How should I light my living room?

Short answer: don't rely on one ceiling light. Combine three layers — general (ambient) light, task light where you read or work, and accent light on walls, shelves or art — and put them on separate switches or dimmers so the room can change from bright to cosy.

Choose the right colour of light

For living rooms and bedrooms, warm white of 2700–3000 K feels relaxed. Look for a colour rendering index (CRI) of 90 or more so wood, fabric and skin look natural.

How much light?

A living room is comfortable at roughly 100–200 lux of general light. As a rough guide, a 20 m² room needs around 3,000 lumens in total, spread over several sources rather than one strong fitting.

Where to put it

A floor or table lamp beside the sofa for reading, hidden LED strips in a ceiling cove or behind shelves to wash the walls, and a pendant over the coffee or dining table to anchor the seating. Lighting the walls makes a room feel larger than lighting only the floor.

Plan it before the electrician comes

Socket and switch positions are cheap to change on paper and expensive to change in finished walls. A lighting plan with your furniture layout tells the electrician exactly where everything goes.

Light is at the heart of how we design — every ARCHLIA render shows the room both by day and by evening.