Anyone who has seen a theatre performance with striking lighting design, or visited a space lit along the same lines, will have experienced the sense of calm and relaxation that such a setting creates.
Creating a similar setting in our own home would certainly call for a lighting designer to achieve the result ideally.
But if we have the appetite, the imagination and the desire to “play with our space”, we can achieve a pleasing result at low cost and with the right tools, one that will become our own personal “touch”.
An ideal tool, used everywhere from theatres to concert venues, is the so-called PAR luminaire.
The PAR (parabolic aluminized reflector) is a luminaire named after the type of lamp it takes (halogen). In recent years it has been gradually replaced by the LED PAR CAN, which is the same luminaire fitted with LEDs.
PAR lamp lighting is characterised by intense oval beams with a soft, unfocused edge when projected.
The table below shows the dimensions of PAR luminaires in relation to the wattage of the lamps they take:
The approach we should “follow” when designing the lighting of a space is to focus beams on the various points we want to highlight in our surroundings.
By accentuating these points, the rest of the space is lit only faintly by reflections, creating a relaxing setting and a romantic atmosphere.
Care is needed with the places where we sit, so that the sources (lamps) do not cause glare.
A PAR has a neutral, industrial style and comes in two colours. This means we can fit it even to existing ceiling outlets without harming the look of our space.
Another solution is to mount it on a base like a floor stand (a simple camera tripod), and if we can hide it somewhere in the room, the effect will be even more striking.
By fitting coloured gels or filters into its dedicated slots, we can combine colours to create our own perfect theatre set.
To carry out our “design”, it is best to call in an electrician and ask them at the same time to replace our standard switches with dimmers, so that we can give our scenes the intensity we want!
We can do the same if we use the PAR as a floor stand, by attaching a cable with a dimmer.
The cost of a PAR starts from €7, depending on whether it includes a transformer, the type of lamp it takes and, consequently, its size. This allows us to create beautiful scenes at very low cost…
