In celebration of Valentine’s Day week, I have decided to write a witty, straight to the point, edgy article on how good lighting can get you laid. Yup! As simple as that. Because it’s true, if you impress your date with good lighting, half the battle is won!
So before we get started, a little bit of lighting 101. When you think of lighting, it should have 3 functions: Ambient, task and decorative/accent lighting.
So in a few words, ambient refers to the general lighting of a room. It radiates an even, bright and comfortable level of lighting. Task lighting helps you perform a task or activity, such as washing dishes, grooming, reading etc. It should be free of glaring and shadows. Finally, decorative or accent lighting is what you used to accentuate an object or create a visual interest, such as art pieces and a textured wall.
When it comes to creating intimacy, we want to create a sexy mood. We want to create an ambiance that will be conducive for relaxation and convey a sense of romance.
- That leads to Rule # 1: Dimmed room please! No bright lights.
It’s common sense, but there is a reasoning behind:
- We don’t want the different types of lighting overlapping and competing with one another.
- Too much lighting will cause glaring and distraction from your date. We don’t want that. We want eyes locking, stare holding.
- Pure science: It’s proven that when one of your senses is diminished, the other ones get heightened. So you sense of smell, touch, smell and hearing will be more sensitive to stimuli. Wink wink.
So we ask: what do I turn off? Well, each room has a different lighting plan, but the basic rule of thumb is to turn off the ceiling lights, which tend to be the more powerful ones in a room. And only rely on the accent and talk liking to cast a soft glow.
- Rule # 2: Gain control! Have a dimmer control at every lighting source.
Having dimmer switches allows to control exactly how much light you want, where you want, when you want. And to reiterate rule #1, if you only have ceiling lights in your living room or bedroom, then it gives you a chance to set it at the right intensity.
- Rule # 3: Sexy looking light fixtures
A sexy, curvaceous, sensual light fixture will definitely enhance the overall romantic setting of the room. Be it a sexy wall sconce or a hot light pendant dimly turned on, your date will notice it and think: wow, nice touch! And you will be scoring points my friend. But don’t turn it on at full brightness, we just want to have a little glow inside, like a firefly inside a jar.
- Rule # 4: Candle lights!
It’s been effective for centuries for a reason. It totally reinforces Rule number 1 by creating a sensual and soft glow. But it gives enough light that you can still see your date’s hot lips or piercing eyes.
RULE: Stay away from scented candles. Even though they are awesome, you never know what your date is adverse to. You don’t want to use, let’s say lavender scented candles and your date goes: “Oh it reminds me of my grandma!” or, a white musk candle and you get: “that was my ex’s scent!” womp womp. Stick to big pillar, unscented candles or tealights in votives.
Honorary mention: It’s very trendy right now to have candles inside lanterns that cast a great textured shadow on the walls. Very sexy and cool.
- Technology: Colour therapy with Phillips Hue
Flirting on the line tackiness, but kind of amazing, this was 2012 Forbes product of the year.
This is a personal wireless lighting system with LED bulbs. The package is available at the Apple store and comes with 3 bulbs that you can use wherever you want: table lamps, floor lamps, ceiling fixtures. It doesn’t come cheap with a price tag of $200, but with the touch of your finger on your Iphone or Ipad, you can control all bulbs, individually or collectively, and turn them to whatever colour you want.
Also, you can even use a photo from a memorable vacation day and recreate the lighting of that photo. You can also buy additional bulbs, it’s programmable and dimmable!
- TIP: Theo’s personal lighting idea: portable uplights.
Uplights are totatlly underestimated but are one sexy way to utilize lighting.
In the living room, have a floor lamp on dim in one corner of the room. In the opposite room, next to a wall with a large piece of Art or a tall plant, use a couple of uplights. It will either enhance that beautiful Art piece without competing with the floor lamp. Or it will cast beautiful shadows of your plant on your wall and ceiling.
And that’s a wrap! With these great guidelines, next time you bring a date home for a night cap remember how you can, thanks to good lighting, turn that night cap into breakfast ;-)
Theo Flamenbaum
Style + Function + Love + You
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