A well-lit home with Nora Lighting is just what you need.
Lighting design in apartments is a paradox. On the one hand, the small space should make it easier since you have barely any choices, and you can just rely on what has usually worked. And believe me, there are tons of design decisions out there for you to choose from. However, it can be quite frustrating, especially if you want to strut your designing stuff. In this article, we are going to explore the essential points that you have to ponder by to make sure that you are on the right track to bringing light into that apartment home using Nora Lighting.
Nora Lighting Driven By Purpose
The most common mistake that newbie designers make when designing lighting for apartments is to neglect purpose. Lighting, like most aspects of design, serves to perform functions other than just making the room look good. However, you do not have to sacrifice aesthetics to get there. Experienced designers know how to incorporate their designs without giving up functionality.
When one speaks about furniture, the first things that come to mind are the heavy fixtures that you have to haul when moving houses. But, we all know as designers that there is more to the definition of the furniture than what it is commonly associated with. Like the refrigerators, the television sets, the coffee tables, and the kitchen top deciding what furniture to get largely depends on both their design and functionality. You would not want to have a defective oven just to make sure that it goes well with your kitchen sink.
In the same way, you do not want to have to settle for a mismatched television set color against your beautiful wall. The same goes for lighting, which is to treat it as furniture because it is. Make sure that light performs its function well enough for its purpose.
If it is for setting the right mood before going to bed, then you cannot expect the lighting to be as bright as daylight. If its purpose is to ensure that you will not cut your fingers while preparing ingredients for cooking, then you cannot settle for anything dim.
On the other hand, your need for a good looking apartment should not be hindered by the functionality of the lighting. There are so many options for you to work around with from having lighting design custom made, which could cost your client a lot more. Or you could just choose items that already have a lot of palette variants.
One way you can broaden your choices for design is by picking the material you are using. This gives you flexibility beyond just choosing the color of the item or its theme. A lot of material finishes are available for lighting, and each of them has their strengths and weaknesses. Metal finishes are preferable for outdoor lighting but can also make their way into apartments. It is sturdy and gives that neo city feels, but make sure that it goes well with your general design. Like most metals, it can rust, so try to avoid putting it in moist areas like bathrooms and powder rooms.
A more common type of finish that you probably already know of is glass. Glass has a distinct advantage over other types of materials, and that is being transparent. This gives you maximum flexibility with how you want the lighting to affect the room. You can choose to hide the finishing altogether by choosing colorless or transparent glass finishing. You may also decide to put a little vibe in it and pick a favorite color by using translucent glass finishing. And finally, you can redirect light using a reflective glass surface. This is particularly useful when you want to cast light at a specific spot as with highlight lighting.
Wood and concrete can also be used as a finishing, albeit less common. The wooden lighting frame may have some questions in regards to durability, especially if the lighting is strong. Heat generated can tamper with the wood and leave out unwanted scorch marks that can develop over time. For living rooms which are preferred to be dimly lit, however, these are perfect and usually goes well with houses that have a cabin in the woods type of design. Concrete can also be used but is probably the least flexible in both design and physical. You won’t be able to move the lighting around easily; however, you do have the benefit of ensuring that the light is properly stable.
Nora Lighting With Dimmers
If lighting design had a cheat code, it would probably look a lot like the dimmer switch. Using dimmers gives the ultimate flexibility into your lighting design—no more worrying about how the lighting sources will meld with each other. You can just put every light source in a dimmer then mix and match presets. That cuts a lot of work that you had to do and leave the client with the maximum number of choices. However, there are still some points that you may want to remember before settling with dimmers. The first one is that not every lighting works with dimmers. There is indeed a lot of lighting that allows for dimmer switches to be installed, or makeshift customized glassware around the lighting to make it appear as such. But, some may not be as easily transformed.
Nora Lighting On the Walls
Aside from the ceiling, the walls are probably the second most efficient place where you can put in lighting. It is distinct from ceiling mounted lighting and has both its advantages and disadvantages. On the plus side, it is much closer to the ground, meaning that it can provide more focused lighting. This is particularly useful for reading and kitchen tops. On the other hand, it can be a bit clunkier, and if you are not more careful, you may render an entire square foot unusable.