I am planning on putting recessed lights in my living room.
At one end of the room is a dining area with a hanging light that seperates that area. The other side of the room where I want to put recessed lights in to create a mood.
I know how to install them what I am wondering is where I place them.
Is there any rules decorators use? I was thinking of running them so I could have some lighting the pictures on the walls and others over the couches so I can read.
Replies
More seriously now. Forgive my whacked humor.
Recessed is going to limit the "aim-ability" of the lighting. Eyeball style probably limited to 10 of 15 degrees from vertical. This would suggest placement close and nearly plumb to areas where you read.
As far as art lighting; will the art ever change, or is this more of a "feature wall" that you want lit? If the possibility exists for future changes and you want to illuminate individual pieces, consider track lighting. Much more tunability, so to speak. All sorts of possibilties for difussers, dimmers, etc.. If the art happens to have glass, consider the incident light angle you're creating. Don't want to get a nasty reflection at viewing height.
The spacing depends on the size of the lamp, the type of reflector/trim, the height of the ceiling, and the effect you what.
If you're using 6" cans with the typical PAR or BR 65 watt lamps, with 8' or 9' ceilings, and you want fairly even general illumination, use standard step baffles and trims, and space the fixtures 4 to 5 feet apart and 2' to 3' from the walls. Further apart, and you'll start to get "pools" of light rather than even intensity. I put the fixtures even closer together if they're over a counter (like in a kitchen).
There are eyeball trim kits to aim the light onto the wall to highlight a work of art. Also there are "wall wash" trim kits that throw the light onto the wall. For eyeballs or wall wash trims, put the fixture 1' or 2' from the wall. Check the fixture mfgr's website for product spec sheets with more specific info. Halo and Juno (the types of can that I use) provide diagrams of the illumination pattern for their trims.
The best way to change the mood of the room with cans is to put in plenty of 'em, setting them up in two groups with separate dimmer switches. For a family room with 8 cans, I'll set it up so that a few can be turned on (and dimmed) for TV watching or whatever.
Have fun!
Cliff