10 ways to upgrade the lighting in your home – bedroom lighting ideas for ambience

Lighting! Without adequate lighting, our rooms are cast in shadows and darkness. This creates a bedroom that is unwelcoming, dim and dull, making it difficult to relax, enjoy, sleep, and carry out basic tasks. Lack of lighting can even create the illusion of a smaller room as it darker and shadowy, creating a suffocating and gloomy atmosphere which seems to cave you in.

Having lights are a trendy, beautiful piece of décor, a scintillating feature which can spark life in the simplest of rooms. Ambient lighting or ‘mood lighting’ is the general lighting that dominates a space. It’s the use of light to inject a comfortable mood and to create warmth and depth in the room. Ambient light is not too harsh, bright, or blaring but is usually soft and welcoming. This affects our mood and is used so that light fills the room evenly. Ambient lighting is influential and useful for many things, it:

• Creates a zen-like, welcoming, relaxing environment
• Influences mood- comfortable, calm, or productive
• Trendy and aesthetical
• Fills the room with light evenly, making daily tasks easier
• Great for sleep health and rest.

There are many types of light fixtures, sizes, and designs that anyone can use to upgrade their home with ambience lighting. Whether you have high ceilings or low ceilings, a small space or a big space to work with, you can use these tips to upgrade your bedroom lighting for ambience.

So, here are 10 ways to upgrade the lighting in your home- bedroom lighting ideas for ambience

1. Ceiling lights – pendant

Celling lights can work in any room, with the right size of the light (and lampshade) they can illuminate any sized bedroom. Glass, brass, gold, copper, crystal, metal... Whatever!

Flushed Pendant light: You can get small ones that don’t dangle, these are called ‘flush pendant lights which can be used for those lower ceilings.

Or, if you have high ceilings get a super-sized pendant that has a big lampshade/ one that dangles more from the ceiling! These are called ceiling hung pendant lights:

Classic Ceiling hung pendant lights: these hang from the ceilings more and come in many lighting shapes: drum pendants, bowl pendants, bulb pendants, globe pendants, cylinder pendants, dome pendants, disc pendants, teardrop pendants, geometric shaped pendants, conical pendants... there’s so much!

2. Ceiling Lights – chandeliers, Track Lights

Chandeliers. If you are blessed with high ceilings, opt for a traditional or modern chandelier to give your room a taste of opulence and ambience. You can also get flush mini chandeliers for a smaller/lower ceiling.

Track lights: a functional, versatile, and multidirectional light which is great for ambience as they light up the darkest of rooms. They are simple to adjust- you can make lighting changes in your bedroom by moving the many adjustable heads in whatever position you want to shine a light on. So, some can face a painting on the wall, others can face your desk area, and some can shine a light on your bed. You can move it to your needs.

3. Wall-mounted fixtures

Wall-hung bedside lighting. – perfect if you don’t have a bedside table or a lot of space in the bedroom. You can pair them on either side of your bed.

You can also get an adjustable wall-hung lamp that has a long arm that can be angled high across your bed, wherever you want it positioned and how high you prefer it. Great for a double bed that has no bedside tables!

These ideas make the most of the available space you have- no bedside table needed!

4. Table Lamps or Floor lamps:

Ambience lighting is supposed to reach all over the room, if certain areas are darker or require more light you can add a subtle glow in the form of a lamp. Place them on bedside tables, desks, and areas of sittings in your room.

A bedside lamp that has a pop of colour! Think about your bedroom, does it look a bit bland and a bit too minimalist? Adding a touch of colour can really add an accent colour, as well as task lighting when you need that additional lighting.

A bedside lamp that is more subtle! If you have too much of a vibrant, pattern bedroom, in the wallpaper, paint and décor. Use for both decorative accent and tasking lighting!

5. Recessed spotlights

Recessed lighting sits flush against the ceiling surface for a sleeker look. Great for low ceilings and can be dimmable too! The lights are also another great lighting fixture for ambient lighting, task lighting and accent lighting!

6. Dimmers

A beautiful and stunning light which has an amazing feature: you can control the brightness in your room. Want to tone down for the evening and relax? Turn down the dimmers. Want to focus on an activity or project? Turn the dimmers up! Can be used for any sized bedroom!

7. LED strip lights or spotlight/downlights

Use these to illuminate a vanity mirror, under shelves, under the bed, around the walls, a painting – anything you want to draw attention to. Great for ambience, accent lighting and beautifying your bedroom. You don’t need a huge bedroom for this.

8. Fairy lights

Fairy lights are a dream…. They give a candle-like glow, perfect for your bedroom. Get some warm white/yellowish/copper fairy lights to create a warm, welcoming, homely ambience and a romantic look. Great when stringing around a shelf, in a jar, a string of photos, dangling down on the wall, behind a bed or workspace… they can complement any existing lights you already have!

9. Ambient Night lights: when it comes to lights-out at the end of the day, you may think ambience lighting has now been extinguished. You can add to the existing ambience lighting or create a small glow of relaxation once it is turned off for the night through an ambience night light. A sphere, cube or plug in the wall that is warm white.

10. Use a mirror

This is more of a lighting enhancement technique but place a mirror in those darker corners of your bedroom behind a light source. This really can help bring light to places there is a lack of natural light.

For example, place a mirror behind a bedside table lamp to maximise light bouncing around the room. You can also place accent light above the mirror to enhance the mirror décor and lighting further, a beautiful technique that has both a practical and decorative use.