Stairs undoubtedly need to be illuminated. It’s a matter of safety and appearance. Just which lighting to choose?
Lighting the stairs in the house is a must. It is important not only from the point of view of interior design, but, above all, to ensure the safety of the household members. Not everyone wants to turn on the overhead light to climb them, for example, so as not to wake up the other household members when we return late at night. Small points of light will allow you to safely climb the stairs, and will also look beautiful giving the interior a unique, somewhat romantic atmosphere.
When choosing staircase lighting, you should certainly keep in mind that it should be softer and of lower intensity than the lighting of a study or living room. The lighting points on the stairs should not be strong, it is better that they give a light glow, then they will be additionally decorative and economical. It is worth planning them already at the stage of house construction, if we have such an opportunity.
There are several types of stair lighting. The least impressive is undoubtedly the traditional chandelier. This is a fairly common solution found mainly in older buildings. If the staircase is quite large or winding, you also need to keep in mind that the chandelier will not illuminate the staircase in its entirety.
Equally popular are wall lamps, which nowadays can be obtained in various shapes, so they can perfectly blend in with the surroundings. In addition, they give a more subtle light and, placed in the right places, can calmly illuminate any staircase. When choosing wall lamps, remember that they look best if they are evenly spaced from each other. On top of that, they must be mounted above the heads of stair users, as hung at eye level they can blind them.
Nowadays in new construction, the hit are the so-called eyelets, that is, fixtures mounted on the side of the stairs at a height of several centimeters. They give light and look very nice.
Also fashionable are staircase halogens with a motion sensor. Their advantage is not only that they look cool, but they also have low failure rate.
Another solution is LEDs, which can be placed in various places – on the side or on each step in the depth or on the edge. A rather original idea can be lighting the balustrade. Interestingly, in this case, too, you can use a motion sensor, in which case the lighting will turn on every time someone goes up or down the stairs.
LEDs can be in the form of tapes or LEDs, and can have different colors and different saturation of light. Their advantage is that they have a very long life, up to tens of thousands of hours. The advantage is also that after this period they do not stop shining, they just give a softer light.
main photo: unsplash.com/Alessia Cocconi