How to Choose Lighting for a Child's Room

How to Choose Lighting for a Child's Room - CONTENTS

1. What to Think About When Choosing Lights for a Child's Room
2. Types of Lighting for a Child's Room
3. Lighting for the Youngest Children
4. Lighting for Schoolchildren and Teenagers
5. Don't Forget About Safety
6. Smart Lighting in a Child's Room
7. How to Choose Lighting for a Child's Room—Key Advice

What to Think About When Choosing Lights for a Child's Room

When you start planning what lighting to choose for your child's room, feel free to use your imagination, but remember that your child is the one who should feel comfortable in the room. During the planning process, try to talk to them about what they would like and try to gauge their tastes. There will almost certainly be a difference if you are choosing lighting for a girl's room or a boy's room.

You also need to take into account the number, size and direction of windows (relative to the cardinal points) and the dimensions of the room. When you have this info, you can decide how many lights you need and how bright they should be. You should also think about the colour of any furniture and decorations in the room. Darker and more saturated tones cause the environment to darken optically, requiring a more powerful or brighter light source.

Types of Lighting for a Child's Room

• Ceiling Lights often function as central lighting and need to be a higher wattage light as they illuminate the whole room
• Wall lights are usually additional spotlights to illuminate your child's gaming, reading or studying area, where the central lighting is not sufficient
• Table lamps sit on a desk or bedside table, preferably with an articulating arm that allows you to adjust the angle and the direction of the light stream
• Night lights are low wattage lamps for younger children, who often need to fall asleep with the lights on
• Projectors are smaller table lamps that can project images on the wall and also have a nightlight function

Lighting for the Youngest Children

Children under three years of age need lighting that is not too bright. Keep in mind that you often have to come into the room during the night for feeding, changing or trying to get your baby to sleep. It is important to position the lighting so that it does not shine directly into your child's eyes.

Consider night lighting to help you navigate the room during night checks without having to turn on the main light. The ideal choice is a lamp with adjustable light intensity in combination with playful decorative lights that illuminate the room sufficiently for reading bedtime stories.

Projectors are great for helping young children get to sleep. Not only do they emit pleasantly dim light, but they can also project various images or characters onto the ceiling and walls. If you choose a toy projector, you can even put it in your child's cot as a sleep aid.

In terms of lighting design, young children often like bold colours and familiar objects. A proven hit has always been lights featuring popular children's characters, such as Mickey Mouse, Spiderman or Minions.

Lighting for Schoolchildren and Teenagers

As your child develops, lighting requirements change, and a ceiling light will no longer be enough for an older child. The room should be supplemented with appropriate desk lighting in the place your loved one does their homework.

As the child grows older, so do their requirements for quality lighting. A schoolchild will almost certainly need a table lamp to light the area for study, homework, or computer use. Lighting near the computer relieves eye strain. It should ideally be aimed at the work surface from above or from the side.

Always choose a table lamp with an adjustable arm and place it on the left side for right-handed children and on the right side for left-handed children to make sure that their hands don't block the light. The recommended lighting height is around 30cm with an angle between 60 and 70 degrees. The table lamp should have a brightness between 300-500 lumens. Try to get the colour of the light as close to daylight as possible—it is better to use white light bulbs or LEDs (white light has a colour temperature of around 4500K).

Some children are still not too keen on total darkness at an early school age, so they will also welcome night lighting. The best location is in the opposite corner of the room from the bed as the light doesn't shine directly into their eyes. Although the lighting should, of course, match other furnishings, one cheerful light or lamp will definitely add a touch of style to the room—and your child will love it.

Don't Forget About Safety

Always consider the safety aspect of light placement first when planning children's room lighting. The safest are ceiling lights and high-mounted wall lights, which are out of kids' reach, which reduces the chance of breakage and subsequent injury.

Cover any unused sockets and avoid unstable table lamps and pendant lights, which could break when kids jump up and down on the bed, have pillow fights, or play action heroes.

Smart Lighting in a Child's Room

Nowadays, using smart lighting throughout your home is becoming more and more commonplace. You can easily control the lights with your mobile phone and set an appropriate intensity and colour for your children. One of the most popular smart lighting systems is Philips Hue.

How to Choose Lighting for a Child's Room—Key Advice

1. Plan your choice of light carefully according to your child's needs and age.
2. Always keep safety in mind.
3. Ideally, get your child to help choose the lighting for their room.
4. The colour of the walls is important.
5. Take into account the location and number of windows.

When choosing a mirror or additional lighting for your child's bedroom, pay respect to the overall style and other room furnishings, so that everything is coordinated beautifully.