Bedroom Lighting Tips

Your bedroom is your retreat from the world — where you go to relax and get away from it all. Whether you’re in there for a few hours or throughout the night, it’s important for your bedroom to have the perfect lighting, and at Hortons, we can help you find the right fixtures for any room. When it comes to new bedroom lighting, our team can provide you with lamps, ceiling fans, wall sconces, and much more!

Ambient Lighting

The ambient lighting in a bedroom often comes from a ceiling fan or another overhead fixture. Fans are a popular choice because they not only help light a room, they also help keep the room cool during the summer. However, if you’re thinking of replacing your bedroom ceiling fan with a small chandelier or pendant light, then we can help you choose the right option.

Ambient light from your ceiling fixture should reach the majority of the bedroom. When you turn on the light, you should be able to see well enough to navigate the room without any difficulty. You can also put your ambient fixture on a dimmer switch so that you can raise or lower the light, depending on your mood or the time of day.

If you want additional ambient lighting in your bedroom, apart from the main overhead fixture, recessed lighting can be a great choice. You can install recessed fixtures around the perimeter of the room and place them on their own controls, making your bedroom lighting even more versatile.

Accent Lighting

Every bedroom needs accent lighting, especially for the walls and corners of the room. A new floor lamp can brighten a corner, and well-placed wall sconces can bring light to the middle layer of the room. Your bedside lamps can also function as accent lights, and there will be times when your accent fixtures are the only ones you have on in the room.

When thinking about which accent lights to choose, consider how they will work with and complement your ambient fixture. Sconces that match your pendant or chandelier help complete your new lighting design, and the bedroom will feel more unified in terms of style. The right accent lights can make all the difference, and we can help you find the perfect options for your home.

Task Lighting

Your bedside lamps are the main source of task lighting in the bedroom. You use them when you’re reading before bed or when you’re using your phone in the morning, and it’s important to have lamps that fit the style of your bedroom and provide plenty of light. Table lamps that are too small or outdated can detract from the overall comfort and ambience of the bedroom.

Perhaps you want to use your new bedside lamps as a starting point for your new design. There are countless possibilities when it comes to lamps, and we can show you what we have in stock. Finding the right lamps could be the inspiration you need to rethink the rest of your bedroom lighting!

The Master Bedroom

As a homeowner, your focus for new bedroom lighting is likely on the master bedroom. After all, this is where you sleep and spend your time, and as the largest bedroom in the house, it needs the most attention when it comes to lighting. You likely have ideas of what you want in terms of new lights, and our team is here to help every step of the way.

Starting with the overhead ambient fixture, it’s important to consider the height and shape of the master bedroom ceiling. Is the ceiling more than eight feet high? Is it vaulted or sloped? For taller ceilings, it’s easier to accommodate a hanging fixture such as a chandelier or pendant. With a vaulted or sloped ceiling, you’ll have to take that into account when having a new ceiling fan or hanging fixture installed.

Once you have the ambient light figured out, you can move to the accent and task fixtures. It’s important to have a good balance of ambient, accent, and task lighting so that the bedroom is comfortable and inviting, without spots that are too dim or too bright. By placing sconces and lamps in the right spots, you can have lighting at every level of the room, creating an atmosphere where you can relax and unwind at the end of a long day.

The Guest Bedroom

The guest room is often smaller than the master suite, and it may also double as a home office area. If it’s a dedicated bedroom, then the same lighting ideas from the master bedroom apply, just on a smaller scale. You’ll want to make sure the overhead light fits the space, and you’ll want wall lighting that helps brighten the room when you have guests come to stay.

Bedside lamps are also a must, with one for either side of the bed. Guests may want to read or look at their phone before bed, and having a lamp by which to see can make their stay much more comfortable. If there’s enough space in the room, you can also add a floor lamp for additional accent and task lighting.

Ceiling fans are often a popular choice for guest rooms, since you want your visitors to be comfortable while they’re sleeping. If a guest is often too warm, the fan will help keep the room cool. If someone is too cold, they can turn the fan off and still have the benefit of an overhead ambient light. Above all, your guest room lighting should illuminate the room properly and make anyone who stays with you feel right at home.

The Kids’ Rooms

Lighting a child’s bedroom can be tricky, since you want to make sure they have the lights they need while also remaining safe. For a nursery, you likely picked out new lights, such as a floor lamp, that would help you see as you rocked the baby to sleep or gave them a bottle in the middle of the night. For the ceiling fixture, you may have gone with something a bit more whimsical, such as a fun chandelier or a themed ceiling fan.

However, as your children grow, the lighting in their rooms will likely need to change. They’ll need a bedside lamp for bedtime stories and a desk lamp for homework once they reach school age. You may also want to update the lighting in their room so that when they move out or head off to college, you can easily transition the space into a home office or guest bedroom.

At Hortons, we can help you find the right light fixtures for your kids’ rooms, no matter how old they are. If you’re building a new nursery or helping your teenager redecorate their room, we can show you plenty of options that fit your vision and your budget.

Bedroom Lighting Controls

No bedroom is complete without the right lighting controls. You of course have a switch for the overhead light, and your lamps all have their own controls, but what about dimmers or smart lighting settings?

Dimmer can be an integral part of your new bedroom lighting design. By placing your ambient fixtures, such as your pendant light and recessed lights, on dimmers, your bedroom lighting becomes much more versatile. You can easily set the mood by lowering the lights or help yourself wake up by raising the lights in the morning.

Smart lighting controls are a great choice for updated bedrooms, with themes and settings that you can program based on time of day, season, and more. You can control your bedroom lights from your phone, and if you forget to turn off the lights when you leave the house, you won’t have to turn around and go back!