Many people don’t realize the important of proper lighting in your home. Sure, most of the time you move in with everything already installed and, for the most part, the default lighting the builders installed will be perfectly fine. However, if you are looking to remodel—or, better yet, to improve the aesthetics of your home—it might be important to examine different types of Premiere Luminaire hall light fixtures and the proper way to install them.
There are a few basic measurements you need to make when it comes to installing lights in just about every room or space in your house. These measurements are: scale, clearance, and spacing.
MEASURING SCALE
First of all, the term “scale” refers to the dimensions of the lighting fixture compared against the dimensions of the room. Basically, you want to have a fixture that is the right size according to the size of the room. To find scale, first measure the room’s height, length, and width. Once you have these measurements:
- Add the width and length and convert from feet to inches to find the appropriate diameter for your fixture
- Multiply the height of the room by 2.5” to 3” per foot (and convert from feet to inches, of course) to find the ideal height of your fixture
MEASURING CLEARANCE
In terms of clearance, though, the measurements differ based on the type of room.
For living rooms or bedrooms or open foyers, you want:
- at least 7 feet of clearance
- If you have only an 8 foot ceiling, consider installing a low-profile flushmount lighting fixture to satisfy enough clearance and adequate lighting requirements
- In a hallway or open foyer, hang a chandelier or pendant light whose bottom is at least 6” higher than the top of the door
For bathrooms:
- Mount above the bathtub at least 8 feet from the top of the tub to the bottom of the fixture.
- Consider also a smaller chandelier-type fixture at least 3 feet away from directly over the tub (again, minding the 7-foot clearance rule)
MEASURING SPACING
Basically, you also need to observe the space around the fixture.
Over a dining room table:
- Linear suspension or multi-unit pendant lights over long rectangular or oval tables
- Single pendant or small chandelier over the middle of a square or round table
- Consider round canopy lights instead of simple multi-light options
- If you prefer simple multi-lights, consider smaller pendant lights across a long table