

Surendra Hiranandani
Surendra HiranandaniCMD, House of Hiranandani

What role does light & colour play in a home?

Sep 08, 2016, 04.25 PM IST

Colour and light are the two most important ingredients that make a home. They set the tone and the character of your house. They are a visible manifestation of your interests and your traits that define you to the world. Moreover, it’s an investment that adds great aesthetic and resale value to your home.

The interpretation of each colour and reflection of light can be diverse. Consequently, choosing one single scheme can be overwhelming in many ways. To successfully incorporate an appeasing tone of colour and light in the interiors, one must understand the way in which colours convey meaning in nature and culture.

Furthermore, it also boils down to preference. There are many other factors that affect how we perceive colour and light; what is relaxing to some may have a different effect on others. Hence, it is important to understand the traits of different shades before using them within your homes. This becomes more significant as every colour reflects a different shade when exposed to natural light and artificial light.

Our perception of colours is influenced by two things - the absorption of light by an object and the nature of the light. Black is known to absorb all colours, white absorbs none and blue absorbs red. Natural light should always be considered when choosing colour for a space as it can have a significant effect on the interiors.

Sunlight is the purest light and provides the purest colour from the spectrum standpoint of the perception of colour. But even natural sunlight is not consistent. As the day progresses from sunrise to noon, late afternoon to dusk, the light changes in intensity, creating changes in the appearance of colours in a room.

Any kind of light – daylight, artificial light, even candlelight – can dramatically change the way a certain colour appears.

The type of artificial lighting used also plays a huge role in how a colour appears. In residential and commercial spaces, artificial lighting is used to either supplement daylight or replace it entirely. Hence, it becomes much more crucial to understand how each type of artificial lighting can create a different vibe.

How does one choose lighting? Color rendition is important and that is where halogen light scores above the rest. However, because of its high power consumption its use is restricted to the niche segment.

The defining factor is therefore colour temperature. One must learn to differentiate between them so that you can derive maximum benefit from it. Colour temperature of 2700K to 3000K gives the most natural feel. It is highly recommended for residences, hotels and offices as it provides a natural warmth. Even for street and garden lighting it is the preferred choice today. However, in places where reading and writing is a constant activity, like schools, a color temperature of 4000K is recommended. In case of hospitals and industrial kitchens the coolest temperature of 6000K is highly recommended as a warmer color temperature may distract from viewing colors accurately.

Incandescent lighting intensifies warm colours but dulls cooler colours. It makes reds, oranges, and yellows more vivid, while muting blues and greens. The flat and cool fluorescent light enriches blues and greens but mutes warmer colours. Halogens make the shift from daylight to artificial light less jarring, since it resembles natural light and make all colours look more vivid.CFLs create warm white, neutral, or a bluish-white light feel in a room.

LED is a new product that has literally taken over the lighting market. It started with relatively poor quality, but today the LED industry has come up with a compatible range to meet all your requirements. As it is long lasting and consumes less electricity it is the preferred choice today.

Light dispersion is also dependent on the shape and type of fixtures. With the exception of purely decorative lights, all lighting fits into one of the main categories: ambient, task, and accent.

Ambient light is a general background illumination that is bright enough to allow people to move about safely and perform their tasks. It can be achieved by lighting the lower part of the room, or by reflecting light off the ceiling, and upper half of the room.

Task lighting is bright light directed to a certain surface, like a countertop, desk or sofa, to illuminate activities such as reading, homework, meal preparation, or even laundry.

Accent lighting, sometimes called ‘object lighting’, directs light to specific objects such as artwork, furniture, plants, or architectural features. It is the kind of lighting that is employed in museums and art exhibitions. If used well at home, it can create a strong feel of intimacy.

One more crucial component that reflects light is the paint. The amount of light that it reflects can play a key role in choosing the right colour for your home, especially those that don’t receive a lot of natural light. Lighter tinted paints have higher light reflective values than darker tinted ones. Also, higher the gloss level of the paint, the more light reflects and bounces off the surface. As a rule, higher gloss paints tend to enrich and brighten colours.

Sometimes despite everything being spot on in the room, something seems a miss. This is a familiar feeling for all home owners when they unconsciously realize that the texture is off. Texture is the thing that makes a room “pop”. It’s what brings a perfectly fine design up to enviable levels and adds interest to a scheme and changes the way a room feels. Rough and course textures tend to reflect less light and therefore feel ‘warmer’, giving an object more weight and adding a rustic feel. However, smooth and shiny textures reflect more light and feel ‘cooler’, making the object lighter and give a ‘modern’ feel. Rough textures are more likely to make a space feel intimate and grounded, while smooth textures bring a sleeker, more aloof tone to the room.

Colours can look brighter, stronger and possibly even lighter when seen on reflective surfaces such as glass, mirror and metals. Using a variety of light reflective textures is important when working with intense colours as they move light around and can bring darker shades to life. Colours on these surfaces tend to look brighter, stronger, and possibly, even lighter.

Light-absorbing textures however, such as matt paints, linens, tweeds and most wool absorb the light. This reduces the impact of the colour. So colours on these surfaces tend to look darker, more subtle.

It is important to focus on creating a harmony between all the factors listed above.

Your home interiors pay a big role in improving your everyday life. It changes your perspective and helps you become more informed on how to utilize your space to its best potential. As you give special attention to each detail, you will definitely end up with a home that is truly designed for your needs.


About Surendra Hiranandani

Surendra Hiranandani, CMD, House of Hiranandani.