Expert Advice: Make Dark Autumn Evenings Cozy with Light

Planning lighting solutions for a new home may seem like a complex and time-consuming task. Alina Kester, creative director at real estate developer Liven AS, shares experiences and guidelines that shed light on what appears to be a tricky challenge, revealing unique opportunities in home design.

"When planning lighting, you should first think about how the spaces will be used. You need to move from larger decisions to smaller ones, and it's best to start with rooms where light plays the biggest role – primarily the kitchen, living room, and office," said Alina Kester, creative director at Liven.

Kitchen lighting can be planned only when you have a clear idea of the room's layout, work surfaces, and usage. This way, lighting in the kitchen supports your work rather than hinders it. Overhead light should never fall behind the person working in the kitchen, otherwise you risk creating an annoying shadow on the work surface while cooking.

"When planning lighting in rooms, functionality should be the primary consideration. For example, if the kitchen needs practical task lighting, then in the living room it's more important to create a cozy atmosphere, especially as autumn and dark times approach. When there is less daylight, it becomes that much more important to pay attention to how to make maximum use of natural light in living spaces," explained Alina Kester.

When designing each room, you must first decide what type of lighting you need: general lighting, directional lighting, accent lighting, or a combination of these. For the living room, the latter option is preferred because, for example, when cleaning or putting together a thousand-piece puzzle, you need general lighting, but for movie night, cozy accent lighting works better – whether it's a recessed LED profile or perhaps a dull wall lamp.

"For people who work from home, office lighting is especially important. Many people's home offices rely entirely on daylight from the window and a single ceiling lamp, which definitely won't be enough when darker times arrive. If you work in a room that's too dim for a long time, it can tire your eyes, increase fatigue and stress. To prevent this, I recommend investing in quality desk lamp. It's especially useful if the lamp allows you to adjust the brightness and color temperature according to the time of day and activity," said Alina Kester.

For bedrooms, it's useful to anticipate what the room's natural light will be like throughout the seasons. Some people like to wake up at five in the morning in summer with the sun, while others would prefer a dark bedroom around the clock so their child can take a nap. However, if this cannot be predicted in advance, there are many tools to design bedroom lighting to suit your preferences.

"Accent lighting systems are most wanted in bedrooms. For many people, a small cozy lamp next to the bed works well, so they can read a book in the evening before going to sleep. In this case, we always recommend lighting with the warmest possible color, so as not to spoil the sleep. For people with difficulty sleeping who still need to wake up early in the morning, it's useful to use daylight lamps that can be set to turn on gradually at the right time, simulating natural sunrise," explained Alina Kester.

When selecting lights, it's also worth exploring smart additional features. For example, a lighting solution with a motion sensor can offer energy savings, or a convenient solution could be a whole-house master switch that turns off all the lights at once when leaving home, so you don't have to control each room separately.

"It's common that when planning a home, the future resident doesn't yet know all their future wishes and needs. In such cases, more flexible solutions help, such as adjustable lights whose brightness can be changed, as well as rail lighting, where the position of light sources can be changed later if needed. Even small task lights, such as next to a bed, can be modified later," added Alina Kester.