Having some living room lighting ideas is the icing on the cake to your living room look; without it, your living room will just seem incomplete. Our living rooms are the spaces wherein we retreat to, sprawl out, and relax as a family and generally exhale; and as such, they need to feel homely and intimate.
Making sure that your living room is properly and beautifully lit for gathering with family, entertaining, relaxing, reading, watching TV or movies and all the other activities that take place in this central part of your home is more complicated than putting a dimmer on an overhead light and calling it a day.
A living room needs three basic types of lighting: accent, task, and ambient (or overhead) lighting. Most living rooms are bright and welcoming during the day; but once the sun sets, you'll need a mix of different types of lighting to create warmth, ambiance, and drama.
A well-lit living room ideally should have layered lighting that illuminates all four corners to create a pleasant atmosphere. It can include a mix of ambient, accent, and task lighting; chandeliers, wall sconces, table lamps, floor lamps, recessed lighting, and even candlelight—to illuminate the room for differing atmospheres and purposes.
These days, our living rooms are truly multifunctional spaces; the right lighting will help transform your room effortlessly from a reading nook to a home cinema. So whether you’re adding a rocking table lamp for a modern look or a chandelier to make a luxurious statement to your living room; we’ve got plenty of smart lighting ideas to ignite your interior design tastes.
Here are some bright Living Room Lighting Ideas to help inspire your living room lighting;
The Elegance of Ceiling Lights
More often than not, a room’s ceiling light fixture is the most important. Hanging a pendant lamp or chandelier over your coffee table will set the tone for the rest of the space.
If you want a soft, sparking light spreading evenly across your living room consider cove lighting. This is an indirect form of lighting built into the recesses or ledges of a ceiling. Light is directed upwards towards the ceiling and lends a soft and diffused setting.
If you need additional lighting, then recessed LED light bulbs will do the trick. They can be fitted into your false ceilings easily too. LED lights add a modern touch to home interiors and are a budget-friendly solution as well.
A Centerpiece to Draw Attention
A showstopper is another great addition to your living room. So instead of making a grand piece of furniture or expensive art as the cynosure of your space; you can try a statement light as the main centerpiece.
The trick here is not to have many large lights as the main goal is to draw your guest’s attention to them. Hang it low, so it seamlessly blends in with your seating arrangement area and radiates light in all directions.
Whether you go for a romantic chandelier or a modern pendant, a striking light fixture can complete a living room. Use the piece to brighten the seating area and create a focal point. Install a dimmer switch to be able to switch up the atmosphere and set the mood.
Pick the Perfect Pendant Light
Looking to add a modern touch to your living room? Try pendant lights as it offers plenty of illumination along with style. It not only gives you the right amount of light during the evenings but adds to your decor during the day.
Adding a pendant light to a seating area will also help in creating a cozy sense of intimacy by lowering the visual plane. One of the most useful features of a pendant fixture is that it brings the light down from the ceiling and puts it closer to your counter or table or favorite chair, or wherever you're going to need it. As this implies, pendant lights can be very useful for task lighting.
Hang some quirky pendant lights from the ceiling to play up your interiors. For instance, a cluster of copper droplets will make your room look charismatic.
Beautify Your Wall with Sculptural Sconces
Sculptural sconces are a great option that will bring life and color to the living room wall and can fill in as artwork, while still promoting a minimalist structure of the space.
Wall lights or sconces are a great way to add interest to an empty wall or frame the sofa or a work of art. They’re also ideal for small spaces and help free up floor or table space.
Whether eye-catching and multicolored or basic, with a simple design, wall sconces can beautifully frame a painting or a sofa. Try a pair of colorful or sculptural sconces that will draw the eye and illuminate the space, or go for a solo light for a minimalist look.
Create a Lovely Ambiance Using Dimmers
Lighting creates mood and atmosphere, and it needs to be versatile so that it works on a dull day just as well as it does for an evening party. Installing dimmers or lighting controls is a smart way to get all the sources of light to work together.
Dimmers are budget-friendly and easy to install. For example, during the day, you will want your living room to look bright with ceiling lights and a wall or table lamp dimmed slightly. In the evening, you can brighten up softer lamps for a warm glow.
Additionally, dimmers allow you to play with the setting so you have the perfect lighting awaiting you every day.
Illuminate Dark Corners with Floor & Table Lamps
Lighting a corner of your living room can give your space a whole new purpose. This type of light delivers a more direct concentrated lighting – perfect for creating a cozy reading corner or a quiet place for crafts.
