A lighting consultant or interior decorator has much better skills and the ability to determine your lighting needs than someone in the building trades.  From the interior designer’s perspective, there are essentially two types of lighting:  natural and artificial.  Both have their place in our homes and both serve different functions.  If you have well-placed windows, then you can probably take advantage of some of the natural lighting features available to you.  You may have had your home custom designed and built.  In this case, lighting was probably addressed.

No matter what type of home you have or when it was built, you will needing artificial light at night for obvious reasons.  Again, depending upon what types of lighting needs you have, appropriate fixtures or choices can be suggested to you.  You don’t necessarily need a pro to help you determine this.  You can use your own best judgment as to what type of lighting you are looking for.  For example, do you need lighting that will illuminate an entire space or do you have more task lighting in mind?  The likely answer is that you need both types at different times.  For general lighting needs, you can use recessed lighting to give you an unobtrusive type of ‘flood’ lighting.  These can be used on dimmer switches to provide even more of an ability to regulate the brightness in your space.

If you have more of a path or spot lighting in mind, then consider the various wall lighting styles.  You might find that some decorative wall sconces give you the type of light you need.  Often, a wall sconce will provide a nice piece of warm lighting that can help your hall or space feel more intimate.  There is just something about a nice amber color or warming color illuminating a space.