Accent Lighting: How to Take Your Room from Now to WOW!

1. Create "pools" of light by replacing translucent lampshades on your table and floor lamps with opaque ones. This allows lighting for tasks such as reading but also provides areas of shadow to maximize other lighting effects. It is also an effective way to spotlight a grouping of family photos on a table.

2. Use landscape lighting techniques inside on your plants and sculpture. Study nature’s lighting (sunny days and full moon nights) to get some ideas and see the actual effects of downlighting.

a) Silhouetting: Put a large beamed light behind the piece and shine the light straight up the wall. This will create backlighting to focus on the outline of the item. Particularly effective with bronze sculptures, bonsai, and dense plants.

b) Shadowing: Place a plant light inside the plant just behind the trunk pointing straight up to throw leafy shadows on the ceiling or put the light 3’ in front of the foliage to see shadows on the wall. This uplighting technique is most effective with sparsely foliated plants and unique branching patterns.

c) Moonlighting: This effect is achieved using recessed lights in the ceiling with soft incandescent reflector bulbs shining down through plant leaves sprinkling shadow patterns on the floor. Incandescent lighting (regular household bulbs and PAR bulbs) bring out reds and yellows while halogen lighting (PAR bulbs) will intensify blues and purples.

d) Grazing: This technique is used to bring out the texture of an interesting wall such as stone, silk, or flocked wallpaper. Place the light source 2-3 inches from the surface, pointing straight up. A series or floor uplights can create a "scallop" effect along the wall.

3. Add picture lights, mantle uplights, or recessed wall washer lights to highlight pictures and artwork on your walls.

4. Add light to bookshelves and inside cabinets to showcase your collections. If your lighting is from the top, replace solid shelves with glass.

5. Add a folding stretched fabric or paper screen in a corner with a powerful spotlight behind for a diffused glow, particularly effective with a plant or sculpture in front.

6. Don’t forget the power of outdoor landscape lighting seen through the windows at night for a visual extension of your living space.

7. Finally, use spotlighting to create a focal point, emphasize a work of art, or accentuate exquisite architectural elements. Use recessed eyeball lights or floor cans with narrow spot PAR bulbs to achieve these effects.

Experiment with these ideas and have fun with your lighting while you create your own dramatic settings.

Ashton Harrison has a bachelor of science degree from UVA and a masters in business administration from the University of Richmond. Ashton was the V.P. of Operations for This End Up Furniture before opening the first Shades of Light retail store in 1986. She started Shades of Light national catalog operation in 1995 and launched the Shades of Light web site in 1997. Shades of Light specializes in the highest quality lighting, lamp shades, chandeliers, rugs, and silk curtains for every lifestyle. For more information please visit the Shades of Light web site and sign up for a free lighting catalog.