How To Light Your Bachelor Pad

How-To Light Your Bachelor Pad

Introduction

So, you finally made it out of college, got yourself a job and an apartment in your favorite urban setting. You've scraped together all your cash and pimped out your new pad complete with furniture, half-ass painted walls, and a more than complete bar set. So why are you still using that one lamp you stole from your dorm room, and calling your laptop screen "mood lighting?"

It's time to finish your pad. This Wiki will attempt to help you really take your apartment/house/condo to the next level through thoughtful lighting. Having worked in the movie industry for a few years as a Set Lighting Technician, I can assure you that most of what makes things look amazing on TV and Movies is the lighting. By concentrating on your lighting in a fundamental way, you can not only make your apartment look good, but yourself as well.

If you are like most people in Hollywood, you probably walked into your new apartment and asked, "Where the hell are the lights?" This is because you might not have any overhead lighting fixtures, especially in the bedroom. This makes things difficult, but we will talk about ways to work around this. As long as your electricity is still turned on, we can work with it. Don’t be afraid to go out and buy some tools and become a do it yourself electrician. Just make sure to turn the breakers off!

Basic Types of Lighting

If you thought that lighting was comprised of the dome with a single light in the center of your living room, think again. There are many different types of lights or “luminaries” such as, floor lamps, table lamps, ceiling lamps, pendant lamps, chandeliers, sconces, recessed lights, accent lighting, and candles.

First let’s define these different types of luminaries:

Floor Lamp: Any light that stands on the floor with out the aid of another piece of furniture. These are usually taller than other lamps because they have to reach from the floor. Up-lights may stand on the floor but are usually not considered a floor lamp.

Table Lamp: Any light that requires the use of a table or other similarly tall furniture to rest on. It requires a piece of furniture to reach its desired height of function.

Ceiling Lamp: Any light that rests on the ceiling other than a pendant or chandelier.

Pendant Lamp: A lamp that hangs from the ceiling. Usually you can adjust the height of a pendant to reach an appropriate functional lighting.

Chandelier: A chandelier is a ceiling-mounted fixture with two or more arms bearing lights.
Source: Wikipedia

Sconce: A sconce is a type of light fixture affixed to a wall in such a way that it uses only the wall for support, and the light is usually directed upwards. It does not have a base on the ground.
Source: Wikipedia

Recessed Lights: A recessed light is a ceiling light fixture that is installed into a hollow opening in the ceiling. When installed it appears to have light shining from a hole in the ceiling, concentrating the light in a downward direction.
Source: Wikipedia

Accent lighting: Directional lighting to emphasize a particular object or to draw attention to a part of the field of view.
Source: LouieLighting?

Task Lighting: Lighting directed to a specific surface or area that provides illumination for specific tasks.

Track Lighting: Lighting fixtures positioned along a ceiling mounted track. The track supports the fixtures and provides the electricity.

Now that we have defined several different types of lights, how many do you have in your home? To completely light your bachelor pad it will be necessary to have a combination of these different types of lamps. Each lamp serves a certain purpose and function, as does your pad. In the next section we will talk about the different functions of your apartment and how to make your light meet your needs.

The Different Functions of your Bachelor Pad

Your apartment is more than a place to watch TV and DVDs. Or at least it should be. Consider you apartment for dinner parties and also for cocktail parties. And of course you have to consider the situation that you may eventually bring a girl over to your place alone. Make sure you roll up the Xbox controllers, and hide them! You also don't want your lighting to be the "deal breaker." So please tone down the amount of candles you use, we are creating a "pad" not a "lair."

As cliche as it may sound, it may be very necessary to change your less functional light switches to dimmer switches.
Here is a How-To Install a Dimmer Guide
This allows you to change the mood and feel of any lamp for any of the following functions:

Dinner Party

Most people prefer to see their food when they eat it. Make sure the lighting on the actual eating surface is bright enough to see the meal. This is usually accomplished by a hanging pendant or chandelier. By having a well lit table and the surrounding lights more dim, you can create the feeling of intimacy between the members of your party. This creates a great effect. But try to not be overly dramatic with it.

Cocktail Party

At a cocktail party you will want mostly diffuse soft lighting. Only use directed light to accent the art or furniture. By having an area of directed light that cuts across the people will not only affect their vision, but also their appearance. We want to give everyone a soft focus so they look their best.

