Recessed lights are stylish, discreet, effective, and economical. You can change a dark hallway from dull and weary to bright and cheery with various colors, styles, and trimmings. Follow the steps below and do it!
Determine The Lighting Requirement Of Your Hallway
Before all else, you need to understand what you intend to achieve with recessed lighting in your hallway.
Ask the following questions:
- What mood do you want to create? Light and bright such as in hospitals or office hallways, or do you require a more subdued feel?
- How long is the hallway, and how high is the ceiling? First, measure the height of the ceiling and the length of the hallway. Then, write the numbers down and calculate the number of lights required.
- Is there artwork or a furniture piece you want to accentuate in your hallway?
- How would you like to lay out the lighting?
- Where would you like to install recessed lights?
Draw a layout of the hallway and indicate the location of art pieces, ceiling fans, furniture, and other objects. Indicate on the layout the answers to all the questions above. In other words, visualize and layout the way you would like to use recessed lighting in your hallway.
Determine How Your Hallway Will Be Lit
Do you want to use only static recessed lights, or would you like to include kimble or spotlights to highlight art on the walls?
The next consideration would be the brightness and tone of the lighting. Would you like low brightness or mellow lighting? Remember, the hallway is often the first part of the house that people set foot in.
The recessed lights in the hallway need to be practical and aesthetically pleasing since hallways are the point of entry to the rest of the house.
Decide On What Recessed Lights To Install
Recessed lights installed flush with the ceiling are great for use in hallways with low ceilings, commercial hallways, and minimalistic design homes.
Research the different types of recessed lighting on the market. Recessed lights are divided into two categories, namely canned and canless lights. Both these type of recessed lights sits flush with the ceiling. However, canned recessed lights require more space above the ceiling for installation than canless ones.
There are various trims to choose from when installing recessed lights. Trims should be selected according to the function of the light and must fit in with the décor or style of the hallway.
Decide On A Control System
The trend is to install dimmable recessed lights in hallways. This way, the brightness of the lights can be controlled to suit the mood or provide low lighting at night to guide the way to the bathroom, for instance.
Lights switches can be installed on both ends of the hallway. This allows the lights to be turned on when entering the hallway and turned off on the other side when leaving the hallway. This method is called a two-way switch.
Smart dimmer switches allow you to pair your lighting with other devices for more control. For example, these smart dimmer switches can pair with timers, smartphone apps, smart watches, motion sensors, remote controls that can be kept on the bedside table, and voice devices such as Alexa, Google Assistant, and Siri.
Purchase And Install The Recesses Lights
Once you have determined what the hallway lighting needs are, how you would like to light the hallway, decided on which recessed lights to install, and determined the preferred controlling system, you are ready to purchase and install the lights.
How To Calculate The Minimum Watts Needed To Light Your Hallway?
To ensure your hallway is lit equally it’s crucial to calculate the right number of recessed lights required. To simplify this step you can use our recessed lighting calculator tool.
How To Determine The Position Of A Recessed Accent Light
When you tilt an adjustable or eyeball recessed light thirty degrees to either left or right to highlight an art piece on a wall, the art piece will be highlighted at the ideal angle.
To determine the position of the recessed accent light, you need to multiply the distance from the ceiling to the center of the art piece by 0.5774.
If the center of the art piece is, for example, 4,5 feet from the ceiling, do the calculation to determine how far the accent recessed light should be installed from the wall.
Calculation: 4,5 ft x 0,5774 = 2,6 ft. The 2,6 ft indicate the distance you should install the accent recessed light from the wall.
Hints And Tips When Installing Recessed Lights In Your Hallway
- The term less is more is appropriate for lighting hallways. Too many lights, layers of light, accents, and overly bright lights are disturbing in hallways.
- Dimmable recess lights are ideal for hallways since they allow you to control the light’s brightness.
- For more effect, angle recessed lights to allow the light beams to bounce off the wall. You can highlight art or centerpieces by angling recessed lights toward them.
- Choose the larger size recessed lights to light the hallway. For a brighter hallway, install recessed lights with five- or six-inches diameter.
- Hallways tend to be dark. Brighten up dark hallways by installing recessed lights and paint the walls with lighter shades. White and lighter shades combined with recessed lighting make a dark hallway more spacious and open.
