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Currently, most rooms only have one type of lighting with only two settings; on or off. That means you have to switch rooms if you want to create a different vibe for the evening. In this article we’ll show you how you can use smart lighting in one room to create the perfect atmosphere for plenty of occasions.
You may have noticed the word Kelvin in your search for the perfect lighting. Kelvin is a unit of thermodynamic temperature, coined by William Thomson, later in life known as Lord Kelvin. It basically measures the warmth of a light source. A vintage filament bulb has a warm glow (2200 Kelvin), while office lights have a cold glow (6500 Kelvin), for example. The lower the Kelvin number, the warmer the light. The beauty of most smart lighting systems is that you can change the amount of Kelvin to suit your needs. For productivity, a high amount of Kelvin has been proven to work best, while a low amount of Kelvin makes you relaxed and is better suited before going to bed. Innr’s range of white LEDs are dimmable, but will always stay at the same high amount of Kelvin. All of the other Innr lights are far more dynamic and can be tuned to reduce or increase the amount of Kelvin. Keep that in mind when choosing the lights for your own setup.
To achieve proper lighting in a room, you want at least three different light sources. Most rooms have a means of connecting a ceiling light. Ceiling lights are good for ambient lights, or perhaps a few spot lights. This is a good point to start your smart lighting setup, but it shouldn’t stop there. Make sure to place a small light fixture near the seating area for reading or studying. If it’s easy to move around, you can use it for plenty of different occasions. For the third light source you can choose to go for a number of different styles. We’ve listed a few tips below.
If you want to make a small room look bigger, one of the best approaches is to create ambient light with indirect lighting.
If you want to make a small room look bigger, one of the best approaches is to use spots or ambient light to highlight a wall or curtain. A great example is to fit a LED strip behind the curtain cove and aim it downwards. Another great trick is to place a LED strip behind the central heater. Make sure not to stick the strip directly onto the heater, because the strip will only work between -20 and 40 degrees Celcius. If you prefer to make your room look small and cozy you can instead choose to highlight some small details in the room. You can mount Puck lights in a bookshelf to create small accents, or place a simple fitting with a smart filament light bulb on top of one of the shelves. Another trick is to install lights below objects to shine on the floor. For example, fitting an LED strip beneath the couch.
Some living rooms are in the same area as a kitchen. These open spaces are great, but can be tricky to light properly. Especially when you want to be productive in the kitchen while still keeping a loungey vibe in the living room. If you’re not using smart lighting, you’d have to turn off the lights in the kitchen, making it completely dark. With smart lighting you can simply dim or tune the kitchen lights when you”re done cooking. If your kitchen counter needs a bit of of a flourish, you can choose to mount some Puck lights in the cabinets above it. The Pucks give a pleasant diffused light, but since the distance between the bottom of the cabinets and the top of the counter isn’t that far, the 3 Watts per Puck is more than enough to safely cut your veggies. For extra style points you can build the Pucks directly into the cabinets. It could also be worth checking the fixture in your kitchen exhaust. Sometimes it’ll fit a smart LED GU10. That way, you can adjust the entire mood in the kitchen, even when you’re not cooking.
