Ceiling lights do the quiet work in a home. They wash a hallway so nobody trips at night, fill a bedroom with soft light before bed, and stay out of the way the rest of the time. This is where you start when a room has no lighting plan yet.
Flush or semi-flush?
The gap between your floor and ceiling decides this one.
- Flush mount sits tight against the ceiling. Use it under 8 feet, and in any spot where a head might meet a fixture.
- Semi-flush hangs down 6 to 12 inches. It suits 9-foot ceilings and up, and gives a room more presence than a plain disc.
Picking the right size
Add your room's length and width in feet. That number, read as inches, is a good fixture diameter. A 12 by 14 foot bedroom lands at roughly 26 inches. For a hallway or a small bath, drop to 12 to 16 inches.
How much light a room needs
| Room | Total lumens | Colour temperature |
|---|---|---|
| Bedroom | 1,000 – 2,000 | 2700K |
| Living room | 1,500 – 3,000 | 2700K |
| Kitchen | 3,000 – 6,000 | 3000K |
| Hallway | 500 – 1,000 | 2700K |
A note on dimmers
Put every main ceiling fixture on a dimmer. One light then covers homework at full brightness and a quiet evening at twenty percent. Check that both the fixture and the bulb are marked dimmable, and that the dimmer is rated for LED loads.
Where to go next
Lighting a whole room rarely stops at the ceiling. Add recessed downlights for even coverage, or track lighting if you want to aim light at art and shelving. Not sure what fits? Send us your room size and ceiling height and we will work it out with you.