Choosing the right foyer lighting is essential for creating a welcoming first impression to your property.
We look at the decision making process to consider for when choosing foyer lighting, from locations of lights, types of lighting, colour temperatures, brightness levels and review a real case study of ours for the 5* Taj Hotel in London.
The foyer to a building is one of the most important places but it’s also one of the least noticed.
Whether in a home or commercial property, this space often doesn’t get enough attention and can lack style and substance.
The foyer is the area of your home that you enter when you come in. It also welcomes guests. The foyer sets the tone for the rest of your home. You should put good lights there so it makes a good first impression on people who come in. Nice lighting is one way to make sure your foyer makes a positive first impression. A chandelier can be used for this purpose, but you need to put it at just the right height and size for your needs, or else it will not work well.
Interior designers have guidelines for choosing a chandelier. You want to use the right size for your foyer. It should be in the center of the space and it should also not be too big or too small.
The type and identity of a foyer in a building is a reflection of the owner. For example a commercial building’s foyer should create a design statement that reflects the ethos of the business.
The goal is to create lighting that sets the right first impression, welcomes guests and balances eye-catching design elements with harmony and functionality. We suggest that foyer lighting is striking yet thoughtful.
Here are some key considerations:
As lighting designers we were approached to design and supply the lighting for the entrance foyer to the suites and residencies within the 5* Taj Hotel’s premier location on 51 Buckingham Gate in London – just a few minutes walk from Buckingham Palace.
Our design decisions were based upon establishing a sense of establishment and history, to choose sophisticated lighting fixtures that supported the classic style yet gave the guest a visual message that the building and owners are modern and contemporary.
Looking at the example of this foyer, we choose a focal point of a hanging chandelier located centrally to the fireplace at the rear of the space.
Symmetry was easily built in by mirroring floor lights either side of the fireplace, to visually you are led through the space towards a pleasing balance of light and lighting fixture.
Wall lighting and table lighting was chosen to flank each side of the foyer, again creating a symmetry with a gentle 500 lumen brightness that supported the feeling of calm.
The style of light fixture was classicly modern, not too traditional in aesthetic, not too contemporary. Perfect to match the ethos of the hotel operator that ran the building.
A motion of travel through the foyer to bring a guest through the space and into the building, was supported with a hidden LED strip within the picture rail, creating a subtle uplight and line of white light that directed you visually into the space.
Here are the different components that need to be considered when choosing foyer lighting, whether its size, illumination or the height above the floor.
For interior designers, there is a rule of thumb that tells them how to measure the size of a chandelier. Measure the length and width of the room (in feet). Then convert that to inches. The number you get is what size your chandelier should be. For example, if your room is 10 by 10 feet, then you need to use a 20-inch-diameter light fixture so it will look good. This rule will help you make a chandelier. You need to do it in some rooms to make it look right. In rooms with high ceilings, the chandelier should be 2-3 inches bigger, and in rooms with two stories, the chandelier should be smaller.
The height of the room also plays into the recommended height of the chandelier fixture itself. The rule of thumb for designers is that the hanging light should have 2 to 3 inches of height for every foot in ceiling height. For example, if your room has 10 feet high ceilings, then your chandelier should be 20-30 inches tall. If you have 16 feet high ceilings (two stories), then a large chandelier can be 32-48 inches tall.
For designers, the rule is that the bottom of a hanging fixture should be no closer than 7 feet to the floor. If you have a ceiling that is 8 feet high, then your fixture can be small. But if your ceiling is higher than this, then your chandelier needs to be raised up so it’s not closer than 7 feet 6 inches from the floor. Where the foyer is two stories high, the design standard is to put the bottom of a chandelier at about 8 feet from the ground.
A light fixture can offer many different levels of illumination. Light experts say that the wattage of the fixture should be 1.5 times the length and width of your room to give off enough light. For example, if your room is 10 feet by 10 feet, then the required wattage for your light would be about 150 watts.
Chandeliers are an elegant way to dress up your entryway. There are many styles of chandeliers, including ones with crystals or candles or with drum shapes. You will want to get a chandelier that is the right size for the space you have in your entryway. If you have 75 square feet of space or more, you should look for a chandelier that has a diameter of 12″ to 18″. For smaller spaces, it is ok if the chandelier stands out as the focus point in your entryway.
Pendants work well in modern and traditional homes. They make your entryway more shiny. Pendants can be big or small. You can use many small pendants to light a long hallway-like entryway, or just one large pendant for a smaller area. To figure out how big a pendant to buy, you can use a formula for this. Add the length and width of the entryway’s dimensions and convert it from feet to inches. That will give you the size of the pendant. In this example, if your foyer is 15′ by 18′, you get 33′ after adding the two figures.
Wall sconces can be used in the entryway. They won’t take up space and they will light up the area. You can use them on either side of the door, or you might want to put one at a table in your entryway with a mirror next to it. You can also use wall sconces to lead people from the entrance room into other rooms if you have a hallway that leads out of your home. There are many styles, shapes and finishes for these lights so you should find one that matches what you have in your home. These lights also come with different types of lighting: uplighting, downlighting and multidirectional lighting .
If you have the space, add a lamp. It will add interest to the area. Floor lamps and table lamps work well in different places. Make your lamp simple but put a custom shade on it so it is not too plain. Pick lightbulbs that create the feel you want in your room because they can create different feelings. Lamps are easy to move because they are lightweight. If you want to change the entrance of your home, you can just swap out the lamps for new ones.
Ceiling lights do not have to be the same color as the other lights in your home. These are good for a hallway or entrance. You can choose from different styles, like traditional, elegant, or contemporary. Ceiling lights let you add a dynamic feel to your home and they also cast a pleasant light on things. Track lights are a good way to light up a specific area in a room. You can use them to highlight art or other things you want to show off. They don’t take up space on the ceiling, so you have more room. Track lights are good for highlighting specific areas or the art you have. All ceiling lights give a lovely glow to the room without limiting space.
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