighting on our emotions.

For these reasons, take care when selecting your lighting. Choose varying lighting effects to bring about your changing harmonious space.

(c) 2005 Jeanette J. Fisher All rights reserved.