Seeing The Light: Design And The Color Of Light
November 29, 2009
A key consideration of any home or office remodel or construction is the lighting plan. dental office design is an art all by itself. Light can turn a beautiful room into a space with the ambience of a prison ward. It’s the same if the project is a rustic log cabin retreat or a interior lighting design. Lighting can enhance or destroy all the considerations of a good interior design plan.
One of the first decisions an interior designer needs to make concerns source lighting. Where does the light come from, where does it appear, and how does it change. The initial challenge of designing a room is figuring out what the primary source of light will be. If it is a room used primarily during the daylight hours and has adequate windows, then the designer may work with the light source in choosing colors and even the shape of the area. If the space has no outside light, or is mostly used at night then a different set of design rules may apply. A space with mixed light, and 24 hour accessibility offers up another set of challenges.
Sunlight has a color hue to it that is different from other light sources. Sunlight is blue during the day with warmer tones at sunrise and sunset. In addition, the tone will change with the seasons depending on location. Choosing supplies and furnishings can all be improved with color temperature awareness. The blue cast of a midday sun can bring out the blues in the wall. The warm shades of evening and morning can bring out the red hues in paint. A couple important considerations concerning a room lit primarily by sunlight include the time of day the room is most likely to be used, the nature of the use, the colors of the floor and whether or not there will be supplemental lighting.
A space illuminated mostly by artificial light has several other issues to take into account. Artificial light varies in color temperature as well. Fluorescent light has a blue green hue, tungsten light a yellow orange hue. If the room is lit by fluorescent lights a color should be selected that will best work with the greenish cast. Most people have seen a room where fluorescent light has turned the walls into unpleasant garish colors. Careful selection of paint color can minimize this effect and help create a room with an almost daylight feel.
Selecting a color using a sample card is usually a risky venture. First, a bit of paint may be very different then an entire space using the same tint. Second, consider the source of light under which the paint chip is being viewed. A lot of paint departments are situated in the middle of a store and lit by fluorescent lights. Grab the chip, walk it to the window and examine the shade in the sunlight. Next, go home with the sample or a small can of paint and put it on the wall. Examine it during the day and also after dark. Change the wall the chip is on. Different walls reflect different light sources or the same source in a a unique way. Knowing the light is a major part of the design battle.
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