Accent lighting highlights particular features, spaces and objects, drawing your attention to them and enhancing the room’s ambience. With this in mind, adding accent lighting to your living room is the perfect way to elevate your space instantly.
Going from one-dimensional lighting to varied lighting levels will add intrigue and interest to your favourite features and centrepieces in your room, enhancing the overall feel of your living room.
If you’ve spent time beautifully decorating your living room, it’s time to add lighting to highlight your accent pieces. Accent lighting is the finishing touch to your well-designed living space. So, join us as we explore how to use accent lighting, where to place it and the primary accent lighting fixtures available to elevate your living room.
Table of contents
- What is accent lighting?
- What is accent lighting used for?
- Types of accent lights
- Accent lighting placement tips
- Accent lighting Techniques
- Choosing the right accent lighting fixtures
- Matching accent lighting with decor styles
What is accent lighting?
Accent lighting is any lighting used to highlight a specific area of a room, object or architectural feature. Compared to task and ambient lighting, it is purely aesthetic, contributing to a room’s interior design.
Task and ambient lighting, on the other hand, have a more practical purpose, like helping you to complete tasks at night and providing general light to a room.
What is accent lighting used for?
Accent lighting is an interior design technique where you use light to highlight spaces, objects or architectural features. Adding accent lighting to your living space creates variable light levels to vary your lighting scheme for added interest or differing effects for different purposes.
Accent lighting also provides design appeal as it frames spaces and highlights design features, intentionally drawing the eye to your room’s centrepieces and unique design choices.
Types of accent lights
Accent lighting usually has a focused light beam to highlight an object or feature. Here are the most common living room accent lighting ideas to create an accented lighting effect.
Wall sconces
Although wall sconces can produce general ambient light, using them sparingly can highlight objects and features. Uplighters or up-and-down lights create a wash of light across the wall, which accents the wall texture.
Picture lights
Picture lights are a specific type of accent light that highlights wall art. These can elevate your living room by highlighting your favourite paintings, photography and framed wall art, adding sophistication to your interior wall decor. Enjoy your pictures and portraits after dark by installing picture lights.
Track lighting and spotlights
Track lighting and spotlights are also a great way to elevate your living room decor using accent lighting. Adjust the bright, focused beam to highlight where you want to illuminate, whether highlighting a particular seating space or an architectural feature.
Track lighting features spotlights powered by an electric current running through the ceiling-mounted track. The track allows you to reposition the lights for varied accent lighting. Alternatively, you can install more fixed ceiling or wall spotlights to highlight objects and features in your living room.
Downlights
Strategically placed downlights also work well as accent lights, producing a focused downward light beam to highlight objects, space and features.
Lamps
Lamps are a great way to add accent lighting to your living room. Use table or floor lamps to highlight a seating area, sideboard or design feature.
Accent lighting placement tips
When installing accent lighting, placement is crucial. If highlighting artwork, point the picture light towards the frame to maximise the light effect. You can also highlight artifactual features and decorative elements by focusing any directional beams towards them.
Manipulating the position of your accent lights is crucial for pointing the beam in the intended direction. Mount them on the ceiling or wall or place them on surfaces or the floor to achieve your ideal lighting effect.
Accent lighting techniques
There are various accent lighting techniques you can employ to create different effects. The obvious way to achieve accent lighting is by pointing the light beam towards the object or feature you want to highlight. Or, with some planning, you can use other techniques to elevate your living room decor.
For example, uplighting and downlighting will highlight features and create fascinating shadows to add interest to your decor. You can uplight a house plant, sculpture, bookcase or shelf to draw the eye’s attention.
Alternatively, you can use the wall-washing technique if you have a textured feature wall. As you cover the wall in light, it hits the textured wall and creates a mesmerising contrast between light and shadow, highlighting the feature.
Choosing the right accent lighting fixtures
When it comes to accent lighting, choosing the types of fixtures is crucial to get the best lighting effect. However, you have a creative licence to choose between materials that complement your interior decor.
Accent lights are usually on the smaller side or have focused beams to create a focused highlighting effect. If the lights are too big or produce a beam that’s too wide, the feature or object becomes lost in ambient light.
Matching accent lighting with decor styles
With so many lighting choices, the selection process can be overwhelming. However, with our vast array of lighting styles, you can find the perfect accent lights to suit your interior style.
Whether you have a modern minimalist interior style, live in a period property or enjoy eclectic maximalism, at Castlegate Lights, you can find accent lights to suit and enhance your living room decor.
Living room accent lights at Castlegate Lights
Accent lighting is a fantastic way to elevate your interior lighting scheme and complement your decor. By using accent lighting to highlight your favourite design features and draw the eye to your centrepieces, you add interest to your living room. Accent lighting allows you to diversify your lighting scheme rather than settle for the standard.
Whatever your home decor style, you can find the perfect accent lights to elevate your living room decor at Castlegate Lights. With so many styles and materials to browse in our living room lighting collection, you can complete your lighting scheme today.
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