Lighting and Your Emotions (Part One)

Do you feel unhappy in your home and you don't know why? Maybe you need to let the light shine! Add new light to your rooms for an instant uplift.

Lighting affects you more than any other design detail in your home. Your choice of lighting fixtures, light bulbs, and color of light makes a difference in your emotional and physical comfort. Lighting is both an art and a science.

Correct use of lighting benefits you in many ways. Besides allowing you to see, lighting sets the emotional atmosphere. You spend most of your day in activity. You need good lighting for these activities, to see clearly, to prevent fatigue, and to support your happiness.

Lighting helps change a room for different uses more easily than any other design detail. We can light a room for the occasion or the activity of the moment. The change and variation provided by lighting enhances the rhythms of our daily lives.

From flickering candles and twinkling party lights to advanced micro-lighting systems, lighting gives us either a comfortable or a miserable emotional atmosphere. Understanding the effects of different lighting helps you select the exact fixture and light source to create the desired emotional setting.

EIGHT PHYSIOLOGICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL RESPONSES TO LIGHT

1. Poor lighting causes eye fatigue and headaches.

2. Absence of natural daylight triggers depression and poor immune defenses.

3. Bright light stimulates us, while low levels of illumination quiet our senses.

4. Dim lighting or harsh contrasts produce eyestrain.

5. Too much artificial light and overly-bright rooms hurt our eyes and make us feel jittery.

6. Insufficient lighting is linked to emotional stress and to physical ailments.

7. An excess of unnatural light does not replace the calming effects of natural daylight.

8. Uncovered light bulbs cause irritation and disturb tranquility.

Notice how too much artificial lighting or too little supplementary light bring about the same harmful side-effects. Choose your lighting design carefully to assure emotional and physical comfort. Look for types of light fixtures with covered light bulbs. Use daylight-like light bulbs in combination with colored light to set the mood.

Consider another fact: people feel more comfortable with lighting from many sources. Combinations of lighting add variety and vivacity to our lives. Contrasting mixtures of brightness and darkness cause dramatic and lively changes in our home ambiance. Uniform lighting is good for working, but it is boring. Blending light sources halts insipid monotony in our rooms and in our lives. Selecting from a gentle radiance, a warm glow, to a bright, intense light involves understanding the effects of lighting on our emotions.

For these reasons, take care when selecting your lighting. Choose varying lighting effects to bring about your changing harmonious space.

(c) Copyright 2004, Jeanette J. Fisher. All rights reserved.

Professor Jeanette Fisher, author of Doghouse to Dollhouse for Dollars, Joy to the Home, and other books teaches Real Estate Investing and Design Psychology. For more articles, tips, reports, newsletters, and sales flyer template, see http://www.doghousetodollhouse fordollars.com/pages/5/index.htm

In The News:

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In this Oct. 15, 2008 file photo, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, right, listens to Timothy Geithner, president of the New York Federal Reserve, before speaking at the Economic Club of New York. President-elect Barack Obama is likely to name Timothy Geithner as Treasury Secretary in a time of intense economic turmoil as he rounds out the upper echelon of his Cabinet, a senior Democratic official familiar with the deliberations said Friday. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)AP - President-elect Barack Obama intends to name Timothy Geithner, president of the New York Federal Reserve, as his treasury secretary to confront the nation's intense economic turmoil, senior Democratic officials said Friday.



President-elect Barack Obama, with money in hand, looks to pay for his order during a visit to Manny's Deli in Chicago, Friday, Nov. 21, 2008. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)AP - While President-elect Barack Obama publicly sidelined himself during congressional debate over an auto industry bailout this week, he and his top aides quietly prodded congressional leaders to find a solution to rescue struggling automakers.



Nebraska lawmakers Tom Carlson, left, of Holdrege, Lowen Kruse of Omaha, John Wightman of Lexington, and Norm Wallman of Cortland visit briefly Friday, Nov. 21, 2008, on the floor of the legislature just before the final vote of LB1, which puts a 30-day age limit on children who can be dropped off at Nebraska hospitals under the safe haven law. The bill easily passed 43-5. (AP Photo/Bill Wolf)AP - Gov. Dave Heineman signed into law Friday a bill adding a 30-day age limit to a safe-haven law that allowed 35 children — including teenagers as old as 17 — to be abandoned at state hospitals. The law, approved hours earlier by the Legislature in a 45-3 vote, goes into effect Saturday, and makes Nebraska the 14th state with a 30-day age cap. It had been the only state with a safe-haven law without an age limit.



Joerg Schoenbohm, Brandeburg state Interior Minister and current chairman of the German Interior Ministers Conference, center, opens the final day of the ministers meeting in Potsdam, Germany, on Friday, Nov. 21, 2008. At left is German Federal Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble. German security officials said Friday they will drop their attempt to pursue a ban of the Church of Scientology after finding insufficient evidence of unconstitutional activity.  (AP Photo/Bernd Settnik Pool)AP - Germany is dropping its pursuit of a ban on Scientology after finding insufficient evidence of illegal activity, security officials said Friday.



Canadian Minister of National Defense Peter MacKay, center, shakes hands with his Australian counterpart Joel Fitzgibbon, as U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates walks past at the conclusion of a news conference on Friday Nov. 21, 2008, in Cornwallis, Nova Scotia, Canada. The three are taking part in discussions of International Security Assistance Force's (ISAF) Regional Command South, which is comprised of forces from Canada, Australia, Denmark, Estonia, Netherlands, Romania, United Kingdom, and the United States. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Mike Dembeck)AP - Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Friday he would like to add significant U.S. forces to the war in Afghanistan before national elections scheduled for next year, and that grim depictions of backsliding in the seven-year-old war are "far too pessimistic."



