How to illuminate a hallway. Discover Karman's ideas and advice for combining functionality and aesthetics when illuminating passage areas.
In a lighting design project, hallway lighting could be considered secondary, as it is a passage area.
However, if you ignore this area, you would be making a serious mistake. The hallway, in fact, acts as a connection between the sleeping area and the living area inside a private home and between the different areas of the hotel in the case of a contract context.
For this reason, it is necessary for this area to be optimally illuminated so that it can be used with ease at any time of the day. Furthermore, in the case of accommodation facilities, maximum safety must be guaranteed.
Illuminating a hallway is, therefore, an important step to improve both the appearance (opting for lighting fixtures and decorating the environments) and the functionality of this area of the house or hotel.
Task lighting is a watchword when it comes to designing the hallway lighting system. However, the choice of lights and their positioning will depend on the characteristics of the hallway itself.
Therefore, in addition to the type of location and the overall mood, it is essential to carefully evaluate the dimensions and height of passage areas.
In this article, we will analyze how to illuminate a hallway effectively based on the different types of corridors, providing useful advice and proposals for decorative lamps that you can take inspiration from. In particular, we will take a look at:
- How to illuminate a hallway correctly
- How to illuminate a high and long hallway
- The total white of Déjà-Vu
- Mek: the industrial style suspension
- Nando: the perfect combination of technical and sophisticated
- Filomena: refined geometries
- How to illuminate a narrow and short hallway
- Alì e Baba: a hallway from “One Thousand Nights"
- Cell: the magic of Chinese lanterns to illuminate the hallway
- How to illuminate a dark corridor
- Marnín: dresses a dark hallway with magic
- Ti . Vedo: the light that looks at you
- Stant: modular structures for maximum expressive freedom
- How to illuminate a hallway? Factors to consider
How to illuminate a hallway correctly
To illuminate a hallway correctly there are essential aspects such as efficiency and high technical value, which must characterize each solution. However, the stylistic component must not be overlooked.
The right lamps will fill the hallway with essential light points and, at the same time, will provide a touch of distinctive and personal style to the entire area.
Therefore, the goal of a successful lighting design project is to find the perfect balance between decorative lighting and technical lighting.
As lighting professionals know, light has the power to influence our perception of spaces, and changes our sense of orientation in the environment.Therefore, choosing lamps that are not suitable for the hallway could take away from the functionality of this important transit area.
For this reason, it is advisable to pay the right attention to the extension and height of the hallway, to select the most suitable type of interior design lighting for this environment.
Let's take a look at how to illuminate a hallway based on its specific characteristics.
How to illuminate a high and long hallway
Lighting a tall, long hallway can be a challenge, but with the right lighting, it is possible to create a welcoming and functional environment.
A hallway with these characteristics requires light points well spaced out and distributed along the entire route, so as to ensure uniform brightness at every point.
The first thing to consider is the choice of lights. In this case, the right solution could be to use LED ceiling spotlights: they offer uniform lighting and are easily adjustable to direct them so you can illuminate the entire corridor.
An excellent alternative to illuminate the hallway and add decorative elements is to provide the installation of wall lamps. In this way, indirect and soft lighting will be created, which will help you avoid the "tunnel" effect and increase the perception of space.
Choosing wall lamps with opaque or semi-transparent diffusers will allow you to create a welcoming and intimate atmosphere. We also give you the green light for suspension lamps, given that the ceiling height allows it. It will be necessary, however, to pay attention to the size and design, choosing the lamps appropriately.
The total white of Déjà-Vu
Déjà-Vu is a total white ceramic wall lamp with a white linen lampshade, designed by Matteo Ugolini, that offers diffused and soft light to the entire area. This is a perfect solution for lighting a tall and long hallway.
In addition to being an excellent light source, Déjà-Vu is suitable as a decorative lighting solution for the home and more. Its evocative shape, which recalls that of old chandeliers, is extremely versatile and indeed makes it perfect for providing brightness. Furthermore, the lamp in question is even able to embellish, thanks to its refined elegance, transit areas of hotels and various types of premises.
Déja-Vu
Mek: the industrial style suspension
Mek, by Stefano Bizzarri and Claudio Cinti, is a suspension lamp with a modern and refined design: three ceramic rings of different diameters make up the body, a silhouette with the perfect combination of refined materiality and industrial taste. The lamp is available in three different versions: white, black, or white and bronze.
Mek is a design solution that is one of the most aesthetically pleasing industrial style suspension lamps. Furthermore, the lamp can be used to decorate the large spaces of the ceilings and illuminate the highest and most extensive hallways in a diffused and uniform way.
Mek
Nando: the perfect combination of technical and sophisticated
Nando is an industrial style wall lamp, created by Italian artists Luca De Bona and Dario De Meo, consisting of a metal joint and a micro-perforated tube.
It is a lamp with a simple but captivating design, the final homage to Ferdinando Innocenti, capable of giving a note of style to the environment. Nando is available in three different colors: you can choose between gold, black, or white.
The Nando suspension lamp can reveal itself as the perfect solution for illuminating a high and long hallway. It guarantees directional and intense light towards every area of the hallway, confirming itself as an excellent source of task lighting.
Nando
Filomena: refined geometries
Designed by Italian designer Matteo Ugolini, Filomena is a suspension lamp made up of a small full cone hanging from a matte black aluminum structure.
Two diffused light cone bodies can also be placed on the cable: a smaller one which directs the beam downwards, and the other (larger) which goes upwards. The two cone-shaped bodies can be spaced out as desired depending on the customer's tastes and needs. They can also be attached to the ceiling or wall with special black aluminum diverters.
