It’s All About the Light

Professional photographers obsess about optimizing the lighting in their pictures. If a photo shoot is outdoors in natural light, the amount, the shadows, and the exposure are all critical to getting great shots. Indoors, photographers use different types of flashes, or they use specific lighting for posed pictures. 

Think of your home as a photo shoot.  With the right lighting, you can set just the ambiance you want—for cooking, eating, relaxing, entertaining, sleeping or any other endeavor. But beyond making it bright or dark enough for an activity, the right lighting can highlight the aesthetic appeal of your living space. 

What’s the best way to do that?  A Control4 lighting system can set just the right scene, deftly blending light and shadow just like a professional photographer. Read on for ways to make your home look like a perfect lit composition, day or night.

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Shine a Spotlight on Art

Perhaps it’s your favorite piece of art or a family portrait.  Feature it prominently with light.  An LED track light could illuminate that prized painting or draw attention to an incredible photograph. 

If you have built-in art niches in your walls, you may have small sculptures or other pieces that are perfect to display in that space.  The right light will show it off beautifully any time of day. 

Managing these lights with a Control4 lighting control system makes it easy to set the right ambiance.  Your showcase lights can be off during the regular course of a day and in the evening can be coordinated with kitchen and dining area lights.  When entertaining, set the lights to more prominently display your favorite pieces and coordinate the lighting levels to be in concert with lights across your all living areas.  At bedtime, softly lit art niches can double as nightlights, especially in hallways. If you employ the right LED fixtures and bulbs, you can even adjust white color temperature for warmer or cooler light and add a dash of color.   

Customized Control

Most homes hold regular wall switches for lighting in places where you need them to turn local lights on and off.  With Control4 lighting systems, you can have your controls where you want them.  The keypads act like remote controls to the actual control of lights and can be mounted wherever they fit your sense of convenience and aesthetics.  Keypads can also consolidate many switches into a few customized buttons that can adjust an entire set of room lights to just the right level for any activity. 

If you have motorized shades managed by a Control4 smart home automation system, your wall keypads can also synchronize them with your lighting scene.  You can even create scenes for different seasons, as your room receives different natural light from summer to fall to winter. You’ll always have the perfect blend of natural and artificial light to showcase your interior.

Over a holiday like Christmas, you can set a specific lighting scene that shows off your decorations and tree as well.  For the utmost in convenience, your holiday lights can be timed to turn on and off automatically. 

Besides customized keypads, a Control4 system lets you manage your lighting from dedicated touchscreens and control apps on tablets and smartphones.  If you have Control4 commanding your audiovisual system, the lights can be controlled from AV remotes too.

Change A Room’s Personality

With today’s open floor plans in modern homes, rooms take on multiple roles.  Lighting can set the right ambiance for a space.  A family room may be lit to show off that art and invite conversation one evening.  When it’s time to casually watch a TV show, a different scene can be set with partially-dimmed lights.  If it’s movie night, more lights can be dimmed to ensure you have the right cinema ambiance.  If it’s a party night, the lighting scene can be set for a small gathering or a large one with the touch of a pre-programmed button. 

Outdoor Scenes

Lighting control can enhance your home’s outdoor spaces too.  If you have a spa, a scene can be programmed to light part of your patio and landscape and your spa for relaxation.  For a party, if you employ color-changing LED lights, you can get playful and creative in lighting gardens and water features. 

 

Control4 lighting control provides a palette to customize and showcase your home with perfect radiance. Visit our Control4 Certified Showroom or contact us to learn more!