Your bar area, which is most likely also your kitchen, is bound to have very bright lights. This is where your dimmer switches are going to be crucial. However, if you have overhead fluorescent lamps in your kitchen, you will not be able to dim them. So please, just keep them turned off. It will be very out of place if your kitchen is a beaming light in your dim environment. If you are fortunate enough to have under cabinet lighting, use that instead. If you aren’t as fortunate, buy some rope light and tuck it up under the cabinets for an easy solution.

The key to rope lights or Christmas lights is to make sure they are hidden! Do not hang Christmas lights around your apartment from your walls! It looks cheap and very much like a dorm room. I recommend at the minimum throwing away your Christmas lights and replacing them all with rope lights, that way, if they are found, they won’t look nearly as cheap. Four great places for rope lights are:

• Under cabinets
• Under countertops
• Under furniture
• Behind mirrors

Make sure you are clever with how you plug the rope lights in, and do your best to conceal the cord because that will be a dead give away to your guests as to how you are achieving your cool accent.

The one area of your cocktail party that should still have functionally bright lighting is the bathroom. If possible, just the toilet area. I usually like to keep the vanity mirror with a very diffuse low light because it will make the guests look more attractive to themselves; and of course we want our guests to have a positive self esteem.

A cocktail party is a great time to focus on your accent lighting. Once you have a general soft diffuse light throughout the entire space, use small directed lights to make certain parts of your pad pop! Small halogen lights are usually good for this effect. Place up-lights in a plant or tree and have the shadow of the leaves loom over the ceiling (I find this to be overused and un-creative, but your friends will probably love it.) When thinking of accent lighting you can even use props. For example: ice cube lights, to put into the guest's drinks.

Special Someone

You are finally going to score. She is standing at your front door and you are about to let her in. Is your lighting going to be the deal breaker? Is she going to run away scared of your lighting “lair”?

Contrary to popular belief, most people like to walk into an adequately lit space for the first time. Light is comforting, so make sure there is ample light. We have already outfitted your pad with dimmer switches, so save those for when you need them. If you usually turn off all the lights when you leave the house, make your date wait at the front door and tell her, “give me a minute to turn on some lights.” This will make her feel that you have her comfort in mind. Don’t let a date walk into a completely dark space she has never been in before! Also, when you go to turn on some lights, don’t just go around the apartment lighting candles. Because, well, that is just plain creepy.

If you do light some candles, make sure you do it together, and don’t overdo it. Just a few will do. When you give her the tour of your pad, don’t force her into the bedroom, it is very common for girls to stand in the hallway outside of a bedroom. Don’t light candles in your bedroom unless she is in there with you. If you do show her the bedroom, turn on the lights from the first switch and stand in the hallway next to her. Hopefully you bedroom will be well lit and clean! Then turn the lights off and return to the well lit living room where she will be most comfortable.

Here is an interesting guide to lighting for sex

Light Type and Temperature

Soft vs. Hard

The two types of light we are going to discuss are Diffuse and Direct (Specular). This can also be called soft light and hard light. In previous sections of this wiki we discuss when you would want to use each of these different types. Now we are going to talk about how to achieve them.

Soft

To get a nice soft diffuse look from a lamp you will want to use a diffuser. You can start with the bulb itself. There are many different bulbs on the market all with varying degrees of diffuse surface. When buying a bulb think of its application and how diffuse you will need its surface to be. The next level of diffusion comes from the shade of the light fixture. The texture of the shade material will contribute greatly to its ability to diffuse the light, with a clear glass shade probably being the least diffuse. Lastly, you need to consider reflected light. All light that emits from your luminaire will reflect, refract or absorb off any surface it touches. This plays a vital role in how diffuse your light will be. In short, if you want to have a diffuse lighting, paint those glossy white walls! Matte paint is extremely effective in creating good mood lighting by diffusing light. The darker your paint the more light it will absorb. This also allows you to have more lighting fixtures in your pad without being "over-lit".

