That Special Glow

Good lighting design can be one of the most cost-effective ways to add a feeling of luxury to a home, according to lighting designers who work with production builders. That's because luxury isn't a product; it’s an overall experience, and lighting plays a big part in creating the impression of life in a home.

Many production builders include too much light, which oftentimes makes the space look bland, according to Rosemarie Allaire, a lighting designer in Dana Point, Calif. “Anyone can overlight a space, and builders frequently do that in the kitchen in an attempt to light every area equally."

A better approach is to use fewer lumens, but to place them only where they illuminate tasks or add contrast. "Contrast feels luxurious,” Allaire says. “I like to focus the light on kitchen surfaces, but don't light other areas unless there is an object to highlight." One such object could be a range hood. Some of today's range hoods have become very sculptural, and Allaire says homeowners respond well when you use light to show it off.

If you reduce the amount of light, you’ll want to compensate by using better-quality features, says Allaire, who likes to use 4-inch recessed can lighting instead of the less expensive 7-inch cans that are common in production home kitchens. “The 4-inch cans cost about $20 more, but they help focus light in the places you want,” she says.

One inexpensive way to create contrast in a kitchen is to focus lights on a tile backsplash.

One area that can be highlighted for very little cost is a tile backsplash.. Bob McLemore, founder, director and president of HouseRaising, a Charlotte, N.C.-based design-build firm, does this using, undercabinet lights. "It's not very expensive to run track lighting under cabinets; it's really attractive and gives a luxurious touch and festive feeling."

Good exterior lighting can also be used to expand the feeling of kitchen or dining room boundaries. Allan Leibow, president of LIGHTVISION in Los Angeles, advises production builders to light landscape features outside a patio door in the kitchen. This way the doors open the kitchen to the exterior during the day and at night. “For instance a beautifully lit tree outside the kitchen actually becomes part of the interior at night,” he says.

Liebow says that it's critical to install dimmers on exterior lights and on lights near windows and glass doors. At different times in the evening, the interior and exterior lights will need to be adjusted to achieve the most luxurious impact. “At $10 to $25, dimmers are an inexpensive luxury,” he says.

Jim McMillan, a lighting designer with Lang Lighting, Dallas, creates a luxurious effect in the bath with a simple, lighted reveal behind the mirror. “A unique way to light the vanity area is to backlight the mirror. This is achieved by building the mirror out by 4 to 6 inches from the back wall of the vanity, and wrapping the created void with a low voltage linear strip or a dimmable, staggered strip of fluorescents,” says McMillan. He says 3000 degree Kelvin color temperature fluorescent lamps create a good color rendition.

And don't forget the shower. “If you have an open bench in a shower, add some light under the bench with a wet-location fixture,” says McMillan.

Whether lighting the exterior to add drama to a kitchen or using an exterior fixture to add a special glow in the bath, including a thoughtful lighting approach to production home design can yield luxury for less.