With these mood lighting in the living room tips you’ll see different light fixture ideas, how to create a warm and inviting design, and light colors to improve mood.
Your living room is at the heart of your home, and it’s where you and your family – along with chosen friends – live and enjoy life together. You want to create a living room that isn’t just attractive but welcoming and cozy; this is why mood lighting in the living room is essential.
Mood lighting is a simple but effective way to control the atmosphere in a room. With the right living room mood lighting ideas, you can create a warm and inviting space, where you and those close to you can spend many a happy hour.
How To Create Mood Lighting In Living Room
Mood lighting aims to create a particular atmosphere or “ambiance” for your room. In the case of a living room, you’re looking to create an inviting and relaxing feel.
At the same time, you’re looking to provide adequate lighting to show off your room’s features and create a space where you and your guests to indulge in entertaining activities.
Mood lighting is sometimes called ambient lighting or general lighting. It seeks to light a space, getting rid of any dark or gloomy corners so that you can move comfortably around a room.
It’s not just lighting, however. It’s a unique, soft light that bathes the room, not glaring harshly in your eyes or off the furnishing. Mood light isn’t usually created by using just one primary light source but rather by using a variety of light sources.
For example, the sitting area of your living room might be well served by a central ceiling light, but the armchair in the corner might be left in dim shadows.
To brighten the mood and make that nook usable even at night, you might want to place a nice floor lamp next to the armchair. Basically, you create an inviting and cozy atmosphere in your living room by strategically placing light sources in different areas to create a space that is filled with soft, diffused light.
Living Room Mood Lighting Ideas
To create an inviting and functional living room, you will need to choose the right type of mood lighting. Here are some easy living room mood lighting ideas.
Use More Ambient Lighting To Create Warmth
You can use ambient lighting to direct light off your ceiling to create a subtle warmth that infuses your living room. A good way to use ambient light fixtures for living room mood lighting is to install some cove lighting, wall sconces, or other fixtures that inconspicuously direct light upwards.
You can also try placing linear LED lighting fixtures just above tall furniture pieces, such as cabinets or bookshelves. This will add some light while still blocking and softening the glare of the LEDs.
Strategically Place Lamps To Create Serene “Islands Of Light.”
A basic way to “lighten” the mood of a room is to use strategically placed lamps to softly illuminate areas of the room that would otherwise be left in the dark.
You can also use floor or even table lamps to create serene “islands of light” around your seating areas. This makes a cozy area where you and your guests can sit and relax.
Focus Attention And Create A Focal Point With Pendant Lamps
An overhead light fixture is a great way to illuminate a particular room area and draw attention to a specific feature. This can also help create an inviting mood in your living room by “highlighting” a great place to sit and chill.
A well-placed pendant light over an armchair and near a bookshelf can create a cozy reading nook, while a small chandelier can cast an inviting glow over some comfy couches.
By casting light on an area or a feature, hanging lights draw the eye and make certain areas seem more attractive and improve the overall mood of your living room.
Use Dimmers To Control The Mood
Installing dimmer light switches is an easy way to control the mood lighting of your living room. Dimmers will allow you to easily adjust the light levels to create the atmosphere you want.
As the natural light in the room fades, you can gradually change the lights accordingly to create a cozy and inviting glow by which you and your guests can enjoy yourselves.
Use Colored Lights To Create A Mood
Most indoor lighting is either white or off-yellow; if you want to create a warm and inviting space, use a lot of off-yellow lighting in your living room. White light can come off a little harsh and glaring, so if you must use it, try and make sure that you have a good lampshade or dimmers.
Off-yellow lights can also mimic natural light, which is cozy and also a mood booster. Natural light makes people feel more productive and “awake,” so you want to incorporate this into your living space.
What Color Lights Improve Mood?
Colored lights have been proven to affect people’s moods, so they can be used to influence not just the look of a room but also the mood.
We talked about natural light and off-yellow lighting above, so in this section, we will look at what other color lights improve mood.
Red Light
It can create a calming effect and at the same time increase aggression, productivity, and wakefulness. A few soft red lights along the walls and near the room’s ceilings can improve the mood.
Blue Light
Blue light exposure has been found to decrease stress levels, making blue lights a great way to create a relaxing atmosphere. At the same time, blue lights increase alertness, which can make your living room a great place to share fun activities with family and friends.
Green Light
Greenlight has calming properties. So, a few green lighting fixtures can help make your living room seem like an even better space for relaxing after a hard day.
What Living Room Lighting Is Best For Mood?
While it’s hard to generalize when it comes to mood lighting for living rooms, there are a few common and easy tips that should work. The easiest way is to utilize natural or off-yellow lighting in your fixtures.
It would be best if you also played around with lamp placement and with dimmers to make sure your living room is well illuminated but that the light is not harsh or glaring.
Visit our guide on mood lighting for the bedroom for more related content.