Accessories - Housewares - Finishing Touches - Ceiling lighting idea /opinion in large family Room
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Vinces
01-19-06, 08:34 AM
We have a large 20-20 family room off our kitchen that only has 8 foot cielings. The room is so dark even with lamps (not to mention inconvenient to turn on) so I ran electric to a wall switch and was going to install about 8 recessed lights. After we installed one we did not like the effect (felt like you are in an interrogation room) So we are at a standstill. Recently we had the idea of putting one decent sized flushmount light in the middle of the room like this
http://www.1800lighting.com/scripts/item.cfm?cat=&itemid=324040&itmcnt=36&secid=12&manufacturer=Forecast&eflag=0&catalogname=capitol
…with 4 single flush mounts toward the corners of the room surronding it like this….
http://www.1800lighting.com/scripts/item.cfm?cat=&itemid=324040&itmcnt=36&secid=12&manufacturer=Forecast&eflag=0&catalogname=capitol (http://www.1800lighting.com/scripts/item.cfm?cat=&itemid=324056&itmcnt=40&secid=12&manufacturer=Forecast&eflag=0&catalogname=capitol)
The rationale was that it would provide ample ambient lighting and not hang down so far that the cielings would look even lower than they already are. I know this is unconventional though and wanted to see if people thought this would look different, but neat or different and dumb.
http://www.1800lighting.com/scripts/item.cfm?cat=&itemid=324040&itmcnt=36&secid=12&manufacturer=Forecast&eflag=0&catalogname=capitol
…with 4 single flush mounts toward the corners of the room surronding it like this….
http://www.1800lighting.com/scripts/item.cfm?cat=&itemid=324040&itmcnt=36&secid=12&manufacturer=Forecast&eflag=0&catalogname=capitol (http://www.1800lighting.com/scripts/item.cfm?cat=&itemid=324056&itmcnt=40&secid=12&manufacturer=Forecast&eflag=0&catalogname=capitol)
The rationale was that it would provide ample ambient lighting and not hang down so far that the cielings would look even lower than they already are. I know this is unconventional though and wanted to see if people thought this would look different, but neat or different and dumb.
Annette
01-19-06, 09:46 AM
here's one vote for "different and dumb". (your words, not mine! :o ) but honestly, you won't like the effect your idea will give you. overhead lighting is not a warm, friendly & inviting light for a family room. maybe a rec room or kitchen, but not family room. we have some friends who insist on only using their ceiling fan's light kit for lighting and have NO tables with lamps - none - it's terrible.
i'd go forward with your recessed lighting idea. you only installed one - you can't tell anything from that. the problem you probably had was that you had it pointing in the wrong direction. the advantage of recessed lighting is that you can aim them directly at something, like wall art or a table top. they're really more for accenting certain areas and lighting up the walls, not general lighting up of the whole room. you don't want them just pointing down on people's heads. and you should put them all on dimmers.
even with recessed lighting, you'll still need lamps for reading and for general lighting & just a warm feeling. my family room is the same size as yours and we have one table lamp with a cream shade and a 3-way bulb turned on to high (150 watts, i believe), one floor lamp (cream shade & same 3-way at 150), and 2 recessed lights (on dimmers) that point at our fireplace mantle area. it's plenty light.
maybe your lamps weren't tall enough, or your bulbs bright enough or your shades are dark & don't let enough light glow out, or are your walls painted a dark color?
i'd go forward with your recessed lighting idea. you only installed one - you can't tell anything from that. the problem you probably had was that you had it pointing in the wrong direction. the advantage of recessed lighting is that you can aim them directly at something, like wall art or a table top. they're really more for accenting certain areas and lighting up the walls, not general lighting up of the whole room. you don't want them just pointing down on people's heads. and you should put them all on dimmers.
even with recessed lighting, you'll still need lamps for reading and for general lighting & just a warm feeling. my family room is the same size as yours and we have one table lamp with a cream shade and a 3-way bulb turned on to high (150 watts, i believe), one floor lamp (cream shade & same 3-way at 150), and 2 recessed lights (on dimmers) that point at our fireplace mantle area. it's plenty light.
maybe your lamps weren't tall enough, or your bulbs bright enough or your shades are dark & don't let enough light glow out, or are your walls painted a dark color?