AP - A college student committed suicide by taking a drug overdose in front of a live webcam as some computer users egged him on, others tried to talk him out of it, and another messaged OMG in horror when it became clear it was no joke. Some watchers contacted the Web site to notify police, but by the time officers entered Abraham Biggs' home — a scene also captured on the Internet — it was too late.

AP - The Nebraska Supreme Court on Friday ordered a year-old boy back into the home of an adoptive couple who had to give him up months ago after not telling the biological family the woman was pregnant.

Bulgarian archaeologists work near a Thracian bronze chariot discovered near the village of Karanovo. A bronze chariot dating back to the second century AD has been unearthed in a Thracian burial mound in southeastern Bulgaria, archaeologists said Friday.(AFP/BGNES)AP - Archaeologists have unearthed an elaborately decorated 1,800-year-old chariot sheathed in bronze at an ancient Thracian tomb in southeastern Bulgaria, the head of the excavation said Friday. "The lavishly ornamented four-wheel chariot dates back to the end of the second century A.D.," Veselin Ignatov told The Associated Press in a telephone interview from the site, near the southeastern village of Karanovo.



AP - Police have arrested a man suspected of leaving greasy, graphic imprints on the windows of stores, churches and schools in a small Nebraska town. A 35-year-old man was caught in the act by police early Wednesday morning, Cherry County Attorney Eric Scott said Friday. The man hasn't been charged yet, but authorities believe he is the vandal some townsfolk have dubbed the "Butt Bandit."

In this Nov. 12, 2008, file photo, Memphis Grizzlies' Quinton Ross defends New York Knicks Jamal Crawford (11) as he shoots a three point shot in the third quarter of an NBA basketball game in Memphis, Tenn. The Golden State Warriors traded disgruntled forward Al Harrington to the New York Knicks for guard Jamal Crawford on Friday. (AP Photo/Nikki Boertman, File)AP - The New York Knicks traded Zach Randolph and Jamal Crawford in separate deals Friday, parting with their two top scorers to free up coveted salary-cap space for the summer of 2010. Crawford was sent to Golden State for forward Al Harrington. Hours later, Randolph was shipped to the Los Angeles Clippers along with reserve guard Mardy Collins for Cuttino Mobley and Tim Thomas.



Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke (R) nods as he listens to President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York Timothy Geithner before addressing the Economic Club of New York in this October 15, 2008 file photo. (Lucas Jackson/Files/Reuters)Reuters - President-elect Barack Obama on Friday moved toward nominating Timothy Geithner as Treasury secretary and charging the respected head of the New York Federal Reserve with helping pull the United States out of an economic nosedive.



Pedestrians walk past a Citibank branch in Singapore November 18, 2008. (Vivek Prakash/Reuters)Reuters - Citigroup Inc has begun talks with the U.S. government as its plummeting share price raises doubts about the bank's ability to survive, a person familiar with the matter said.



Leaders of the U.S. automotive industry testify at a hearing held by the House Financial Services Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington November 19, 2008. From left are General Motors CEO Richard Wagoner, Chrysler Chairman and CEO Robert Nardelli and Ford president and CEO Alan Mulally. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)Reuters - Detroit automakers began work on turnaround plans demanded by Congress in return for $25 billion in aid as General Motors Corp said it would cut production more and give up two of its controversial corporate jets.



Traders work in close quarters on the main trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange early in the trading session in New York City, November 21, 2008. (Mike Segar/Reuters)Reuters - U.S. stocks stormed higher in a late rally on Friday to cap another volatile week as investors welcomed reports that President-elect Barack Obama has chosen his point person to combat the U.S. economic crisis, instilling confidence about the administration's ability to take action.



A British military vehicle drives past an Afghan man in Lashkar Gah, capital of Helmand province October 20, 2008. (Abdul Qodus/Reuters)Reuters - The Pentagon is considering a plan to send more than 20,000 troops to Afghanistan over the next 12 to 18 months to help safeguard elections and quell rising Taliban violence, officials said on Friday.



Reuters - U.S. banking regulators seized California banks Downey Savings and Loan and PFF Bank & Trust late Friday as the housing crisis claimed two more victims from the financial crisis.

Reuters - A suspected U.S. drone aircraft fired a missile in the North Waziristan tribal region of Pakistan killing at least four people, according to Pakistani intelligence officials.

President Bush walks across the South Lawn to board Marine One at the White House, November 21, 2008. (Jim Young/Reuters)Reuters - U.S. President George W. Bush held talks on ending North Korea's nuclear program with Chinese leader Hu Jintao on Friday, the first in a series of meetings U.S. officials hope will lead to a renewal of six-party talks by early December.



An everything-must-go sign in Coral Gables, Florida. The economic team of US president-elect Barack Obama came into view as fears mounted on the global financial crisis and more mass job cuts loomed worldwide(AFP/Getty Images/Joe Raedle)AFP - The economic team of US president-elect Barack Obama came into view as fears mounted on the global financial crisis and more mass job cuts loomed worldwide.



Peruvian President Alan Garcia delivers a speech during the opening of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) CEO Summit in Lima. Leaders of the 21-member APEC group are to seek ways of turning back the world economic crisis as they gather in Lima amid unrelenting bad news from the Asia-Pacific region.(AFP/Presidencia)AFP - US President George W. Bush began Friday his last scheduled foreign trip, meeting the leader of increasingly important China ahead of a summit aimed at containing a spiraling financial crisis.




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