Planning Artificial and Natural Light Through Design for an RTM Home

When planning a custom RTM, an important component of the overall design is planning for natural and artificial lighting in the home that reflects the lifestyle and personality of your family.

One of the great things about working with B&B Homes on a brand new custom RTM, is that we have an on-site designer to walk you through the planning stages of this process to help you uncover the ambiance you wish to achieve through lighting. Below are the three main types of lighting:

Accent lighting: creates the mood/atmosphere of a room
Task lighting: highlights a specific function of a room (Eg: home office area or in the kitchen)
Ambient lighting: provides the general illumination of a room

Window Positioning With Natural Light Considerations in Mind

For example, the south will allow for the most natural light so you may want to position your living room windows in this direction but perhaps not the bedrooms. Other things to consider include: What kind of lighting do you like and are naturally drawn to? Are you considering using solar energy? What do you want to see when you look out your windows? Have you thought about what window coverings you want? This can make a huge difference to the light in your room. There is a wide variety of options; curtains, blinds, smart glass or shutters for home interiors, meaning you have lots of choice to tailor it to your preferred style. Maybe do some research and see what you like the look of in preparation for your home.

Incorporating Contrast Between Rooms

Contrasting light to dark between rooms sets the tone for each transition as you move throughout the home. Do you want more drama between high and low contrast? Or another way of putting it, do you want strong or soft lighting in different rooms? Contrast will set the energy of a space, whether you want it to be more low key or exciting depends on what you plan to do in that area of the home.

Knowing the function and mood you want to create in each room will help you create a lighting scheme you will love over the course of the lifetime of your home.

Work with B&B Home’s designer Katia and plan a lighting scheme within your budget for your once in a lifetime investment to enhance your everyday living. Contact us to get started planning.