How To Use Lights To Make Your House Feel More Cosy

As the nights draw in and winter is firmly on its way, the way we light our homes has a big impact on how they look and feel. Warm and welcoming or gloomy, lighting can affect our moods, too. So at this time of year it makes sense to look at the way we illuminate our living spaces.

The best way to do this is by using several sources of light from overhead pendants to practical desk lamps to produce layers of illumination, starting with a warm background glow and adding brighter accents of light that can be adjusted depending on your activity or the time of day.

Whether you're reading a good novel or preparing the evening meal, it's important to have a light that's bright enough to prevent eyestrain. In the kitchen spotlights can be fitted beneath cabinets to illuminate work surfaces without worrying about the dangers of stray cables.

In the bedroom use matching bedside reading lights with a warm light bulb to add a touch of ambience to the room and position a pair of slim lamps with a whiter light either side of your dressing table to create even light on your face.

In the home office you could opt for a fully adjustable lamp with a solid shade that can be directed to shine light where needed. If space is tight, clip on lights are also a very good option to illuminate from above spreading an even light on the desk. You could also select a floor lamp that rises behind the desk and illuminates the entire work area, creating a lovely even spread of light.

When it comes to choosing your light bulbs, start by finding out where energy saving bulbs will work. They are now available in a choice of shapes and fittings, these have really improved in recent years, taking less time to warm up and offering a warmer quality of light then before. Unless you are using dimmer switches, which are incompatible with most energy saving bulbs, you should still be able to find light bulbs that suit your needs.

Daylight lamps are very popular in the winter months as the produce a bright white light that replicates the sun's brightness on a warm summer's afternoon. These lights bulbs can be used in lounges, hallways, kitchens and bedroom's they really improve the mood off all during the dark and quiet winter months.