Creating Date Night Atmosphere with Lighting
Valentine's Day is just around the corner, and if you're staying in this year, you’ll want to try and create a romantic atmosphere in your home. Perhaps you’re making a nice dinner or treating yourselves to a takeaway and a film. Whatever you’re doing, you can use lighting to create an enchanting atmosphere.
Dimmable Lighting
You can easily create a romantic atmosphere in your dining room or kitchen by using dimmable lighting. If your lights aren’t usually dimmable, a quick solution is a plug-in dimmer switch. You plug your light into the dimmer switch and use a sliding switch to control the level of lighting.
Candlelight
Candlelight is a classic type of lighting for date night. The soft flicker creates a romantic atmosphere, and you don’t have to splash out on large votives to get the desired effect. You can make a room look beautiful just by using cheap tea lights dotted around the room. If you’re not too keen on open flames, you can use LED candles which are battery operated.
Fairy Lights
Outdoor bistro dining is definitely out of the question at this time of year, but you can easily replicate the feeling indoors, by using strings of fairy lights. If you have any tree lights leftover from Christmas, you can use those. You should opt for warm white bulbs, with a low wattage to give off a soft, dim light that you would typically see at a restaurant.
Coloured Lighting
If you’re looking for something more unique than warm white lighting, you could use coloured bulbs. Colour can affect mood, and in particular, red is used to evoke passion. However, you should avoid overkill by not placing coloured bulbs in overhead lights, but use them in table lamps instead.
Edison Bulbs
If you prefer retro decor, Edison bulbs are perfect. The bulbs take inspiration from early 20th Century lighting and if you choose a low wattage, you’ll get a beautiful ambient light which looks stylish and sophisticated.
Tips
- Always consider the colour temperature – think of the sun at its warmest temperature.
- Avoid contrast – no harsh transitions from light to dark.
- Focal points – use objects which reflect light to create a focal point.