When it’s cold and dark outside, there’s nothing better than cozying up on the couch with a good book. You snuggle under your fleece blanket as the warm glow of the reading lamp lights the pages. With a fire roaring in the fireplace, the room has the atmosphere of a snug retreat, where time seems to slow down and the outside world fades away.

Lighting is one of the most essential elements when designing your custom home. You can layer lighting by using different types of lights, such as task, ambient, and mood, to create a multidimensional and inviting space. Light fixtures can be conversation pieces that reflect your unique personality. Your home lighting can make or break the feeling, functionality, and even the health of your living spaces.
Discover how the perfect lighting can elevate your dream home, creating a magical ambiance while optimizing your comfort.
3 types of home lighting
Lighting for your home can be categorized into ambiance, task, and mood. Ambient or base lighting is the general lighting that illuminates your space. Task lighting is designed for a specific task-oriented purpose, such as reading or cooking. Mood lighting sets the room's tone and provides indirect and diffused illumination, which is essential in crafting the right ambiance and experience.
To create a cozy, inviting living room, you might avoid bright overhead lights that are often harsh and unwelcoming. Instead, you can select sconce lighting on the walls to shine a warm, diffused light. Add floor lamps to enhance the layered lighting effect, creating intimate spaces perfect for reading or conversation.
Dimmable lighting allows you to adjust the light levels to set your desired mood.
In your kitchen, task lighting such as pendant lights over an island or under-cabinet lights provide focused illumination for food preparation and cooking tasks. I often recommend lighting above the cabinets or in the toe kick area to create a soft, indirect glow. This ambient lighting helps balance the task lighting and enhances the overall atmosphere of your kitchen.

Your bedrooms deserve soothing and relaxing lighting. For a current client, we’ve chosen an elegant pendant fixture rather than harsh overhead can lights. The fixture provides a soft, inviting light that, balanced with the bedside lamps, creates the perfect place to unwind at the end of the day.
Combine ambient, task, and mood lighting to enhance the function and feel of each space, designing your custom home to be practical and peaceful.
Choose lighting to highlight your home’s architecture
When lighting your rooms, you might be considering recessed cans. However, recessed cans present several challenges, especially in vaulted ceilings. They interrupt the clean architectural lines and disrupt your visual flow. Maintenance for these light fixtures is complex and could require ladders. Depending on your fixtures, they can give your space an outdated feel. Canned lighting fixtures also demand careful coordination with furniture placement to avoid awkward shadows and glare.
Instead, consider wall-mounted lighting that highlights your ceiling's aesthetic while delivering optimal illumination.

For the design of a custom home in Oregon, the placement and type of lighting need to showcase my client’s extensive art collection without compromising the breathtaking ocean view. Strategic planning will achieve the right balance of accent lighting to display specific artworks while incorporating more ambient, indirect lighting to create a cohesive visual appeal.
A rounded ceiling for a custom home in Hawaii required an unconventional lighting approach—a pattern of tiny, one-inch recessed can light fixtures spread across the curved surface. This created a beautiful, starry effect on the ceiling, providing soft illumination throughout the space. You preserve the ceiling's sculptural beauty and transform it into a stunning artistic statement. The space glows with the warmth of tiny stars.
Thin cove lighting is recessed into the wall, hidden within architectural features, and shines upward onto the beautiful, curved ceiling. With dimming capabilities, a soft, indirect luster complements the space's architecture.
A thoughtfully integrated lighting design provides the necessary functionality while achieving the desired ambiance. Lighting helps create unique and memorable spaces.
Select your lighting fixtures for a holistic design
Beyond aligning with your home’s architectural style, you want to select fixtures that seamlessly integrate with your interior design. You can choose lighting for your dream home by browsing lighting showrooms where you can physically see fixtures and imagine their appearance in your home. You could also search catalogs at the showroom or online to discover options that align with your personal style.
I often suggest choosing WAC Lighting or USAI Lighting since I find their products well-suited for my approach to mood lighting and indirect lighting solutions. Their range of fixtures provides visual appeal as well as functionality.
An interior designer who assists you with furniture and fabrics may use their expertise to help you with lighting to match your overall design. Interior designers often have strong relationships with lighting vendors and can guide your selection with extensive knowledge and experience. Perhaps you’d like to enlist a professional lighting designer to take the illumination of your home to a whole other level.
If you don’t find what you seek in the market, consider designing custom light fixtures. For a Rancho Santa Fe, CA, home, I worked with local manufacturers to design a collection of unique light fixtures that perfectly complemented the Tuscan-style home’s interior, adding a personal touch and a sense of individuality to the space.

