From movies candle-lit dinners, lighting is one of the most important factors in everything we do. Science and technology teams around the world have put an amazing amount of effort into developing the sturdiest, longest-lasting lights for any application you can think of. Color, saturation, brightness, and even beam shape are all important when it comes to picking the right light for the situation. The best part? Mood lighting is a careful art that’s pretty easy to pull off once you know which settings work best. Romantic lighting is especially simple and can set the stage so long as you have the right room and the right lights.
It could be our culture that has led us to see certain settings as romantic. But there are also a few scientific aspects of lighting that genuinely make a setting more romantic. While it may be that decades of amber-colored lights or the flicker of candlelight have fashioned our notions of what makes for romantic lighting, there’s also the effect of the light itself to consider.
Light with a low color temperature (below 3000K, or ‘yellow’ light) produces a very interesting effect on surfaces. These lights, which are standard for most incandescent lamps, soften features and improve appearances. If you want to look good, use an incandescent lamp. While not ideal for getting ready in the morning, a standard light gives that warm and cozy feeling we all enjoy from standard incandescent bulbs.
The next step is to keep the lights dimmer than normal. Dimmer lighting creates a closer, more intimate feeling to any room. But there is a trick to this. Don’t simply remove a few light bulbs from the dining room, you need to use an actual dimmer. Uneven lighting is jarring and distracting. Removing lamps or relying on recessed lights that have been dimmed can ruin the effect. Recessed lighting that’s been dimmed can create cave-lighting (when there are unintended dark corners along the upper part of the wall). Uneven lighting isn’t cozy, it’s distracting. Use a dimmer switch. Just be sure to match your dimmer to the type of lights you’re using. If you plan to use LED lamps, make sure the dimmer is compatible with your brand of LEDs.
When we say to keep lighting even, we don’t mean equal throughout the room. Even lighting in this case is designed to highlight focus areas. Think about how restaurants stagger their lighting, with islands of light at each table and muted lights everywhere else. If you want the greatest effect, use a fixture that focuses a soft light where you’ll be spending your time while ambient lighting casts a light glow everywhere else.
A romantic setting demands more than just the right lighting. Pair the lighting with a favorite meal or entertainment. Some background music will set things off nicely, but only if you select something that matches the mood. You may enjoy electronic dubstep, but when the lights are lower something quiet and soothing is the way to go.
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