Lighting Tips for an Intimate Living Room

Living rooms are arguably the most important of the least important rooms in the home. By that, I mean that, while a living room doesn’t have the utility of a kitchen or the necessity of the bathroom and bedroom, the living room is still an essential part of the home. 

In many ways, a living room is what makes a house a home; it’s not so much about how you live but about enjoying the “why” of living. After all, if you have a home and live with others, isn’t it human nature to want to spend time with those people? The living room is for that, so it is indispensable for a home while it’s not strictly necessary for a functioning house. 

Lighting for the living room is a tricky business. Primarily because it’s about creating an atmosphere that isn’t centered around utility but rather an experience. What that experience may be is up to you, though that will impact the lighting setup you choose to employ. What may work for a dedicated TV room will not work for a traditional family room. 

In this blog, we’re going to go through some of the best ways you can ensure your living room has the best lighting setup using steel barn-style fixtures. So whether you’re looking for something intimate, bright, or even useful, this article will have something to learn. 

So, let’s get to it!

Starting Simply

As with any of our other articles, it’s essential to cover some crucial bases first before we venture further. Lighting design can be principally divided into three distinct “layers.” Each layer of light can interact with each other, with a  combination of two or all three being enough to illuminate any room in the home adequately. These three layers are: 

Ambient Lighting: The base layer of any room, ambient lighting is the most basic form of lighting in a room and is the most common. Ambient lighting aims to simply light a room and make a space comfortable and visible. 

Task Lighting: A focused form of lighting, task lighting aims to make a specific zone, such as a workbench or kitchen counter, as easily visible as possible. Task lighting is traditionally smaller in scope compared to ambient lighting and is used as a safety measure for complex or dangerous tasks. 

Accent Lighting: Where the art of lighting design is most readily expressed, accent lighting is designed to encourage a mood or vibe in a space and works to enhance a room or object rather than simply light it. 

If you’ve read any of our other lighting guides, then you’re probably familiar with these already. However, it bears mentioning as these are the building blocks of good lighting design. Knowing how these layers can complement each other is crucial to maximizing the lighting in any home. 

With that out of the way, let’s move on!

Intimate and Quiet

Unlike kitchen lighting or porch lighting, where lighting focuses on brightness and visibility, living room lighting is often much softer. This is especially true if you’re focused on creating a living room for reading and socializing. 

In this case, ambient lighting is crucial, as always. After all, you need to be able to figure out where that comfy ottoman is if you want to avoid tripping over it. When it comes to ambient lighting, pendent lights or ceiling lights will be the best way to go. 

Industrial fixtures, such as our Carson steel lighting, are perfect for creating an ambient light that covers an area efficiently and without fuss. However, if you’re looking for a steel barn-style light with a bit more curve, then our Rose Bowl ceiling light can also be perfect for the job. 

With a reading room, task lighting becomes hugely important, as you’ll need a spot to be able to read a book comfortably. In that case, wall lights, such as our Topanga or Highland Park lights, can create perfectly intimate yet focused spaces for page-turning. On the other hand, if you’re looking for something softer, our Venice steel light is perfect for creating a cozy atmosphere. 

Much of what we’ve mentioned for a reading room is equally applicable for a social room or receiving room, but with a greater emphasis on accent lighting. Steel gooseneck fixtures can work wonders to create an intimate and inviting space for guests. In addition, a steel pendant light, such as our previously mentioned Rose Bowl fixture, can operate as both an ambient and accent fixture for those looking to maximize the cozy evenings with friends and family. 

Watch Something

Let’s face it, the real reason most people have a living room is to have a television. TV’s have been around since the early 20th century, and despite the leaps in technological advances, the TV is still more or less the same,  just bigger,  brighter, and flatter. 

Lighting for a  TV is usually straightforward, as you don’t need much to illuminate something that will dominate a wall with the blue light of its own. In this case,  the usual ambient light fixture is welcome. In addition, a pendant light or ceiling light is perfect for the task,  with our Eagle Rock fixture being highly recommended. 

Rather than focusing on task lighting, accent lighting is the focus here. The goal of lighting a TV room is to enhance the space without detracting from where the action is happening – on the screen. 

As a result, our Venice wall lights are ideally suited to the task. While it’s more commonly employed as a sign light, the Venice features an inward-facing dome that allows the light to focus back on the wall it’s joined to. This allows the light to bounce illumination off the wall and outward, creating a soft and intimate light texture. When paired with a gooseneck arm, the Venice shines as a stylish yet rustic example of everything we at Steel Lighting Co. are all about. 

That’s it for our guide on how to light a living room using steel barn-style fixtures!

However, if you need help making the right choice of lighting for your home or business, then contact our friendly team at Steel Lighting Co.,  our friendly team of experts would be more than happy to give some advice and recommendations on what kind of steel barn light can best suit your home or business needs.