Okay… so we haven’t given much thought to lighting our new master bedroom (being constructed as part of an addition) until now.
The room is roughly rectangular, 13 x 20, with a king bed along one of the long walls. Ceilings are 8 ft. Lots of good daytime light with large windows on the two short walls.
We’re wrestling with what kind of lighting… the electician is here wiring, so we need to act fast. Archy did not do a lighting plan.
What are your thoughts on ceiling cans,wall-mounted (pivot arm) reading lights for bed, and other options?
We currently have a smaller bedroom with just two lamps on nightstands. Many thanks!
Replies
I'd say it depends on a) what you want to light, and b) if you are sure of where everything is going. If you install sconces for bedtime reading and then move the bed it's going to look kinda silly. What else do you do in your bedroom? If you are dressing there then a nice pure light near the mirror is good, and lighting in the closet should be adequate. We have a combination in our room of cans, pendants, and nightstand reading lamps, and we really like it. We didn't go with the wall sconces because we weren't positive that we wanted the bed in the spot it was in for planning. But these can be added later fairly easily. For the cans we put them a few feet out from the wall and aimed them that way so they bounce off the wall and into the room - also works well for illuminating art.
I have a personal distaste for can lights, but that's just me. I like wall sconces. If you put sconces all around sort of evenly spaced, then if you moved your bed, you'd still have lighting for reading in bed (assuming the sconces don't just send the light up!).
From our mistake, you can learn where "not" to place the switch plates for easy access upon going to bed. Should there be a chest/dresser, etc. on either the right or left wall of the bed, measure the wall & deduct for the chest; then center the bed on the remaining space to identify switch plate locations. Else, it will become the responsibility of one of you to always turn off the lights as the other one cannot easily reach that far! Guess who has that side of the bed? Just the one who is first to go to sleep sometimes leaving the other in the dark! Actually, we have worked it out pretty well though.
Install more lighting than you think you need because as you age, the lighting seems to get dimmer. Been here 25 years and have installed add'l lighting in most rooms as have many friends, our age!
Highly recommend target lighting for lingerie and those drawers containing blue and black sox. Also take advantage of dimmers to avoid paying higher costs for 3-way bulbs.