4 techniques to highlight the color of your furnishings, artwork, plants, wall hangings, and wall textures.
1) Silhouetting: Place a floor spotlight with a broad-beamed bulb behind a sculpture or plant, one foot from the wall pointing straight up on the wall. This provides backlighting for a silhouette effect, particularly effective on bronze sculptures, bonsai, and dense plants.
2) Shadowing: Place a plant light inside the plant just behind the trunk pointing straight up to throw leafy shadows on the ceiling or put the light 3’ in front of the foliage to see shadows on the wall. This uplighting technique is most effective with sparsely foliated plants and unique branching patterns.
3) Moonlighting: This effect is achieved using recessed lights in the ceiling with soft incandescent reflector bulbs shining down through plant leaves sprinkling shadow patterns on the walls or floor. Incandescent lighting (regular household bulbs and PAR bulbs) brings out reds and yellows while halogen lighting (PAR bulbs) will intensify blues and purples.
4) Grazing: This technique is used to bring out the texture of an interesting wall such as stone, silk, or flocked wallpaper. Place the light source 2-3 inches from the wall surface, pointing straight up. A series or floor uplights can create a “scallop” effect along the wall.
©Shades of Light 2005
Ashton Harrison has a bachelor of science degree from UVA and a masters in business administration from the University of Richmond. Ashton was the V.P. of Operations for This End Up Furniture before opening the first Shades of Light retail store in 1986. She started Shades of Light national catalog operation in 1995 and launched the Shades of Light web site in 1997. Shades of Light specializes in the highest quality lighting, lamp shades, chandeliers, rugs, and curtains for every lifestyle. For more information please visit the Shades of Light web site and sign up for a free indoor lighting catalog.
