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- Picture Wall Lights
Picture Wall Lights
Picture wall lights are the most traditional way to highlight your favourite painting or photographs. A painting can really bring a room to life but it needs to be well-lit to achieve maximum impact. A picture light does not just need to be for paintings. They can also be used to highlight any object in order to add interest and drama.
At Zest Lighting, we curate for you the best in designer wall lighting and we are sure to have wall lights to suit every area of your home or office.
Picture wall lights are designed to highlight your favourite art pieces, wherever they are in your room. Some homeowners also use picture wall lights to navigate your eyes to lovely architectural details like wood slats, crown mouldings, wainscoting, and intricately carved pilasters.
Choosing Picture Wall Lights for Your Prized Possessions
We all have a couple of assets we want to show off when guests arrive. Sometimes, these pieces also calm or define a portion of ourselves while invoking the memories of beautiful moments we once enjoyed in our lives.
Whether they are paintings, photographs, or even sketches, we wish to illuminate it in the best way possible without marring its beauty. Hence, picking the perfect picture wall light for your precious art piece is not easy work. Thankfully, we've listed down some important guidelines you can follow to narrow down your choices:
- What colour and style should you pick? Picture wall lights are available in tons of colours and styles. Homeowners often choose something plain and simple to prevent picture wall lights from grabbing the attention away from the artwork themselves. However, it's OK to select picture wall lights with intricate designs then pair them with stunning paintings, too. Evidently, it all boils down to personal preference. Regardless, we recommend that you buy a picture wall light that complements the furniture and decorations in the room to create a seamless balance between all elements of the space.
- How do you determine the correct size? For proportionality's sake, you would want a bigger picture wall light if you have a big piece of artwork and vice versa. The specific size would vary depending on your painting's orientation. The rule of thumb followed by many designers is that if the artwork's orientation is portrait, the picture wall light should span about half the picture's width. If it's installed on a landscape position, choose a picture wall light about three-fourths long as the picture. Always take the measurements with the picture frame size in mind for a better estimate.
- Should you choose a wall-mounted or a frame-mounted one? Wall-mounted picture wall lights are stable and look professional, but you need to puncture your wall to install them. Frame-mounted ones are often versatile and easy to reposition when required, but you need to choose a picture frame that can support its weight for a steady installation. Decide which one is more appropriate for your circumstances.
- How should you position the picture wall light? When installing a picture wall light for your painting or photo, your aim is to evenly distribute its lighting over the picture. You don't want it to only highlight the top part of the frame. Hence, always make sure to place it above the central part of the picture, then move the head part at a 30- to 35-degree angle to shine light near the middle of the painting.
- Should you buy only one or multiple picture wall lights? This is a question most asked by consumers who want to showcase beyond-standard-size pieces of artwork in their homes. Since there aren't many massive picture wall lights, many homeowners use high-intensity illumination from ceiling lights, track lighting, or recessed lights as alternatives. You are free to copy this, or you can use multiple picture wall lights evenly spaced on top or at the sides of your artwork. In addition, some companies customise picture wall lights according to your demands, so do check them out to see if you prefer such picture wall lights.
- What light bulb should you choose? In the old days, picture wall lights provide brightness using incandescent, fluorescent, or halogen bulbs. The downside of using these bulbs is that they emit excessive heat that might damage the art piece in the long run. Fortunately, most picture wall lights released on the market nowadays utilise LED bulbs in their operation. These bulbs don't give off heat, have long lifespans, and are energy-efficient, making them popular choices for picture wall lights. We recommend using LEDs for your lighting needs, but if you prefer the former bulbs, some companies still produce picture wall lights with their bulb types.
- Does the bulb's colour temperature matter? Some designers say it doesn't, while art experts say it does. According to the latter, the colour temperature your lighting emits impacts how well an artwork is received by its viewers. Set the colour temperature to warm white if you want to create a comfortable atmosphere when guests admire your art pieces. Adjust the lighting to neutral or cool white for intriguing and controversial artworks to promote concentration. If you want the best of both worlds, choose a picture wall light with a colour changing technology (CCT) feature, allowing you to change the colour temperature with a push of a button.
- How bright should your picture wall light be? Since you want to use a picture wall light to highlight your piece, you naturally have to consider the amount of brightness it will emit onto your artwork. This metric is measured using lumens and is one of the attributes you must consider when purchasing a light bulb for any of your lights. Generally, the rule of thumb is that your picture wall light should illuminate its surrounding space three times more brightly than the room.
- Should you check the picture wall light's CRI, too? Definitely! The Colour Rendering Index or CRI attribute on light sources indicates how precise the lighting reflects the colours of an object. It's a metric scaled from 0 to 100, with 100 being the highest rating. Obviously, CRI is a vital aspect when highlighting works of art, so the CRI of your picture wall light should be as high as possible.
More Tips For a Better Artwork Arrangement with Picture Wall Lights
- According to many art and interior experts, always place the central part of the picture at an eye level. Don’t attach it too high on the walls, forcing the viewers to look up to admire its beauty. The same rules apply if the location is a sitting room like a living or dining room - make sure that the artwork is at eye level to the person sitting on the chair or sofa.
- Choose a picture frame that won’t obscure your artwork’s charm. If you plan to buy a frame-mounted picture wall light, pick the frame that can sustain the weight of the light source. If you decide to purchase a wall-mounted picture wall light for your art piece, select a thin picture frame that won’t cast additional shadows when the light is turned on.
- Keep artworks, primarily paintings, away from natural light. The UV and infrared rays from the sun may cause parts of the art piece to fade away, spoiling the beauty of the painting.
Zest Lighting is an online lighting boutique committed to bringing only the best in designer lighting for your everyday needs. We deliver Australia wide, with free shipping to selected metro areas and their surrounding regions. If you have enquiries, get in touch with us here or read on our FAQ and blog pages for immediate answers.
Shop high-quality picture wall lights at Zest Lighting. We look forward to sharing our zest for lights with you.