OPEN SPACE: INTRODUCTION
Lighting the open plan living area means creating the right atmosphere for every activity: cooking, dining, inviting guests, reading, watching TV, working from home.
Lighting for an open space must be designed to follow the myriad of usage scenarios that affect it. For this reason, we must think in terms of levels: general lighting, which properly illuminates the room, intermediate lighting, which is more subdued, and accent lighting, which has a decorative function.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LOFT AND OPEN SPACE
An open space, as the word itself says, is an “open space”, that is, an apartment or a house that differs from the traditional architectural style for being characterized by some rooms united and not divided by walls.
The loft, on the other hand, is a large space from which a private dwelling is obtained, characterized by the almost total absence of partition walls, ceilings with a higher height than normal buildings for residential use, around 4 or 5 meters in height, and higher and wider windows. The lofts are equipped with particularly comfortable and customized sanitary installations and the installations are often exposed and without finishing.
In the loft, therefore, the bricks, plaster, skirting boards and whatever else are neither finished nor decorated: this type of solution, which looks like a large studio apartment, is particularly suitable for a type of industrial style furniture.
HOW TO ILLUMINATE OUR OPEN SPACE?
Let’s get down to business! In order to light an open space, it is almost certainly necessary to set up multiple light points that can reach the entire living space. But what kind of lighting? Chandeliers? Spotlights? Ceiling lights? Applique? Let’s proceed in order…
WALL LAMPS
As beautiful as they are, wall lamps may not be enough to light a loft to perfection! Their light would be focused only on the peripheral part of the room, leaving the central area in shadow. Wall sconces can be used, but more as indirect or supplemental light rather than background light.
PENDANT LAMPS
A nice chandelier for open space is a must, but only as a point of light to be placed over the table or above the worktops in the kitchen! Absolutely avoid using 2 identical suspensions above the table and in the living area: the latter would certainly detract from the beauty and value of the former.
If, in addition to the dining table, your open-plan kitchen also has an island, peninsula or other worktops, you can install pendant lights in these latter spots as well. They can be either coordinated or contrasted with the chandelier above the table, but compared to this should definitely be smaller and more sober.
FLOOR LAMP
A floor lamp for open space is just what you need to illuminate the sofa area, especially when receiving guests.
When you want to create a point of light on the sofa, you can dispense with the center light and turn on the wall sconces instead. This way you’ll avoid both overlighting the room and leaving the rest of the room dark.
CREATE ORIGINAL SOLUTIONS
The key word you need to be inspired by to get projects with original solutions for your clients is creativity!
What we’ve gone over in this article are general points to take from as a basic guideline to fully unleash your creativity. The best thing you can do is to get inspired by your customers’ ideas to kickstart your creative process.
Therefore, be careful not to mechanically reproduce something that has already been done over and over again, unless this option is specifically desired and indicated by your client.
When you create a project for your clients, always keep in mind that your task is to give emotions through the use of design techniques: create, renovate or change the interior setting of a home cannot be an operation made of blind attempts, but must take into account precise guidelines such as those we have seen in this article.
With that done, unleash your creative process to give back to your clients a home that can make them feel all the good emotions of feeling at home.
LEAVE A COMMENT
If you found the article interesting, please leave a comment! Also, if you need a guide for the design of your open space, send an email to valeriadesign@casaomnia.it! Stop by our online portal CasaOmnia.it!