An Interior Designer’s Tips for Flawless Home Lighting

How important is home lighting to the overall feel and design of your home? Lighting choices are crucial for a home's functionality, mood, and aesthetics, but it's also one of the most challenging aspects of building a new home or renovating. 

Your lighting can also become an afterthought—even though it should be at the forefront of your home design process. If you wait until the last minute to figure out your home lighting, it can impact the options you have for illuminating your home!

In this post I’ll walk you through creating a cohesive lighting look from planning to execution so you can create the exact look you want in your favourite spaces.

Planning Your Home Lighting

Let’s address a few common lighting pain points to prepare you for the sometimes overwhelming decisions involved in creating an enjoyable lighting experience.

What happens if I don’t execute my home lighting plan properly?

Inadequate planning stands as the foremost mistake in lighting decisions, and it begins early in the process as one of the first choices when building a new home or renovating. 

From the moment your home is framed, you’ll be conducting a walk-through with your electrician and making crucial decisions about fixture placement. This entails having a clear understanding of where each fixture will go, fixture specifications, a detailed grasp of your finished millwork dimensions, mirror specifications, ceiling heights, and many other key details that are often overlooked. 

This is where hiring a Professional Interior Designer to walk with you through the process is so valuable. It’s my mission to make sure every piece of your home comes together perfectly, including your home lighting.

Why Planning Ahead is So Important For Lighting

Every detail matters when you’re working through your home lighting plan and the execution of your plan. Meeting code requirements for fixture placement is essential, but there’s much more to consider if you want a space that’s both beautiful and functional. 

Ceiling height, ceiling type, fixture weight, and installation logistics all play a critical role—and these details are best addressed early in the design or renovation process.

For ceilings over 9 feet, especially vaulted or cathedral styles, ensure your fixtures come with long enough wires and downrods to hang at the correct height. Many standard fixtures don’t include enough rods, which means knowing your intended end point and calculating how many extra rods you need. These extensions must match the finish exactly—something that isn’t always available with every fixture, so plan accordingly. 

Sloped ceilings require special attention too. Not all light fixtures are designed to adapt to an angle, so be sure to look for ones specifically labeled as "sloped ceiling compatible." And if you’re installing recessed lighting in a sloped ceiling, directional pot lights can help reduce glare and create more focused, comfortable lighting. 

Weight is another major factor. Standard ceiling electrical boxes typically support up to 30 lbs. If your fixture exceeds that, additional bracing or a heavy-duty junction box must be installed—before drywall goes up. This makes early fixture selection critical to avoid costly adjustments later. 

Also, don’t overlook the details like backplate size. If it’s too small to cover the opening cut by your electrician, you may end up with visible gaps or a less-than-polished finish. That’s why knowing your fixture specifications upfront isn’t just helpful—it’s essential.

Lighting Fixture Tips for Homeowners

Selecting light fixtures that are appropriately scaled to your space or vignette is essential to striking an overall visual balance and necessary functionality of an area. It’s a common mistake to choose fixtures that are too small (or too few), which can make them appear out of proportion and underwhelming with the context of the room. 

Conversely, oversized fixtures (or too many) can overwhelm a space. To determine the right fixture size, consider the size and layout of the space, as well as its intended purpose. 

For example, as a general rule of thumb, dining light fixtures should be at least 1/2 - 2/3 the width of your dining table and hung approximately 30-36” above the table. Remember the goal is to strike a balance between the fixture’s size, the room’s proportions, and the desired visual impact. 

How to Choose Lighting for Your Home

When lighting is treated as an afterthought—or worse, reduced to a grid of ceiling pot lights—you miss out on what it truly offers: atmosphere, functionality, and a sense of home. 

Lighting isn't just about visibility; it’s about creating spaces that feel good to be in. Great home lighting and decor comes together to create the atmosphere you desire.

There are three essential types of lighting:

• Ambient lighting provides overall illumination—think pot lights or ceiling-mounted fixtures.

• Task lighting, like table and floor lamps, supports specific activities like reading or working, while also contributing a softer, more intimate glow.

• Accent lighting, such as picture lights or sconces, adds visual interest and highlights architectural features, making the space feel layered and intentional. 

By combining all three types, you create depth, warmth, and flexibility in your home’s lighting.

Truthfully, we’re not huge fans of relying too heavily on pot lights. All too often, we see them overused—leaving spaces feeling more like a sterile showroom than a lived-in home. While they have their place (the kitchen, for example), we often find that our clients rarely turn them on, even when they’re on dimmers. 

Instead, they’re drawn to the softer, more inviting glow of well-placed fixtures, lamps, and sconces. That’s the kind of lighting that makes a house feel like home and gives a space more character and personality. 

Lighting & Colour Temperature

There is nothing worse than walking into a home with widely varying colour temperatures. This not only makes a home look disjointing, but it also feels uncomfortable. 

I am not going to lie, this is one area that I have struggled to understand but at the end of the day it comes down to personal preference. For me, a warm 2700K light used throughout the majority of the home creates a cozy and relaxed atmosphere. 

What about bathroom lighting? In high task areas like bathrooms, I may opt for a slightly cooler 3000K, which offers clarity without being overly clinical. Going above this range on the interior of your home is where it can become harsh and uncomfortable. 

For flexibility and adaptability, I always recommend installing dimmer switches for most lights, allowing you to adjust the brightness. Some of the more advanced systems allow you to control the colour temperature as well.

Your Home Lighting Budget

Lighting is one of the first things that catches your eye when you enter a room, for better or worse, and it makes a noticeable difference when people don’t allocate a healthy enough budget for light fixtures. 

While we meticulously budget for luxurious finishes like stone countertops and kitchen millwork, lighting often ends up at the bottom of the priority list. Lighting deserves its place in the budget not only because high-quality light fixtures aren’t cheap, but also because they have a substantial influence on the overall aesthetics and ambiance of your home. 

Investing in well-designed, thoughtfully chosen light fixtures (like Hudson Valley Lighting Group, Visual Comfort, and Regina Andrew) can transform your space from ordinary to extraordinary.

Your Dream Lighting Starts Here

Emphasizing your interior home lighting during your overall design process helps elevate every single space in your home. Plank & Pine Interior Design can help you navigate your lighting plan with confidence—and help you light your home in a way that’s functional and still very you. If you’re ready to discuss home lighting ideas, reach out today.

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