The illumination of a room is vitally important as it can define your room’s dimensions. Adding the correct type of ceiling light will aid you in bringing your visions of that space to fruition. There are a variety of styles and types of ceiling lights for all rooms.
Some are better suited for personal, intimate spaces, while others provide a wow factor. So, let us look at all the different ceiling lights available to create the correct type of lighting and mood you want in your home.
1. Flush Mounted Ceiling Lights
A flush-mounted ceiling light is precisely that, flush mounted or mounted directly to the ceiling. This type of ceiling light is ideal for rooms with a ceiling less than 8ft in height. They are designed to take up little space, thus not crowding the ceiling in narrow rooms.
An easy way to describe a flush-mounted ceiling light is a white-colored dome. The white-colored portions draw out the light as the bulb is situated under the diffuser. Tin foil is often used to deflect the light around the room.
There are various colors available when it comes to flush-mounted ceiling lights, with blue, green, red, and cool white being the most popular.
2. Semi-Flush Mounted Ceiling Lights
This type of ceiling light is similar to the flush mount but has a short rod that extends the hanging capacity by 4 to 8 inches. The design allows more shapes to be utilized, unlike the standard dome shape of the fixed mount.
Semi-flush-mounted ceiling lights are available in many shapes, styles, and sizes, allowing you to pick the perfect one for your room. Keep in mind that this style may not come with a diffuser, but to extend the lighting area multiple bulbs may be incorporated into the design.
3. Recessed Mounted Ceiling Lights
Recessed-mounted ceiling lights are the best way to go if you have a low ceiling. This type of ceiling light saves plenty of space as they are mounted inside the ceiling, freeing up some much-needed headroom in low-ceiling rooms.
In the past, recessed lights were all fitted with old-fashioned incandescent bulbs that were restricted to soft yellowish light. But thanks to the introduction of LED bulbs, the color spectrum has been greatly enhanced with warm to cool white and soft yellow light.
LED recessed ceiling lights support dimmers to further enhance a room’s ambiance. Another great advantage of these lights is that they eliminate shadows and evenly spread light across the room.
4. Ceiling Mounted Utility Lights
The ceiling-mounted utility light is similar to the flush mount as they are mounted to the ceiling the same way. Utility lights differ as they are usually long and have multiple bulbs in a row. There are various bulbs to choose from. They come in LED, fluorescent tubes, and incandescent.
The best by far is the LED strips, as they offer a more comprehensive color range from warm white, cool white, purple, red, yellow, and blue. The only downside to the utility light is that they are not the prettiest but are designed to provide ample light for working areas, kitchens, and sheds.
Installing a ceiling-mounted utility light on a molded, coffered, or cathedral ceiling will spoil the aesthetics of the ceiling. But fear not. There are lots more ceiling lights available for stylish ceilings.
5. Ceiling Mounted Chandelier Lights
A Chandelier is the focal element in the room and should take your guests’ breath away when they see it. Chandeliers are commonly mounted in dining rooms, foyers, living rooms, and hallways to add a sprinkle of class to the room.
Chandeliers feature several light bulbs attached to either a metal chain or bar. They come in a selection of sizes, shapes, and styles, and many will opt to design their own for a personal touch. Thanks to the many light bulbs, a chandelier provides ample light. So choose one with a dimmable function to create the ambiance you desire.
You can select to have LED or incandescent bulbs or a variety of both in your chandelier. There are many exotic-shaped and decorative light bulbs, such as flickering candles and vintage, to choose from. All this will add to the ambiance of the spectacular chandelier.
6. Pendant Ceiling Lights
Similar to a chandelier, pendant lights hang low from the ceiling and are best suited for ceilings that are a minimum of 10′. A pendant light only offers a single source of light, so if more light is required, consider hanging more than one in a group.
Pendant lights also make an excellent add-on light to add to a room with a fixed ceiling light that does not offer enough light. These lights have become more stylish over the past few years, but the plain old-school design still reigns supreme.
