Picking out the right ceiling lighting is almost an art for me. You see, ceiling lights have to accomplish two things at once. On the one hand, they have to be functional. Ceiling lighting has to illuminate a room well enough that you can see what you need to. It needs to fill up every corner with an adequate glow to establish the proper visibility and the right mood. On the other hand, ceiling lights should be beautiful. They are part of your built-in ceiling dcor, and as such they have to be carefully chosen. The lighting for your ceiling should go along with every aspect of your room decoration. It should match the period, style, color composition, and other aesthetic characteristics of the rest of the room.
needless to say, this is not easy to do especially if you are the type of person who likes to change your decorations around from time to time. When I was first getting into home dcor, I made some pretty drastic mistakes with ceiling lighting. I figure that my tastes would stay the same, and bought ceiling lights that fit my particular momentary interests but were not very versatile. When I changed from modernistic designs to a more classical looks, they were entirely out of place. They seemed harsh, angular, and ascetic compares to the voluptuous classic art that adorned the walls. Suddenly, I had to start all over. And you know that new ceiling lighting isn't cheap enough to do that frequently!
That is why I now like to use a combination of ceiling lighting and floor and table lamps. Usually, I find a few ceiling lights that I really like and feel will last in a particular room. I find ones that have a sort of universal appeal that won't get old. Then, I let myself get more whimsical with my floor lamps. I buy lamps that match my particular decorative tastes at the moment as opposed to ones that I think will last forever. That way, when I change things around, I can move old lamps out of the room into storage and bring in a few new ones. If I decide to change back, I still have those old lamps sitting around.
To my mind, LED lighting is one of the most important new technologies to come around for home decoration. It has already changed the way that I think about ceiling lighting. LEDs only infrequently need to be changed, and can last for a decade or more under the right conditions. I fully expect that they will completely replace all other lights within the next few years because they are so energy-efficient. They have a completely different look than most kinds of ceiling lighting, however, and require a fresh new approach.
2:54 PM