Recessed Lights

[Anonymous]

We are In the process of building our home. Builder is asking us about recessed lights. The standard ones are foyer, hallways, kitchen.

DH wants recessed lights everywhere (all rooms upstairs as well as living/dining - 4 per room). I, otoh, have a more euro style feel where I’m not a huge fan of all those recessed lights and instead, favor a nice light fixture in the middle of the ceiling for each room. My DH favors more light than not.

What say you, DCUM?

We can come up with a compromise, but what is 1) aesthetically more pleasing, 2) would still look nice/relevant 10-15 years from now?, 3) has best value?

[Anonymous]

I’m with your DH; I like lots of light. DH says our kitchen ceiling looks like airport runway . I put both types of lights in most rooms. Center light fixture and recessed lights around it.

[Anonymous]

I don't like recessed lights in bedrooms, but definitely the family room (dimmer obviously), basement rec room, and bathrooms (this is a must unless its just a small powder room IMO). Y

[Anonymous]

I love recessed lighting in the kitchen, mudroom, office, bathrooms (along with other bath lighting), and dark hallways. We used 4" cans w/led lights and silver baffles and they look great, much better than 6". Not sure if I would want them in the bedrooms? Although I'm not a fan of the center ceiling light in bedrooms, either - I'd rather have table lamps set to a switch.

Dimmers on everything!

[Anonymous]

You don't need dimmers anymore. Dimming and color temperature, which is just as important, is all fully customizable with smart lighting. I took all my dimmer switches out as they are antiquated and cause more problems than they solve for LEDs. I don't even really use switches in my house at all.

As for recessed lights, there are never enough. I prefer six inch only because there are more trims and I like a more diffuse light and greater lamp options. I also prefer less furniture and that means I want fewer lamps/pedestals/chandeliers etc. I'm at about a 50% mix between recessed and lamps in most rooms which is a good balance. I'm not much of a fan of hanging fixtures because the cut into the ceiling height and the cleanness of the space, but that is just me.

In my house of 2,100 square feet, I have about 60 recessed lights including bathrooms.

[Anonymous]

My house has a ton of dimmable recessed lights and I find the light to be harsh. If I were building a home from scratch I would do center fixtures, sconces, and chandeliers as much as possible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My house has a ton of dimmable recessed lights and I find the light to be harsh. If I were building a home from scratch I would do center fixtures, sconces, and chandeliers as much as possible.

Buy different bulbs or trims.

[Anonymous]

I think it’s overkill to have them in every room. But where they make sense depends on your house and taste. I think they look weird if they are everywhere. Have to change it up with light fixtures. And it’s ok to also have lamps!!

[Anonymous]

It depends on the room size. For smaller rooms one overhead and some sconces is plenty. In large rooms, its a good idea. Its easier to put them in now vs. later. Get the 4 inch as they look better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You don't need dimmers anymore. Dimming and color temperature, which is just as important, is all fully customizable with smart lighting. I took all my dimmer switches out as they are antiquated and cause more problems than they solve for LEDs. I don't even really use switches in my house at all.

As for recessed lights, there are never enough. I prefer six inch only because there are more trims and I like a more diffuse light and greater lamp options. I also prefer less furniture and that means I want fewer lamps/pedestals/chandeliers etc. I'm at about a 50% mix between recessed and lamps in most rooms which is a good balance. I'm not much of a fan of hanging fixtures because the cut into the ceiling height and the cleanness of the space, but that is just me.

In my house of 2,100 square feet, I have about 60 recessed lights including bathrooms.

It isn’t realistic for the average person to replace all their lights with smart bulbs and then use their phones or voices to control everything instead of a switch. You still need both - use Lutron Caseta switches and then you have the best of both worlds. If you buy the correct color temperature bulbs or fixtures, you don’t need them to be color changing (which are way more expensive anyway).

Back to the OP’s question, put in more recessed than you think you may need. Do both in the bedrooms - center light (maybe on a ceiling fan) and recessed.

[Anonymous]

I’m with you. I hate harsh overhead light. Even if you put them on a dimmer it won’t be truly gentle like chandeliers, sconces and lamps. That’s good for some places like the kitchen or bathroom but I hate it in a living room

[Anonymous]

We did both in several rooms - recessed lighting and a center light. You can pick what lights you want to use depending on the situation.

I think the center lights alone can be very shadowy and plenty of situations you want better light.

[Anonymous]

I have no idea what harsh light is. Are the photons sharper or something? I have sconces and find them mostly useless.

Anyway, put as many recessed in as you can now, don't cheap out when you have the opportunity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You don't need dimmers anymore. Dimming and color temperature, which is just as important, is all fully customizable with smart lighting. I took all my dimmer switches out as they are antiquated and cause more problems than they solve for LEDs. I don't even really use switches in my house at all.

As for recessed lights, there are never enough. I prefer six inch only because there are more trims and I like a more diffuse light and greater lamp options. I also prefer less furniture and that means I want fewer lamps/pedestals/chandeliers etc. I'm at about a 50% mix between recessed and lamps in most rooms which is a good balance. I'm not much of a fan of hanging fixtures because the cut into the ceiling height and the cleanness of the space, but that is just me.

In my house of 2,100 square feet, I have about 60 recessed lights including bathrooms.

It isn’t realistic for the average person to replace all their lights with smart bulbs and then use their phones or voices to control everything instead of a switch. You still need both - use Lutron Caseta switches and then you have the best of both worlds. If you buy the correct color temperature bulbs or fixtures, you don’t need them to be color changing (which are way more expensive anyway).

Back to the OP’s question, put in more recessed than you think you may need. Do both in the bedrooms - center light (maybe on a ceiling fan) and recessed.

We just built a multi million dollar and did not do any of the smart stuff, we have dimmers. We have some automation and smart products in our beach house and never use them so didn’t see a reason to spend money on them for our main residence. Just not our thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We did both in several rooms - recessed lighting and a center light. You can pick what lights you want to use depending on the situation.

I think the center lights alone can be very shadowy and plenty of situations you want better light.

This. I also have both in every room and use different combinations for different needs. Why not have the option?