Lighting, it’s what’s for dinner

Would Orson Welles’s Citizen Kane be so well remembered if it were not for the lighting?

The single source light, under lighting Orson’s face makes Charles Kane the media mogul gone mad with power. The relentless reporters, hovering like vultures in the shadows, waiting for Kane’s last words “Rosebud”, become faceless jackals waiting to rip the last little bits of flesh from the bones.

Aside from being a huge Orson Welles myself, you have to admit, lighting sets the mood.

Now, we might not be filming the next Citizen Kane in our kitchens but, we may want to set a mood. Lighting’s most practical function is providing more visibility in environments that would normally be too dark to perform daily tasks.

More often than not these days we entertain in areas of the home that were once reserved for daily tasks. So, we need to find a good balance between task lighting and mood lighting.

I know I don’t want to look like a mad media mogul while I’m chopping carrots, well I might, depending on the company I have over, the point being, think about both before you decide to pop in that task specific light under the cabinet above your counter. It may sound like a good idea when you’ve cut yourself for the umpteenth time but, now you’re scaring the children!

Mood or task, with a little bit of forethought we can have both. Before you fall in love with a fixture, think about how you use the space. What kind of tasks, as well as living, do you do in that space? Then, look for the fixture and bulb that will suit it. So when you’re lighting that vase of rosebuds, the jackals aren’t waiting in the shadows!

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