One of your home’s most important and underrated features is its lighting. Lighting serves as a major functional aspect of your home; you literally need it to see, but it also plays a role in decor and ambiance. Lighting is an aspect of design that doesn’t get as much coverage as it deserves, making it daunting to choose the right lighting for your new home or update the lighting in your existing home.
Just like any other creative industry, lighting trends come and go. But one trend that is always in style is modern lighting, and finding a modern light fixture that’s right for you and every room in your home is easier than ever. Below, we’ll cover the best trends and how to incorporate them into your home, dining room, and outdoor area.
Modern Light Fixtures
Modern light fixtures can be used in every room in your home and feature clarity, geometry, and sophistication. Clarity refers to the fact that modern lighting focuses on making rooms brighter. The geometry used in modern lighting is always perfect circles, cubes, squares, or polygons. The combination of both elements is what gives modern light fixtures their sophistication. Some examples of modern light fixtures include:
Chandeliers
A chandelier is a hanging light fixture that has multiple lamps and usually multiple tiers and is used for ambient lighting. No other light makes as much impact as a chandelier, and chandeliers are the perfect light fixtures for your dining room. Modern chandeliers utilize geometry to make a bold statement and can be used as an art piece.
Pendant Light
A pendant light shares characteristics with a chandelier in that it’s a hanging light fixture but only uses a single bulb. Pendant lights also make great light fixtures for your dining room and can also be used above kitchen countertops and in bathrooms. Modern pendant lights are chic and utilize geometric shapes.
Wall Sconce
A wall sconce is a light fixture that’s attached to the wall. It typically projects light upwards and downwards when used indoors. Modern wall sconces are minimal in their appearance and can be used in any and every room. They’re a good complement to hanging light fixtures and are great in hallways and entryways.
Flush Mount + Semi Flush Mount
Flush and semi-flush mounts are ceiling light fixtures that don’t hang down. Flush mounts are right against the ceiling itself, while the semi-flush variety has a short drop, typically just a few inches. These are great in bedrooms and rooms with low clearance. A modern flush mount will incorporate creative geometry, clean lines, and bright lighting.
Outdoor Light Fixtures
Choosing the best outdoor light fixtures for your home is just as important, if not more so, than choosing your indoor lighting. While indoor lighting plays a role in ambiance, function, and tasks, the main priority of outdoor lighting is safety. The top five styles of outdoor light fixtures are:
- Spotlights – Spotlights point in one direction and don’t move unless you manually move them. They’re mainly used to draw attention to plants, walls, art, or statues, and they draw attention to whatever they’re pointed at.
- Floodlights – Floodlights illuminate large areas. They’re similar to spotlights because they point in one direction and don’t move, but they cover a wide area with more intensity.
- Up/downlights – Up/downlights are spotlights with two bulbs; one that points up and one that points down. They’re typically placed on the exterior of your home near doors and windows, in your yard, or in between hedges.
- Step lights – Step lights can either be a strip or rope of light and are placed alongside steps to illuminate the path and prevent falling.
- String lighting – String lighting is very trendy right now. These can be hung in trees, bushes, along a railing, or over your back patio. They not only illuminate your yard but provide a nice ambiance as well.
Selecting the best lighting for your home is just one more thing to think about when building a new residence or renovating your current one. If you need help picking among the best modern light fixtures and other options, contact Lancia Homes today. We’ll help you find or design the perfect lighting for your home.