By exploring, you can find fixtures that integrate with your home's style and work in harmony with your overall architectural design. Light fixtures can be conversation pieces, making a statement that transforms everyday rooms into extraordinary spaces.
Home lighting design for your well-being
Lighting your home is more than for functional and decorative purposes. Proper lighting can enhance your health, whereas poor lighting can result in headaches and eyestrain and affect your overall comfort. For healthy lighting in your custom home, use a combination of natural light and thoughtfully designed artificial lighting.
In the past 10 years, there has been a shift from traditional incandescent lighting to energy-efficient LED bulbs. Though energy-saving, these bulbs emit a significant amount of blue light, disrupting our natural circadian rhythms and leading to health issues like increased cortisol levels and obesity.
You could consider incorporating circadian lighting systems, like Lutron and Ketra, which mimic the natural progression of sunlight throughout the day. You can program the lighting to gradually shift in color temperature and intensity, creating a more natural and healthy environment. Click to read more about the benefits of thoughtful circadian lighting in your home.
Dimmable lighting allows you to adjust the light levels to suit your needs and preferences. You control the intensity of the light, creating a more comfortable and versatile lighting environment. Bright, non-dimmable lighting may harm your health and productivity, especially when working on a computer.
Cove lighting and lighting above cabinets create softer, more diffused illumination. This indirect lighting is less harsh on your eyes and contributes to a more relaxing atmosphere.
You want your dream home lighting to be holistic, prioritize beauty, and support your and your family's well-being. A comprehensive lighting plan enhances your home's beauty and promotes a healthier and more productive living environment.
Lighting outdoor spaces
In addition to lighting the inside of your home, you also want to illuminate your home’s exterior spaces. There are practicalities to ensure the outside of your home is well-lit for safety and ambiance.
Thoughtful lighting placement and sufficient illumination levels promote a secure environment. Well-lit stairs can prevent someone from taking a tumble. Strategic exterior lighting deters intruders with motion-activated fixtures and well-placed pathway lights to eliminate potential hiding spots for security reasons.

Consider the ambiance for your outdoor spaces. Imagine hosting an evening cocktail party by your pool, where carefully positioned lighting creates an elegant atmosphere and ensures your guests can comfortably flow between conversation areas.
Select decorative fixtures and lighting solutions for a cohesive exterior lighting plan. Your landscape lighting should have visual appeal to complement your dream home's overall design and architecture.
Lighting design for your dream home
Lighting design transforms your home into a comfortable and relaxing space. Layer ambient, task, and mood lighting while carefully considering fixture selection and placement so your custom home is functional and inviting.
From hidden cove lighting that warms curved ceilings to strategically placed art lighting that preserves ocean views, each decision contributes to your home's overall design. Combine beautiful fixtures with innovative technology like circadian lighting systems so your home is an environment that nurtures your well-being and enhances your lifestyle.
The perfect lighting brightens your home, whether showcasing art, highlighting architectural features, or creating intimate conversation areas. If you are ready to design your custom home with lighting that inspires ambiance, call me, and let's start the conversation: Tel: 858-344-2404 or email: caitlin@caitlinkelleyarchitect.com.
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