Help with Master Bedroom Lighting

last year

Hi All,

We are struggling with what to do for lighting in our master bedroom. It's a unique design, with a wooden sloped ceiling that extends down into the ground floor. The wooden ceiling (tongue and groove) means recessed lighting isn't possible for structural reasons. The two options we're between are a series of track lighting on the wooden beams or putting wall lights/sconces throughout the room on the other walls, or whatever anyone else on here suggests.

We are planning to move the bed to the opposite side of the room where the table currently is, and with whatever lighting plan we are going to install small reading sconces on each side of the bed. We are going to get a new fan with a light, but we know that alone will not provide enough light for the room. There is no electrical source for light in the room aside from a box above the fan. Previous owners used floor lamps, which we're not interested in doing. What do people recommend?

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PRO

Beth H. :

last year

last modified: last year

You could get an eletrician to come out and hardwire some sconces piggy backing from the wall outlets.

Or you could do plug in sconces over some nightstands.

You could also do some table lamps.

there are better looking ceiling fans w/light attatchments. make sure you get the proper canopy (you want one for a slanted ceiling),

proper blade lengths (too short and there is no cooling) and proper height. too high and you get nothing.

How much light do you actually need in here?

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Comments (10)

wdccruise
last year
last modified: last year
This bedroom isn't the same but could be used for inspiration:
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- A headboard
- Bedside tables onto which you could place table lamps OR use wall sconces that would provide more light than reading lights (example 1, example 2). Here's a cool lamp that combines a wall sconce with a reading light.
- Track lights on the inside -- not the bottom -- of the beam on the left-hand side of your photo whose track heads would shine into the bedroom, not onto the floor below.
- An LED strip light in a narrow channel (example) mounted to the underside of the wooden railing that and run the entire length of the room. You could even get an white/RGB strip (example) so you could change the color (and brightness) with your mood!
apple_pie_order
last year
Do you need lighting around the perimeter or overhead lighting just in the center? Do you want to dramatically illuminate the ceiling? Or need good lighting for vacuuming and putting away laundry?
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3onthetree
last year
Keep in mind that typically you do not want to light the bed directly overhead. Also a ceiling fan light is not optimal. Without knowing your goals, I can think of a few options for general ambient lighting:

- fixtures mounted above the beam, washing the ceiling upwards (doesn't account for the ceiling from downstairs)

- a cove between beams at the ridge which washes the wall with downlighting

- flush mount cylinder downlight fixures placed between beams. Raceway conduit, painted and running along the beams, would not be as obtrusive as it seems.
kandrewspa
last year
Lighting from the ceiling in high-ceilinged rooms isn't terribly useful. I think you'll find you will use lamps on beside tables much more. Bedrooms don't usually need a lot of bright light. You have a nice window. Is the lack of lighting currently bothering you at night or at other times?
B. Zack thanked kandrewspa
B. Zack
Original Author
last year
@kandrewspa, yeah so right now in the mid afternoon (like 4-5 pm), the sun faces east while the bedroom faces west, which makes the room dark by then. The room is also very large, so it the amount of light we have right now isn't enough either in the mid afternoon or at night.

We are thinking of putting a sconce (https://www.westelm.com/products/warren-sconce-h12163/?cm_src=sconces) right next to the bed on each side because there is limited space between the bathroom and the closet where the bed will go. Of course we will have small bedside table.

We are thinking maybe mounting some wall lights (based on this inspiration, https://i.pinimg.com/564x/c3/88/d3/c388d314fb4df75c3154539fb7308ccb.jpg) will work. What do you think?
kandrewspa
last year
I like the idea of the sconces in the picture you posted. They won't give you a spotlight effect. If you need the fan, just update it and hang it lower than the one you have now - about 8 feet above the floor. While some people don't like how they look, they are so practical and allow you to run the A/C less, so make room for it in your plan if you would use it.
wdccruise
last year
"We are thinking maybe mounting some wall lights (based on this inspiration) will work."

The problem with fixtures mounted high on the wall is that light would spill over into the room below. Is that to be avoided?

Here are fan location recommendations.

Fan lights are pretty miserable (I have two). I wouldn't buy them again, just making sure that any lights near or above a fan don't shine through the blades.
B. Zack
Original Author
last year
Hey all, we went to a lighting store and the associate there gave us a ton of great ideas, . Just to give an update, what we will be doing is buying a fan with light, adding a single sconce with top and bottom light at a location high enough to enhance the look of the ceiling (higher portion of where we will be moving the bed), two sconces with wood for reading lights. Everything with dimmers.

Thanks everyone for their help!
PRO
Urbanology Designs
last year
Can you flip the bed to the wall with the dresser, and then try placing the dresser where the bed was. You can easily get two nightstands and put lamps on it, or add sconces on either side of the bed, once the bed is moved.
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