how to brighten up your home this autumn?

When the autumn season rolls around, you may begin to feel the lack of sunlight. This feeling can be enhanced when the day comes to adjust clocks one hour backward, meaning the end of Daylight saving time. Indeed, days grow strongly shorter and sunlight contribution decreases. It is then difficult to resist to the autumn blues !!!
To combat this phenomenon, it is thus very important to take care of yourself and your home !
Actually, in order not to bend before autumn anxiety, it is recommended to brighten up your home (and your mood). A warm and bright atmosphere in the all the rooms of your house tends to be the best remedy to mitigate the effects of gloom.

1. 1. EFFECTS OF MULTIPLE LIGHT SOURCES

To balance the decreasing of brightness due to the end of Daylight saving time, it is necessary to increase the number of light sources in your living environment. The multiple light sources bring apleasant and bright atmosphere. A single wall light or pendant light ensuring global lighting of your room is not enough to compensate for the lack of light in autumn. It is then advisable to favor other light sources, such as table lamps, reading lamps or standing lamps providing a more focused lighting. .

2. BENEFITS OF MOVING LIGHT SOURCES

When autumn comes, the needs of artificial lighting are increasing strongly. Do not hesitate to move your lights and luminaires lwhen you are doing manual works in your kitchen, do-it-yourself works, sewing… or intellectual works like reading, doing homework, or administration paper works… to properly brighten up your working space. Use lswivel lights to adjust the luminous flux according to your needs. Before beginning your works, it is important to take into consideration your lighting needs in order to prevent eye fatigue.

3. IMPLEMENTING NEW TECHNOLOGY

Prefer energy-saving luminaires and lamps in order to prevent high increasing of your electricity bill. A good lighting does not necessarily mean that you will pay more.
To enjoy an optimal, economic and ecological lighting, replace right now all your incandescent light bulbs and halogen bulbs by bulbs equipped with LED technology. LED Bulbs feature an extended lifespan : up to 6 - 7 times compared to incandescent light bulbs. They allow you to reduce your electricity consumption of up to 80 % in comparison with traditional bulbs. Furthermore, they fit into all types of lighting designs.
However, if the cost of LED lights is too prohibitive for you, you can chose forcompact fluorescent lamps which remain more economical than traditional incandescent lights.
As a reminder, the sale of incandescent light bulbs is forbidden since January 1st, 2013.

4. CHOSE CLEAR COLOURS

Even if the luminaire choice is essential to enhance your home lighting, the decoration of your living rooms can not be underestimated. The choice of materials, the choice of colours and furniture have a great influence on your home’s atmosphere. Even with a powerful lighting, obscure colours on a wall darken the rooms. To benefit from a maximum of luminosity, it is recommended to choose clear colors which reflect the light in a much better way. In addition, clear colours enlarge the space whereas dark colours tend to narrow the volume of the rooms. Prefer colors such as white, beige, light gray which will obviously brighten up your home..

1. LIVING/DINING ROOM

Typical place to relax, a living room needs to be warm and welcoming. A lounge is intended for relaxing and socializing, but also for receiving guests. In order to create a soft atmosphere appropriate for all circumstances, think about it to set up several light sources to meet all your needs. A pendant luminaire provides global lighting in your room. To this, you can add a more targeted brightness by means of a table light placed close to your sofa or on a table. By positioning a standing lamp close to your television, you can bring a touch of conviviality when watching a movie. Do not forget to set up wall lamps to enhance some specific areas or decorative objects like a painting or a framed picture.

3. KITCHEN

A kitchen is a location for storing, cooking and preparing food, and has not only to be functional and organized, but also convivial. To brighten up your home and your kitchen, there are some key elements of configuration you will have to take into account in order to target exactly the various needs:cooking area, washing area and working area.
You will need direct lighting wherever any kitchen preparation is taking place, provided by a downlight or a ceiling light
Recessed LED spotlights or LED strip lights located under cabinets are appreciated for their convenience and their aesthetic appearance..
In the kitchen, it is recommended not to set luminaires made of paper or made of fabric. Indeed, plenty of fat particles and deposits are brought to settle on all types of surfaces. Opt for luminaires made of materials which can be cleaned easily like metal or glass.

4. WORKSPACE

The home office is a room which requires a more technical lighting. Indeed, you will want it to be pleasant to eyes, functional and free from distraction. To brighten up your home and office room, set up multiple luminous sources. An ambient lighting coming from a ceiling light or from a suspended luminaire must be enhanced by a desk lamp to limit the contrasting effects which can compromise your vision.
Also, it is essential that the light source on your desk or on your working plan is well placed. Indeed, if you are right-handed, it is preferable to position the task lamp on your left side. On the contrary, if you are left-handed, put it on the right. The ambient lighting you use should be glare free. By using a task lamp, you will provide supplemental lighting for paper documents. In this case, be sure to choose low glare and asymmetric lamps.
Fluorescent lighting is preferable to other types of office lighting to avoid reflected glares on computer screens.

5. READING NOOK

In order to fully enjoy the reading of your favorite book, here are a few tips to ensure your reading nook has the right light. For reading, there’s no light like natural light. But when the autumn season is coming, an additional artificial lighting turns out to become necessary. Proper reading nook lighting will avoid eye strain. Also, it needs to be discreet enough in order to avoid dazzling and glares. Ban too powerful ceiling lights such as neon lights and naked light bulbs which emits a light which is too harsh. If you have a large nook, consider multiple light sources in order to avoid shadow areas on your book which can be very annoying while reading. A good lighting plan combines an ambient lighting and task lights located on the side of your reading area and will be the ideal setting to brighten up your home this autumn.
Last but not least, in order to enjoy a warm and cozy environment, select bulbs with warm white light, that is, coming with a colour temperature below 3000 kelvins.

6. BATHROOM

The bathroom is one of the most challenging rooms to light well and a room which deserves a powerful lighting. A bathroom is a room intended for bathing or showering, make-up, shaving, hairstyling… This is the reason why the set up luminaires must be able torender colours in a reliable way. Make your selection among luminaires featuring neutral white light with a colour temperature value close to natural daylight ( 4 000 kelvins). The lightinghas to be more functional than ornamental. Do not forget to brighten your washbasin and your mirror. The luminaires which you are going to set must have a high Color Rendering Index (CRI)and provide excellent colour consistency over the life of the lamp, CRI values greater than 90 deliver nearly perfect color accuracy and reproduction.

7. OUTSIDE

To brighten up your home’s exterior is essential as well. Indeed, a modern and contemporary exterior lighting is not only useful to enhance your garden, your façade or your terrace, but also to provide safety and improve your home’ssecurity. By positioning luminaires all around your house, you will decrease the risks of falls and injuries. Moreover, a well-lighted house will prevent you from burglary risks.
For a smart lighting installation, do not forget to brighten following areas: stairs, garden paths, front door, facades, terrace and swimming pool.

In order to decrease your electricity bill, opt for luminaires equipped with LED technology.