A pendant light can be mounted above breakfast nooks and working areas to add additional lighting as they hang lower, providing a more focused light.
7. Inverted Pendant Ceiling Lights
Inverted pendant ceiling lights are also called up lights as they point upwards while hanging from the ceiling. These lights can be adjusted to either hang close to the ceiling or extended to hang lower, depending on the room.
Inverted pendant lights can come in a single or multi-light arrangement. Although they illuminate the ceiling rather than the room directly, they create lovely ambient lighting. If you have a small space, installing a large inverted pendant ceiling light will make the room appear larger, thanks to the light being directed upwards.
This type of lighting is well suited for bedrooms, living rooms, kitchens, and hallways where direct solid light is not required.
8. Ceiling Fan Lights
Ceiling fans with lights solve two problems that you may have in a room, air circulation and lighting. This makes ceiling fan lights a cost-effective way to add glamour to a room. Long are the days when fans were bulky, noisy machines that took up plenty of space on the ceiling.
The new ceiling fan designs can have folding blades that tuck away when not used or resemble a piece of art that spins and cools the room. Incorporate some light bulbs into the installation, and it will light up the room with style.
Ceiling fans are available with various light options, and you can use LED or standard bulbs. Consider the weight of the ceiling light fan, as additional brackets may be required to secure the unit safely. This type of ceiling light is ideal for large areas such as patios, TV rooms, bedrooms, and workshops.
9. LED Ceiling Lights
LEDs come in strip form, allowing them to be shaped in countless ways and forms. LEDs are energy efficient, and water-resistant strips are available. Thanks to their ease of use, this type of light can be used almost anywhere, in the office, bedroom, dining room, and kitchen, as they provide a lot of light.
LED stands for “light emitting diode.” This means they do not use bulbs, so they will last years before needing to be replaced. The added benefit of LED lights is that they can change color, so setting the correct ambiance for a room can be done with a touch of a button on the remote control.
Installing LED strips can be done yourself if you fancy an easy DIY project. The strips can be installed with glue or purchase strips that already have double-sided tape on them. The strips can be cut or extended at 0.5-inch increments, adding to their practicality.
10. Rail Or Track Ceiling Lights
This type of ceiling light is installed on tracks or rails with multiple lights or spotlights. Because they are mounted on a track, they are modular and can be pointed or positioned individually. This is great for large rooms or when you want the light to focus on a specific area while illuminating the room.
The track or rail light has become very popular, and the design has been modernized, so they don’t look like a stage light. These ceiling lights can be ceiling mounted or can be suspended with a chain, depending on the lighting requirement you may have.
The track or rail can be used to install low-hanging pendant lights for breakfast nooks, kitchens, or reading areas. Rail or track ceiling lights can come as an individual light or in sets of up to ten or more.
11. Glass Ceiling Lights
These ceiling lights are basic lights that can be hung high or low from the ceiling. Glass ceiling lights commonly use incandescent light bulbs as the harsh light is defused by the glass, creating a soft ambiance.
The color of the glass will affect the light color, so clear glass will not change the light, but beige or colored glass will. Glass ceiling lights can come in modern or classic looks in various styles. These ceiling lights will fit perfectly in a living room or hallway.
12. Fabric Ceiling Lights
Just like the name suggests, this light is covered in fabric. Many will refer to this type of light as a ceiling lamp light as the fabric only allows low light to pass through the sides while direct light is focused straight down.
Fabric ceiling lights can be hung high or low, but the lower the light is suspended, the smaller the illuminated area. The fabric’s color plays a vital part in how the low light fills the room. So darker colors will block more light than lighter colors.
This type of ceiling light is ideal for bedrooms where intense light is not required. For larger rooms like guest lounges or TV rooms, more than one fabric ceiling light can be installed towards the room’s corners. This creates just enough light to not be distracting.
