How To Achieve Indirect Lighting In Interior Design

Interior Design Tip

For our planet the sun is a major lighting source. The light which we receive on earth varies in intensity and quantity depending upon the geographical location on earth.

For normal human activities inside the building what we require is indirect light. There is a major difference between direct and indirect light.

  Direct light from the sun produces light in high quantities but also generates a lot of heat, which may not be required or at sometimes can be uncomfortable.

Indirect lighting produces a good quality diffused light by eliminating the heat that's being produced from sunlight. Interior designers always look for various ways that will increase the chances of achieving good quality sunlight into a room.

The basic principle behind indirect lighting is easy. Obstruct the direct sunlight on a surface that will absorb the heat and throw our or disperse the light alone uniformly inside the room.

This requires a good study of various light entry points of a given room and selecting surfaces that will receive direct sunlight. Then applying finishes to these materials that will absorb the heat but at the same time reflect a lot of light to the interiors.

There is a major challenge in doing this.

Let's say that I select a bedroom to be treated for indirect lighting. I select a plane wall opposite or adjacent to the window opening that will receive direct sunlight. If I paint the wall with a bright color, it will definitely reflect the light in the entire room, but at the same time create a "glare" that can be quite uncomfortable for the users.

So just creating reflecting surfaces is not the solution. The surfaces that will reflect the direct light and at the same time won't produce a glare are recommended here.

This can be easily achieved using artificial lighting. The greatest advantage of artificial lighting is that you can select the number of light sources in the first place. Then light sources can be very creatively be hidden using shaders and other design elements, so that the light spots can be directed towards reflective surfaces.

A very common use of this technique is, project the light spots on a bright reflective ceiling and the ceiling will uniformly disperse the light in the rest of the room. Projecting the light on ceiling will eliminate the problem of causing glare, since the ceiling is always above the normal eye level.

Using a centralized light source on the ceiling and throwing the light on adjacent walls is also a good solution. This will also save a lot of wiring lengths, cutting your cost in the fixing up of the total electrical system.

A careful choice of reflective surfaces inside a room can greatly enhance the light qualities in a room. In interiors there are hundreds of objects that receive light. Objects such as walls, furniture ceiling, floor will have a tendency to reflect light away from them. Objects like windowpanes, glass panels in the furniture will absorb or will allow the light to pass away the light thought them b reducing the heat and intensity of light.

That's why careful selection of materials during design stage can cause a good lighting solution. Also the lighting solution will differ from room to room depending upon which direction the room faces outwards. For this the sun path must be taken into consideration. By careful study of the sun path it will be easy to decide the color schemes and finishes for satisfactory result in indirect lighting.

I hope this article was helpful to everyone.

By: Shrinivas Vaidya