8 Ways To Light Your Attic

By Clarissa Allison | April 1st, 2016

There is something cozy, personal and fun about using an attic in ways other than a storage area. Attics are lovely to decorate, but present a few challenges due to their architecture, sloped ceilings, and square footage. Here's what to keep in mind to make the most of your lighting scheme when it comes to an attic space.

Get A Good Idea of Your Space

Measure every part of your attic thoroughly, including the doorway or stairwell opening. If you have low eaves, oddly shaped windows, and strange nooks, you'll want to account for them before you purchase or move anything into the attic. You'll thank us later!  Next, gather your measurements  and compare them to the furniture in your living room or bedroom to get an idea of what may fit.

Attics Can Be Many Things To Many People

Are you converting your attic into an out of the way office, artist's studio, or child's bedroom? The lighting you select for each option may be totally different.  Think about the theme of your new hideaway and how you want to feel when entering. You may want a spare and slender floor lamp upon entry, a mini-chandelier, or a whimsical pendant that will help your creativity flow.

Mind The Slope

Many pendants, semi-flush/flush mounted fixtures as well as ceiling fans can be adapted to a sloped ceiling such as you'll find in an attic. It's important to determine the degree of your ceiling's slope which you can do HERE, and ensure that the adapter kit you want accommodates this range prior to purchasing.

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Use White or Cream To Maximize Space

White make even the tiniest objects appear lighter and airier. A white or cream color palette also brings together incongruent objects. Warm whites, like ivory or buff, avoid a harsh, antiseptic hospital look. Since upstairs rooms get less foot traffic and dirt tracked in, it's not as  difficult to keep white attic floors clean as it first appears. If you can't bear an all white room, save color and patterns for furniture only, keeping the ceiling light and airy.

Armilla 41 Table Lamp

Armilla 41 Table Lamp

Keep It Simple

Remember when installing a new light fixture that attics often have electrical cable running through them already, and your electrician can easily use an existing circuit. Place the light switch near your entryway for convenience.Recessed LED fixtures have an extremely low profile and don't generate unwanted heat. They are a great option if space is at a minimum or you have low-hanging eaves. To get air circulating and keep energy costs low, invest in a ceiling fan with a light kit attachment. You'll be able to combine necessary functions together in one fixture, while also saving space.

Personalize The Dormer

Use this area to add a built-in desk and some task lighting in the form of a diminutive but modern desk lamp, and you've got a new home office. A popular option is to add a bed and mini wall sconces to the area along with under storage to save space. You can even incorporate the area as part of a game room while adding a billiard light overhead to enhance play.

contemporary-family-room

Highlight Unusual Shapes

Concealed or cove lighting can be used to your advantage as the shadows and patterns created by the attic's own architecture is there to be showcased. Cove lighting, which uses LED tape lights, are great for awkward spaces like a sharp or low pitched roof. You can also use concealed lighting to create the illusion of height.

Mix It Up

Attics often have some natural light, but this is still not enough to effectively illuminate a space on its own. Ideally, you want 2 or 3 different sources of light for an even, stable glow. An overhead pendant and a directional floor lamp may be all you need. Proper lighting is really important in an attic space, as the angles can cause a lot of strange shadows. Be sure to add enough sources of light to eliminate this issue.

We hope you've found some valuable tips to help with the lighting scheme for your attic conversion. Please give us a call for help choosing the right fixtures for your new project at 1-877 385 2104. The Louie Lighting Team wishes you and yours and safe and happy weekend.

8 Ways To Light Your Attic

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