Accent or Ambient Lighting? That is the Question

Believe it or not there’s more to lighting a space than simply adding a wall or ceiling light. Whether it’s for a cosy cottage, a slick penthouse apartment or a commercial environment, your lighting strategy should be to create a welcoming atmosphere where you can work and relax at all times.

So how do you achieve this? At the Light Company, for many years we have been advising business home owners on which type of lighting they need to create the best look and feel in their property or office space. One of the many questions we are asked, is whether they should use accent or ambient lighting.

Our expert advisor, Judy Davison, explains the difference between these types of lighting and which brands can help you to achieve your desired environment.

When to use Ambient Lighting

When you enter a room which is light and bright, with a warm glow but no glare… then this effect is achieved through ambient lighting. Ambient lighting is created by making a room look as natural and flat as possible but may not be ideal for carrying out specific tasks which require close up working.

Ambient lighting is ideal for living or dining rooms where you want to create a warm and welcoming feeling as well as for restaurants, bars and other hospitality venues where the first impression also needs to be friendly and hospitable.

We recommend overhead fixtures like track lights chandelier and other ceiling lamps along with stand-alone fixtures like floor and table lamps.

Some of the brands we recommend which are guaranteed to meet the ambient lighting needs of all spaces include the Fahrenheit Pendant from the American Hudson Valley brand or the Leysha ceiling light from brand leader där lighting.

See a selection of our ambient lighting products here.

When to use Accent Lighting

Accent lighting is the opposite to ambient as it offers an extremely concentrated light with the intention of drawing the eye to a focal point in a room. Accent lighting is often found in office reception areas, retails stores, showrooms and other commercial environments where the owners want to draw clear attention to a specific area of the room, product, name or any other feature. It also works well in kitchens with a middle island for example which creates style as well as making cooking tasks easier.

As accent lighting focusses on a specific area, at the same time it shadows dull areas of a room which aren’t on show.

The types of accent lighting that we have used in projects include wall lights, recessed and trackers. One of our most popular sellers is the David Hunt Lighting Stations 3 Light Bar which is extremely popular in showrooms of all types as well as domestic kitchens. Click here for our full range of accent lighting products.