Highlight a picture

If the focal point in your family room is a picture, it deserves special lighting. The simplest, least expensive way to illuminate graphic art is to mount a picture light on the frame or on the wall behind the frame. Another, more subtle approach is to install recessed, ceiling mounted, or track mounted fixtures and aim them at the picture. A projector frame, unlike a spotlight or cylinder reflector, places light precisely on the picture. Best aiming angle is 30⁰ from the vertical. Place the light too close to the wall and it will cast shadows on the picture; place it to far from the wall and the light will reflect off the picture and possibly shine in the eyes of someone sitting near the wall.

Wash a wall with the light

Smoothly lighting a wall –its call wall washing –draws attention to the boundaries of the room, creating an expansive effect. You can use wall washer to focus attention on a series of pictures, highlight storage system, enhance draperies, or dramatize a wall sculpture. The least expensive and most flexible wall washer is mounted on a track. The farter from the wall you place the fixtures, the more subdued the texture of the wall becomes and the more even the overall lighting. Conversely, lights mounted close to the wall can highlight interesting textures.

Define areas with downlights

A type of spotlight, downlights does exactly what their name says –they send beams of light straight down. Width of the beam varies with the fixtures and with the distance between the light source and the receiving surface. You can choose fully recessed, semi recessed, or ceiling mounted downlights. Select a narrow beamed downlight for dramatic accent over a plant or table. Or define an activity area with a medium beamed downlight.

This entry was posted on December 14, 2009 at December 14, 2009 and is filed under Home. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.