Upstyle Your Space With Elegant Cove Lighting

Are you bored with some of the rooms in your home? Have you been looking for different interior design ideas to bring certain spaces to life?

The answer you need may be more obvious than you think. Cove lighting, for example, is a simple yet beautiful addition to any part of your home. It works wonders to upgrade the look of the bedroom, kitchen, or even the back patio.

The trick is to educate yourself on the wonders of this lighting solution and to get some interior design inspiration going.

Luckily, all the information you need can be found below.

What Is Cove Lighting?

There are floor lamps and table lamps, hanging lights and ceiling lights, and then, there are cove lights.

Cove lighting is the use of concealed light sources that are placed behind corners or in lowered areas to reflect on a ceiling. The reflection creates an illumination that is bright and welcoming, without being too strong or overpowering.

Cove lights are often used in conjunction with other lighting treatments. Such an approach to light design creates a lovely mix. Lights placed at different heights, which have various strengths and settings, can create a texture that is unique, welcoming, and outright stunning.

The use of cove lights is what brings everything in a room together.

Installing Cove Lights

Cove lights are most commonly sold as strips of light, although there are some stand-alone fixtures available as well. The strips are placed along moldings in the home to create the concealed reflection that is standard of cove lighting.

If your home doesn’t have such moldings – which are often found along where a wall meets the floor or just below where it touches the ceiling – you can create crevices of your own. Consider placing cove lights behind furniture or large plants, for example, as a way to direct the light up towards the ceiling and achieve that reflection.

Once you’ve found the right place for your lights, the real work begins. You can choose to do the installation entirely on your own or to have a team of electrical professionals to get the job done.

Remember, there’s a big difference between knowing where you want your lights to go and connecting their wires to the power sources in your home. Don’t attempt this unless you have a basic understanding of how your electric system works.

Design Ideas

Speaking of finding the perfect place for your cove lighting, let’s explore a few options. There are more ways to use such lights to upgrade your home than you might think.

But, the most common are:

As a Bedroom Accent

Have you ever been trying to unwind after a long day, but the bright lights in your bedroom kept you up? This is a common struggle for many homeowners: too much light is bright and bothersome, but not having any light can be more annoying.

Find the balance with cove lighting.

Adding this to your bedroom can create a bit of a dimming effect. It allows you to turn off the main lights, but still be able to move around or read a book from the gentle illumination of cove lights.

Not to mention, the soft light is comforting, cozy, and a bit more intimate than what you might be used to. Cove lighting upgrades your bedroom’s design to be everything you need. It creates a space to be yourself in total serenity, as well as the option to set the mood with your partner from time to time.

To Enhance the Fireplace

Some people skip on cove lights and opt for a controlled flame to set the mood instead. This isn’t always about romantics, by the way. A fireplace or an arrangement of candles is the perfect way to let yourself relax on your own.

If it’s some R&R that you need, why not make it the most soothing it can be?

That’s what adding cove lights does. Most fireplaces are set up on an elevated part of the bedroom or living room. Using cove lighting to line this area enhances the space in a subtle, yet noticeably beautiful way.

Such a simple addition can transform how comfortable this space feels, and maybe encourage you to light the fireplace and unwind more often.

For the Living or Dining Area

Just as cove lights establish a sense of relaxation by a fire, they can create a calm, peaceful setting in other places of the home, too. Consider adding these fixtures to your living or dining area.

Think about it: how much cozier would your living room be if you didn’t have to use bright lights all the time? Would your meals become more enjoyable if you had the option of using cove lighting every once in a while?

The way a person uses light in the home can affect many things. Lighting design is more than just making sure things are visible. It plays a role in how each individual in the space feels, behaves, and processes the space around them.

Outdoor Lighting

As valuable as the right lighting is inside, it also has a strong purpose outside.

All the benefits of indoor cove lighting can easily be taken into the backyard or even the front yard. Think of how you entertain guests or enjoy yourself while you’re grilling or sitting by the fire pit.

Cove lights may be the thing you’ve been missing to make this area complete. The subtlety won’t take away from the beauty of the outdoors, but it can help everyone feel more comfortable and settled.

If you have a large front yard or a long walkway, the use of cove lights can ignite the path for people to come and go. This is useful to have whenever you’re the host for the night, or if you’re just coming home after a particularly long day.

Celebrate Your New Lights

There’s nothing like the feeling of a job well done once your lights are installed and you get to enjoy their beauty.

This will make you want to spend more time wherever it is that you’ve decided to place cove lights. Not to mention, you will definitely appreciate the setting more after putting so much work into getting the design just right.

To share your final product, or get inspired by the lighting creations of others, click here.