Hard

By having hard light you can create drama. As noted earlier, save the drama for the art and furniture, not the people. To have hard light it needs to be directed. We can once again start with the bulb. Look for spot bulbs. Usually the rear portion of the bulb is covered with a silvering that reflects the light out of just one end of the bulb. The next step is to determine which fixture to use. To create a hard light, you want a fixture where the bulb will be recessed into it and will concentrate the light in one direction. You can easily achieve this by wrapping a piece of black foil in the shape a cylinder at the end of your fixture. However if you do this, make sure to hide the fixture from view, because we don't want any guests seeing your shoddy rigging. Lastly of course is your reflected light. If your light reflects off of a hard, shiny, glossy, or smooth surface it will reflect a hard light back at you. Again, reserve your hard light for small bits of drama. You really don’t want to over do this.

Color Temperature

All light has a temperature that is measured in degrees Kelvin. This temperature is what gives light its color. Think of this like a flame. A blue flame is hot whereas a colder flame is red or orange. This principle applies to all of the lighting in your home. The lower the color temperature, the warmer the color. Most tungsten filament bulbs are in the range of 2850 degrees Kelvin and 3200 degrees Kelvin (you don’t really need to know this). Candles are much redder at 1900K and Daylight is much bluer at around 5500K at noon.

Color is an important consideration when lighting your bachelor pad. Usually warm hues are good for general and mood lighting. Task lighting however is usually better with a higher color temperature. You want your kitchen and your desk to be well lit and bright. By using higher color temperatures (more blue) it will be easier to do functional tasks.

Achieving the Right Color

The easiest way to achieve a particular color is by the wattage of your light bulb. The higher the wattage the bluer it will appear the lower the wattage the warmer and more orange it will appear. Your dimmer switches will affect your color temperature.

I do recommend buying Reveal bulbs or other similar brand. These lights have a blue filter on them to artificially raise the color temperature. These bulbs usually look great.

Avoid using fluorescent bulbs. If you have them in your kitchen keep them turned off as much as possible when guests are around. Fluorescent bulbs cast a green color and this often makes people’s skin look sickly. Most people generally don’t like the look and color of fluorescent lights, not only do they flicker but also generate a hum. If you really want to use fluorescents, try a company that is used in the movie industry called Kinoflo. (www.kinoflo.com) Their bulbs don’t flicker and have a much better color spectrum. At the current time though, they are only focused on the tv, film, and photography industries. Maybe in the future as the general public starts to notice lighting as a larger part of what makes interior design great, they will make house-hold applications.

Secret Insider’s Tip: Use colored gels. A gel is a piece of plastic used in the movie industry to place in front of a light to create a particular color or effect. You can also purchase pieces of diffusion to soften your lights. Studio Depot in Hollywood sells gels in packs that are perfect for interior design.

Studio Depot: http://www.studiodepot.com/

I recommend using Lee brand gels because they are the highest quality although there are other brands that will achieve the same effect for a lesser price.

LEE Lighting Gel Pack "Color Effects" 12 Sheets/Pack

LEE Lighting Gel Pack "Diffusion" 12 Sheets/Pack

They also sell packs of “cosmetic” gels which are meant to enhance the look of people. These gels are a combination of color and diffusion. I highly recommend these:

LEE Lighting Gel Pack "Cosmetic" 12 Sheets/Pack

Light Fixtures as Art

This wiki so far has focused on light as a function for your bachelor pad. Modern design has taken light to a new level where the fixtures themselves are art. When selecting fixtures for your pad make sure they coincide with the theme of your furniture and other art.

On-The-Fly.com sells an exceptionally classy Moto Art Piston Lamp













Lamps can also serve dual function such as this CD Rack and Desk Lamp in one, found at On-The-Fly.com:

Generate Design has a lighting section on their website and their fixtures can certainly only be described as art:
Generate Design Lighting

• Members: please add any other examples of lamps as art. Include Photographs.*

Do-It-Yourself Electrician

Turn off the breakers! If you don't know how to do this or don't know what a breaker is, it's better to quit while you are ahead. Be very careful with electricity. It is a silent killer. That being said lets move on to all the things you need to know to rewire your apartment without an electrician's license:

The first thing, which we already discussed, is installing dimmer switches in your apartment.

When looking to buy a dimmer make sure that it has two different operations, one for on/off and another for dimming. Do not buy the kind of dimmer that requires you to dim the light completely to turn it off. The reason being is that you want to be able to save your dimmer settings and not have to find them each time you turn the light on.

