Guide To Design Lighting for HDB

Lighting is often something that’s overlooked until the final stages of one’s home renovation. It can be as simple or as sophisticated as you wish. In short, it’s all about creating the right mood and doing so in the best possible style.

Pic 1

Pic 2

Believe it or not? Lighting can make or break the ambiance of a home. See the examples above. The same house, the same furniture, the same design, but with different lighting, probably most people would find it more comfortable to live in a house in second picture.

In this article, we will discuss on HDB home lighting guide, mainly focusing on different types of lighting you can use to enhance your house ambience. You may use these lighting ideas to brighten rooms, save energy, and give your home an entirely new look. Let’s go through different areas in a standard HDB, include living room, dining area, bedroom, bathroom and kitchen.

Living Room

Communal spaces like living rooms are where diverse activities are carried out. As the central hub of the home, when you design lighting in your HDB, you want the space to be great so everyone feels welcome here. We can create an inviting mood by installing downlight (or sometimes known as recessed light). They’re popular because they don’t take up much space and they illuminate the entire room with just a few bulbs.

Alternatively, you can also install ceiling fans with a set of lights that can effectively light up your living room. For example, the largest piece of furniture in your living room usually is sofa, facing a gallery wall or TV. You may consider whether you want a ceiling fan installed there. Many ceiling fans come with optional LED lights, but of course that limits the type of lights you can buy.

On the other hand, track lights is one of the lightings you can use to illuminate gallery walls, a cabinet of prized possessions, or even a painting, which will give these collections a good rendering effect. On top of all the lightings mentioned before, you can also mix and match with table lamps and floor lamps, which are meant for task lighting.  Task lighting for a living room may be provided by table lamp. It can be placed near a reading chair or game table. Good task lighting also means the overall room can be dim, but if someone wishing to read can still have ample lighting.

Dining Room

Since dining rooms and living rooms tend to be connected in BTO flats, you need to decide how you want to arrange the light source. For dining area, we suggest to opt for warm lights and dimmers that can be adjusted to set the atmosphere to your liking, and to match with living room. If you’re looking for a spot to display your chandelier, for a more comfortable feel, install the lamp at least 60cm from the table surface. Choose the right intensity of lights as well, as you don’t want it too bright nor too dim on a dining table.

Bedroom

All bedrooms should evoke a peaceful and calming ambience. After all, it is a sanctuary for you to relax and unwind. We suggest going for subtle and warm lighting for the bedroom. To go for extra miles, you may also want to choose lights with a special setting that allows a dimming function. Always remember to choose lights that give off a comfortable and relaxed atmosphere. Wall lights are good choices for bedrooms too!

For bedside reading, wall-mounted light fixtures with adjustable arms is good, so that the light can be directed on the reading material. Each bedside light should operate on its own switch, either directly on the fixture or a wall switch within easy reach. For families with no reading habits, indirect lighting can be used at the head of the bed. Avoid direct eyes. On top of that, the front of the wardrobe can be equipped with pointing spotlights or track spotlights like a cabinet to illuminate the inside of the wardrobe. Even if the closet door is closed, the soft light reflected by the closet door can also illuminate the room.  

Not only that, we can also consider hotel’s lighting design through layering concept. It involves lighting of different heights to enrich the bedroom lighting, soft, not hurting the eyes, and aiding sleep. In addition, for basic lightings, always use dual-control switches (one switch near the entrance and the other at the bedside), or just use a smart switch. Reason being you can always turn them on or off without having to get down from your cozy bed!

Bathroom

HDB equipped with 1 or several bathrooms. For bathroom lighting, install general lighting and place the switch outside the bathroom for safety reasons. Avoid decorative lamps with complicated designs as they may make cleaning a lot more difficult. Bathroom lights cannot have wood, leather or fabric finishing as it is susceptible to mould when in contact with moisture.

Besides the inherent use of a bathroom as a place to bathe, many Singaporeans use their bathrooms as shaving spaces and makeup stations. You need to have enough light at the mirror to tell if you’ve applied your eye shadows correctly. Therefore, opt for bright yet non-heating bulbs in this space. With the definite use of hot showers, the room is already prone to increased temperatures and humidity, so avoid incandescent bulbs which gives off considerable heat.

Kitchen

For HDB kitchen lighting, the most important consideration is brightness. This area has to be bright enough, and need to ensure operating area is not shaded by shadows. This is important because you will be doing all preparation work include cutting on your kitchen top. You may choose general lighting with good light intensity or add supplementary lighting under the hanging cabinet or cooker hood as long as it provides sufficient brightness. If you are installing lighting at the bottom of cabinet, consider the location of the lights and reserve spare lighting outlet in advance during cabinet designation.

Regardless of the type of light you choose, remember that this area has to be bright. A common mistake made in kitchen lighting is overlook the toughness to fix lighting after installation. Before installation, do check properly about feasibility to fix it in case of damage.

Light is a tool for lighting and adjusting the atmosphere. We need different lighting at different time, and the right lighting can make us feel comfortable. Biologically, good lighting design can help stabilise your circadian rhythm, improve your overall mood and contribute to better night sleep. Psychologically, good lighting helps to reduce depression and even increase cognitive performance such as reaction time.

Above are some guidelines for you when you renovate your current house, or moving into a new house. If you need consultation on HDB house rewiring to improve your lighting, click here to check out Winway Home Services catalogue.