Ideas for Choosing a Light Motif

Since the 1960s, recessed lighting fixtures have become a default standard for remodeling and new construction, due largely to their low cost and wide range of styles available. But like any other design element, recessed lighting requires careful thought as to type, placement and suitability. Nor should it necessarily be your first choice for lighting--in some cases it shouldn’t be in the running at all.

Regardless of their exterior appearance, all recessed lighting fixtures are basically the same. They use some variation of a sheet-metal housing that’s placed between the ceiling joists before the drywall is installed or, in the case of retrofittable fixtures, one that can be maneuvered through a circular cutout in the existing drywall.

In fact, aside from the choice between fluorescent or incandescent bulbs, the only real difference among most recessed fixtures is the decorative bezel or “trim” that’s installed after the ceiling is finished.

The most common trims are simply open rings; but they can also include polished gold or silver reflectors, black or white plastic “Coilex” baffles to reduce glare, egg-crate grilles, or a number of other options. “Wall-washer” trims have a shield that deflects the light against a wall for indirect illumination; they’re generally installed in multiples about 18 inches away from the wall surface.

“Eyeball spots” have special housings that allow the fixture to be rotated nearly 360 degrees It’s important to use the right fixture for the right application. For example, trims with bright metal reflectors can create “hot spots”--bright points of reflected light--that you may find dramatic or simply irritating, depending on your intent. Recessed fixtures in general are most useful for spotlighting and accent lighting; if you want diffused light, choose fixtures with baffles, grilles or lenses, or better yet, switch to ordinary surface-mounted fixtures, which are more effective for general lighting.

Laying out the fixtures can also be tricky.

Too often, people locate the fixtures based on what’s going to be placed underneath them; they’ll put one above the coffee table, another over their favorite chair for reading, maybe a couple more over the sofa for good measure. This might seem logical in terms of planning, but it won’t make any sense at all aesthetically.

That’s because the eye comprehends the fixtures relative to the ceiling, not relative to objects sitting on the floor beneath them.When you lay out recessed lighting, make sure to reconcile your practical needs with a ceiling layout that looks organized.

Perhaps the fundamental question is whether to use recessed lighting at all. Low cost aside, recessed fixtures have a number of drawbacks.

Since they’re permanently installed inside the ceiling, they’re inherently less flexible than surface-mounted fixtures, and often prove less effective for general lighting as well.

Moreover, in pre-World War II homes, the presence of recessed lighting is an instant tip-off to a remodeling job. This is simply because recessed fixtures didn’t appear until the postwar era, and even then were largely confined to department stores and other commercial installations until the 1970s.

Hence, you’ll never see recessed lighting in any unsullied prewar home--something to bear in mind if you want to keep your home’s lighting scheme authentic.

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Arrol Gellner is an architect with 23 years’ experience in residential and commercial architecture. Distributed by Inman News Features.