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:: Highlighting Rugs and Carpets

Good lighting will bring out the colour of the threads, and can make a carpet look luxurious and welcoming. Poor lighting will create shadows and can make an expensive carpet look cheap and dull.

Effective lighting helps show off a carpet’s best features. Carpets need to be lit differently if they are on a floor or hanging on a wall. Following are some pointers to give you maximum advantage.

Lighting carpets on the floor

Most homes do not have ceilings higher than three metres, and you can use standard 50W low voltage downlighters. Ideally choose downlighters with a tilt, so that the pool of light will fall exactly where you want it to.

Downlighters have excellent colour rendering properties and offer an even spread of light across an area. Low voltage downlighters require a transformer, which makes their installation more expensive; however their benefits far outweigh mains voltage downlighters:

• They offer up to three times more light output.

• They give a better quality light i.e. the colour of the source is truer.

• They are various beams available, with angle ranging between 24° and 60°

• There are a wide variety of fittings and lamps available – you can change the colour, output, and beam angle/intensity.

• The running cost of low voltage downlighters will be recovered within a year, compared to that of mains voltage.

Remember that dark carpets tend to show up the dirt more easily, when they are being illuminated.

Lighting carpets on the wall

It is best to light a hanging carpet from two sides, rather than a single point as this will counteract shadows. Remember that the thicker the pile, the more apparent the shadows.

Remember to focus the light onto the rug only – don’t wash the surrounding wall with light, or you will remove attention from the centre of attraction.