The second thing you may want to do is to rewire (hardwire) an overhead fixture. Almost assuredly the overhead lighting that came with you pad is awful. Replace it, replace all of it. Whenever I go to the lighting section of Ikea I find everyone skipping over the fixtures that require installation (hardwiring) and don't just have a plug. Don't let the installation stop you from buying a really great fixture.

Secret Insider's Tip: The pig nose adapter. A pig nose is a small plug that fits into a standard Edison socket (bulb socket) and gives you a standard wall plug outlet. This is essential for plugging things into the ceiling and can save you from having to rewire (hardwire) anything!

Usually the process of changing an overhead light is very simple. First remove the old fixture (remember to turn off the power). There should be two wire nuts (usually orange) attaching the fixture’s wiring to the house wiring. Remove the wire nuts by unscrewing them counter clockwise, and then wires should come apart. Take your new fixture’s wires and use the same nuts to attach them back to the house wiring by screwing the wire nuts on clockwise. Then secure your new lighting fixture to the ceiling. If you are replacing a ceiling fixture that doesn't cover the hole left by the previous fixture, cover it with a lamp holder cover. These are easily found at hardware stores.

Make sure you always ground your fixtures if they require it. I recently changed out several overhead lights in my apartment and found that the superintendent who does most of the work around here never grounds his electrical work. This is dangerous, if there were to ever be a short in the light or circuit it can cause the fixture itself to become electrified and will cause shock when you touch it. This situation is usually rare, but it is still very important to ground your work if it requires it. All this means is: attach the green wire.

Tools of the Trade

Here is a list of tools that are essential for doing your own electrical work:

• Leather Gloves
• Needle Nose Pliers
• Screwdriver
• Wire Nuts
• Wire Cutters/Strippers
• Circuit Tester
• Tape Measure

Lamp Buying Guide

Since this Wiki is for Product Dose it is important to know where we can buy all of these fabulous lighting fixtures. (Members: please add any links you see fit)

The obvious first stop:
Product Dose Lighting

Generate Design Lighting

Ikea is also an amazing resource for those on a budget

In Mod has some very beautiful mid-century style lamps

YLighting is essential for all of your lighting needs

Crate and Barrel 2 is a hip new place to find lamps

Crate and Barrel, a little less hip, but still good

Unica Home, check out their advanced lighting selector

Design Within Reach Lighting, good stuff, but overpriced in my opinion, so check out their sale lighting

West Elm, good quality for a great price, sadly they are usually out of stock of whatever I want

Hive Lighting, im drooling, literally.

Surrounding, I could stare at these fixtures for hours!

Rewire. My favorite lighting boutique in LA. Most of their pieces are originals.

Alluminare, customizable lighting

Moss, a pretty well known design store that sells your expensive modern lamps

Product Dose Lighting Community Board

This section is reserved for pictures of Product Dose member photographs of their own lighting. It can also be used for member tips and tricks.

Here are two shots of my apartment. The first picture shows how an accent light is used to display a coffee table, while soft lights graze the edges of the couch:










Updated This second picture shows how I use a high color temperature (reveal) bulb as a task light for my laptop. The light is directed toward the work surface. To create these pendant lamps I cannibalized two table lamps by ripping off their bases and hardwiring them into the ceiling. The bases now hold two candles on the counter which you can see in the picture. I just added undercabinet lighting to the backside of the counter to help display stools. The wires are still showing so I guess I'm going to have to get out the drill. Lastly, candles are on a shelf that light the entry hallway.










This shows how I installed the pendant lamps above my counter. Previously there was just a single dome light. I ripped out the dome lamp and covered the hole with a lampholder cover. I then used a piece of cord conduit to seperate the wires for each pendant. I am going to paint the cover white to match the ceiling but I left it unpainted so you could see where the dome light used to be. Remember, I am in an apartment, so there is only so much I can do.









This is a picture of a friend's bedroom where I used a hard accent light to create drama. I actually hardwired this fixture myself by drilling a hole above the closet door and wiring it to the closet light using a pignose adapter. I first used a Y split so that I could still maintain the light in the roof of the closet:










This is a picture of a friend's room I lit. The string of lanterns in the corner provides a general diffuse light to the room. It is on a dimmer and can become brighter for more functional lighting. The uplight behind the bed accents the architectural element of the white column in the corner, while also playing off the wrought iron bed frame. To round out the lighting a few candles are used. Small votives on the window ledge, and a larger candle upon the dresser.

Category

Lighting