Mood Lighting Basics

Mood lighting is the latest trend in home decoration. Lighting can affect the mood and look of the room and most moviemakers and cameramen have known this trick much before common people started paying attention to it. Fluorescent lights are too bright and are thus, good for reading fine print or sewing purposes and is often used in Operation Theatres. Thus, they lend a clinical feel to the room. Warm and cozy bedrooms can use dim romantic lights while you may like bright light in the bath to help you shave even more closely. You may also like different levels of lighting in the living room so that it can be brightly illuminated for a cheery Christmas party or your kid's birthday but is tastefully dim when you are trying to relax on the couch after a hard day's work in front of the television.

There are many options available for lighting in homes such as floor lamps, table lamps, canister lamps, recessed ceiling lamps and don't forget to count natural sunlight that should be kept in mind too and can be guided using mirrors. Then bulbs are of different types too such as harsh fluorescent bulbs that emit blue light, soft incandescent bulbs that emit red and yellow light and bright yet soft quartz-halogen bulbs. Not only the color of lights emitted by these bulbs are different but they emit different amounts of light too. Bulbs of different watts can make a room look different while switching a set of the bulbs at a time and another set at another time may makethe look entirely different. Overhead fixtures above as shown in the cowboy huts may make a room appear flat, while wall washers, ambient lighting, accent lighting and up-lighting may make it quite interesting and add dramatic and romantic feel to the room.