Recessed lighting layout

8 years ago

Hi, I am looking to add recessed lighting into a living room. I would like the lighting to be a combination of regular recessed lights as gimbal lights to highlight a book case on one wall. Based on this I am having trouble selecting layout and bulb sizes.

If I was not doing gimbal lights, I proposed 6, 6" lights spaced according to the diagram attached. However, the addition of the gimbal lights does not "add" to the lighting of the room, so how do I space these gimbal lights from the rest of the lights while adequately lighting the room? Do I still keep the 6 6" lights and just add 2 gimbal lights between the Bookcase and the first set of lights?

Featured Answer

davidbenji

7 years ago

I'm an amateur so I can't say what is standard. I would think that if you have your spots too close to the bookcase than you may get some shadows you may not like. I would experiment with an extension cord and maybe even different bulbs (flood, spots with different focal widths) to find the right distance and the right bulb. If you have a tight spot then maybe closer is better to light the entire length of the narrow bookcase. I don't know what the texture of your bookcase is but if there are smooth doors covering the books, then you won't have any shadows. However, if you have textured doors or open shelves, the shadows from having the bulb less than 24" away might be distracting.

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Comments (6)

baseball007
Original Author
8 years ago
Hi any thoughts on this? Lighting size, spacing etc?
davidbenji
7 years ago
I would definitely do 6" rather than the gimble since the bookcase is really just another wall and the fixed lights will allow for uniformity of lighting throughout the room. If those last two lights are gimbled and pivoted towards the bookcase, it will be slightly darker on the floor at that end of the room. However, if there is some feature on the bookcase wall you would like to highlight such as a fireplace or artwork, I would still have the fixed light but I would add two gimbled 3" lights on a separate circuit (spots if you want to focus on smaller artwork or floods if trying to accent a fireplace.)
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baseball007
Original Author
7 years ago
So I keep the 6 6" lights and add 2 3" lights centered on the bookcase as shown. There are 2 sides to the bookcase so I will center each light on each side. What is the spacing from the bookcase to the light? There is only 38" from the bookcase to the first set of 6" lights as it is now. Is 1.5 to 2 ft too close for accenting or is this standard? I have 8 ft high ceilings.
davidbenji
7 years ago
What I would do is install the 6" lights first to see if you even need the additional spots. If after installing the the 6" lights you decide you still want the spots for either additional light or so you can just have the bookcase wall featured at times without the rest of the lights on, then I would do this experiment next. Take one of your 3" spots and wire a spare lamp cord to it which you can then plug into an extension cord. With all your other lights out, hold that spot as close to the ceiling as you can while moving it around to try to find the ideal location for the effect you want. Hope that helps. Good luck!
baseball007
Original Author
7 years ago
The reason why I'm thinking about spot lights is because the book case is actually split into two. I neglected to show this on my initial drawings; I just thought of this as I sit in the room starting to plan the layout. The 6" lights are not centered on the bookcase, not sure if this would be an eye sore? If I centered the 6" lights then the spacing between the 2 lights would be about 108" and I think it would be too much between the 2.