Filomena represents an innovative and contemporary idea for illuminating a corridor in an original and unconventional way.
Filomena
How to illuminate a narrow and short hallway
Illuminating a narrow and short hallway requires some attention: the brightness must be sufficient, but it must not create a visual overload effect.
In this case, choosing the right lighting is more essential than ever to create a welcoming and functional atmosphere. A narrow hallway also requires a light that illuminates it uniformly, without creating shadows.
A smart idea could be to use wall lamps with transparent diffusers that direct the light upwards and downwards. In this way, you will be able to enjoy evenly diffused lighting without creating light that is too intense.
The ideal lighting for a narrow and short hallway can be achieved through the installation of a single or few light sources. In addition to illuminating the restricted area, they will act as a reference point.
Alì e Babà: a hallway from "One Thousand Nights"
Alì e Babà is a wall lamp born from the creative mind of Matteo Ugolini. The lamp has simple and elegant lines, and is robust and delicate at the same time, with its white glazed ceramic body.
Inspired by the oriental fairy tales of "One Thousand and One Nights'', this lamp could represent the perfect solution to illuminate a short and narrow hallway. If applied to the walls in a small or big size, when turned on, it gives streams of warm light diffused along the entire area of the hallway.
When turned off, however, the Alì e Babà lamp magically becomes an original and surprising decorative element.
Alì e Babà
Cell: the magic of Chinese lanterns to illuminate the hallway
However, if the short and narrow hallway has a good height, you could also opt for a suspension lamp such as Cell.
This suspension lamp was created by the Italian designer Matteo Ugolini and is ideal for restricted passage areas.
With its sinuous and graceful shape, the lamp creates movement in the environment and the light, which passes through the linen diffuser, effectively illuminates. The white metal thread forms the body of the lamp, and the silk tassel completes the structure with a touch of class. It is a light source that manages to effectively combine functionality and style.
Cell
How to illuminate a dark hallway
It is very common to find dark, blind hallways without potential access routes for natural light, such as doors or windows, for example, in private homes, hotels, and restaurants.
In these cases, to lighten that "claustrophobic" effect which, inevitably, risks being created, some extra care is necessary.
First things first, choose the right color temperature. To illuminate a dark hallway, you should opt for intense temperature lighting sources, which act as focal points within the passage.
Another fundamental practice is to calculate how many lumens are needed for the specific passage area. The lumens indicate the quantity of light produced by the bulb and, to illuminate a dark hallway, our advice is to use bulbs with at least 400 lumens.
Of course, the exact amount of lumens will depend on the size of the hallway and the location of the lamps. In case of doubt, it is always better to opt for bulbs with a higher lumen value to ensure sufficient and uniform light.
Optimal lighting and style, if combined appropriately and effectively, will give a new look to the hallway.
Marnìn: dresses a dark hallway with magic
Created by the Italian designer Matteo Ugolini, Marnìn is an ideal wall light to give a pinch of magic to the hallway. Furthermore, the lamp can give personality to a dark passage area.
This is one of the most interesting elements from the Karman Zoo collection, and stands out among owls, fish, gorillas, and kittens.
This opaque white ceramic lamp takes on the appearance of a baby deer, complete with antlers and upturned ears, peeping out from the wall. Instead of a mouth it has a light bulb, which communicates through the language of light.
In addition to being an excellent source of direct light, Marnín leads you to a fairy-tale dimension linked to the world of childhood.
Marnìn
Ti . Vedo: the light that looks at you
Ti . Vedo, which is also part of the particular Karman Zoo collection, resembles a cute and harmless little owl perched on the wall. The owl manages to illuminate the darkest spaces with its large luminous eyes in a surprising and effective way.
In this way, the normal gesture of looking at a luminous object is reversed... Now it is the light that looks at the observer!
Ti Vedo is another lamp designed by Matteo Ugolini. Not only, therefore, can it perform the role of an excellent light source, but also serves as a pleasant and original design accessory to amaze your guests.
Ti . Vedo
Stant: modular structures for maximum expressive freedom
Designed by the Italian designer Edmondo Testaguzza, the lamp Stant is composed of a structure and spotlights in matte aluminum (available in black or white) and spheres in white satin glass.
Thanks to its shapes and technical characteristics, with the Stant collection, you can create customized compositions, creating suspensions or ceiling lights with white or black metal modules and terminals. You can add lighting fixtures (blown glass spheres and spotlights) in free quantities and arrangements to them, without using electrical power cables to offer maximum freedom of expression.
A particularly suitable solution for a dark hallway is its wall lamp version. In any case and in any way, Stant will adapt perfectly to the most contemporary and unconventional contexts.
Stant
How to illuminate a hallway. Factors to consider
Functionality and refined design are the salient features that transform a simple source of lighting in the perfect solution to give personality to every environment and, above all, to illuminate it effectively.
Hallways are no exception and, as important passage areas that connect the different areas of private homes, hotels, and restaurants, deserve the same attention reserved for other internal spaces.
As have seen, considering the dimensions, the specific characteristics of the individual environment, and the presence or absence of natural light sources is essential to develop an ad hoc project.
It is therefore essential that the lighting design project dedicated to this space guarantees maximum efficiency and ensures comfort and safety.
Light sources must be positioned in such a way as to guide passers-by and observers and correctly influence the perception of spaces. This is even more important when speaking of the decorative lighting for hotels and, more generally, for all contract contexts.