If you have a dark corner, such as an alcove beside a fireplace, a lamp can prove invaluable. This helps to illuminate the space while also adding depth and making it feel bigger. It can also help to make it feel more characterful after dark, as the shadows play with the space to create interest in contrast to the light bouncing directly off a flat wall. As desired, you can focus the light a little further into the alcove rather than shining it directly outwards.
Additionally, a simple and stylish table lamp is a great way to add a contemporary edge to your living room lighting, and it helps that they are also really functional and easy to maneuver, should your preferred reading spot ever change.
A lonely armchair instantly becomes a cozy reading nook when you add a floor lamp. Take advantage of an empty corner and create a calm spot that’s perfect for curling up with a best-seller. If you don't have a ceiling fixture, consider a floor lamp that curves over the space as this piece will provide light from above.
Experiment with Contemporary Led Lighting Styles
Classic lighting structures like candle chandeliers, shaded pendant lamps, and half-moon wall sconces have stood the test of time, but don’t be afraid to explore a brave new world.
LED lights are the trifecta of lighting. They are bright, last forever, and use much less energy. They also are the latest lighting technology to integrate with smart lighting tech. Smart lighting is growing, especially controlled through an app. These smart-systems allow you to set lighting scenes for the room.
LED technology has made it possible for light fittings to come in a wider array of designs. Rather than overpowering your space with a harsh color, opt for a white light that will add the perfect amount of awesome vibes.
Wall Light as an Artwork
Wall lighting is a brilliant way to add atmosphere to a living room but can also be used to highlight wall decor and artwork. Rather than opt for traditional over-head picture lights, why not add an eye-catching design that serves as a piece of wall art in its own right? If the main purpose of your living room is relaxing and watching TV, then you should consider setting up a striking wall light above the sofa.
Both an element of function and art, a wall light can be a topic of discussion when entertaining and can do wonders in a smaller space. Wall lamps with swing arms also allow you to focus pools of light exactly where you want them to shine, which is particularly useful in open-plan living spaces.
You can build a colorful living room interior that catches the eye in the evening, under the soft, diffused light of matching wall sconces. Installed right above the seating area, they cast a mild, yet complimentary light and they also emphasize the color of the room, without taking focus from the wall paint or the artwork.
Cast a Spotlight on Your Favorite Pieces
If your living room lacks natural light, spotlights can bring in that extra all-over glow. Just be sure to add in some different light sources to warm up the space – wall lights and floor lamps will do the job. Oh, and if you can make your spotlights dimmable even better!
This living room lighting trick is so easy to do with a stick-on spotlight. Plus, those pleasing pools of light washing over your favorite pieces will just contribute to the laid-back look of your lounge.
Spotlights can also be used for task lighting, as they can illuminate a table, desk, or another type of working surface, and they can be used for mood lighting, creating a different mood or vibe for a particular room
Living Room Lighting Ideas & Tips
Turn your newfound knowledge of living room lamps and fixtures into an interior design game plan with these living room lighting ideas
- Go layered: A good living room lighting design requires more than ambient floor lamps or pendants. Don’t overlook task and accent fixtures– while secondary, both these types are fully necessary for a beautiful living room that’s lit functionally.
- Try three-point lighting: If you’re showing off a large framed portrait or furniture piece, you might want to use three lights to effectively highlight it. Your ambient lighting can count as one fixture, with two accents flanking its sides (or one behind it and another at its front) filling in the rest.
- Don’t go overboard: There is such a thing as too many lamps! Sometimes, one ambient light and a few accent lights are enough. Maybe you can get away with an oversized statement fixture and a couple of task lamps. In any case, if you find yourself adding a lot of items to the mix, take a step back and consider whether everything you’re doing is truly necessary.
- Know how you use the room: Your setup should vary based on how you use the room. Big TV watcher? Focus more on ambient, room-filling fixtures than on task and accent lighting. More of a bookworm? Don’t skimp on those table lamps that will make it easier to focus on the words. Love entertaining guests? Accent lighting can make your space more welcoming and memorable.
For bright decor ideas, turn to DreamyLight
Decorative lighting shines brilliantly against the fixtures set up in your living room. Whether you light the room with floor lamps or have pendants hanging over your coffee table, accent lighting works seamlessly with the lighting you already use every day. Creating the ambiance you want is simple -- just plug in DreamyLight.
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Whether you’re using our Creative Crystal Ceiling Light to completely douse your living room in magnificent sights or taking a more subtle approach with our Star Wall LED Spotlight, you can count on our fixtures for one-of-a-kind ambient, accent, and task lighting. Browse our shop to find your favorite new living room fixture!
