Right lighting has the ability to insert vibrancy in even the dullest of areas and when it comes to artwork, they have the skill to add an all new dimension. Every house has some or the other kind of art piece, painting, family photo, tapestry or poster on their living room wall. Placing the right kind of picture lights around your art work and photographs will give them gallery quality brilliance and magnificence.
What are Picture Lights?
This is a cylindrical fitting that is fixed with several tiny bulbs. These lights are used for illuminating art pieces to add glamour and display them in their full grandeur. Nowadays almost all the contemporary living rooms use them as a part of their lighting scheme to highlight a specific sculpture, canvas or a picture.
Installing Picture Lights
Picture lights attract attention to the paintings and highlight their intricate details and vibrant colors. You can install these tiny fittings on the wall around the picture or mount them on the ceiling above. In case of wall fittings, you can place them around the frame or use curved arms to directly put light on the canvas. However, only one or two recessed light fittings are used to illuminate the art piece when using ceiling mounted fixtures. These lights are very easy to install and can add life to your paintings.
Type of Lights
You have an option to select between LED, halogen or incandescent bulbs. But one factor that should be considered before deciding on the type of light source you want to use for your art displays is ‘radiation’. Radiation can spoil the artwork over a period of time. Modern lamps with LEDs are more energy-efficient and produce less radiation. However, halogen and incandescent bulbs illuminate the colors of the artwork flawlessly, but release more radiation than LED fittings.
Power Options
When installing the picture lights, one thing you should keep in mind is if there is an electrical point behind the painting. Because, in that case you would be able to install the lights without having any cords visible. If you want to use a nearby electrical point, then you would have some noticeable power cords that may look out of place. The best solution for such cases will be battery operated picture lights. These lights are entirely mobile, cord free, economical and are very simple to install.
Tips to Select the Right Lights
• Picture lights should be half the size of the painting. So, if your art piece is 20 inches wide then your light should be ten inches broad. Also, make sure that it is half the width of the frame of the painting.
• Always select the picture lights that match the color of the frame and suit the color scheme of the walls of the room it is placed in.
• There are three styles of picture lighting – Classic, Contemporary and Slimline. Classic lights are the traditional lights with angled look and onward reaching shade. Contemporary lights have a neat rounded shade and light up the painting without actually getting in the way of the painting itself. And the Slimline picture lights have plunging, curled frame, which ascends more than the shade itself. This choice is totally a matter of personal preference and you can choose whatever style you prefer.
• Various kinds of picture lights are available in the market – Wall mounted, Ceiling mounted, track lighting (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Track_lighting), Clamp-on, Freestanding Lights and Wall-washers. You should select the one that suits your needs and matches the décor of your room.
No more are picture lights a part of interior décor of just high-end houses. More and more people have started realizing their benefit and have included them in their lighting scheme to add life to their paintings, photos, display pieces and other art work.