The importance of lighting in children's development and well-being

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What type of lighting for a child's room?

In a child's room, careful attention to layout and decoration helps create a pleasant and warm environment. But have you thought about lighting? Indeed, it can make all the difference and help to create an environment suited to the child's well-being and development. From natural to artificial lighting, there are some good practices to know and very easy to implement when setting up a child's room.

What are the connections between light and child well-being?

We now know that light plays a major role in everyone's well-being. Sunlight, for example, helps to boost vitamin D levels, regulate sleep, improve mood, etc. As for artificial light, it also helps create a pleasant atmosphere at home, as well as promote concentration or, conversely, rest.

Just as we take care with lighting in our living space, it's also important to pay attention to it in a child's room. Indeed, certain choices can make all the difference in promoting the child's well-being and development.

Make room for natural light

First and foremost, we need to consider the space given to natural light. It's therefore obvious that your child's room should have at least a window that's large enough and/or well-positioned to let in light properly. If this first criterion isn't met, you might need to consider renovations to ensure the room isn't too dark, especially in winter when days are shorter.

The window should of course be cleaned regularly to maximize light transmission and shouldn't be blocked. Therefore, choosing curtains will be crucial. If you want to install blackout curtains for nap times and evenings, make sure to keep them open during the day and that they don't obstruct the windows too much. Some attachment systems allow you to pull them well away from the windows. If you want to protect your child from potential overlooking, make sure to choose light, clear sheers that will still allow outside light to pass through.

Obviously avoid any objects or furniture that would be placed in front of the window.

Choose furniture that allows light to circulate

Beyond window treatment, it's also the overall room decoration that will help make it a bright space. Indeed, some furniture pieces are more suitable than others to create an airy space that will let natural light through.

In a small room, you might opt for a wooden loft bed. A loft bed is a bed positioned at height and accessible via a small ladder. You can choose a classic children's loft bed, or a loft bed with desk which includes an integrated desk like our BONDI 90x190 loft bed with its combination of white and wood. With a 90x190 loft bed, you avoid overcrowding the space while providing comfortable sleeping arrangements for your child. Beyond the children's loft bed, it's all the room's furniture that needs to be chosen with this in mind.

Therefore, avoid combining your single loft bed with furniture that's too massive and dark in color. Prefer simple furniture in light colors, so light can freely circulate and reflect off them. Also avoid accumulating too much furniture and objects that will only clutter and darken the space. The goal is to create a child's room that is both stimulating and soothing.

Focus on suitable lighting for a bedroom

Finally comes the time to create the desired ambiance through artificial lighting in the room, meaning all the light sources you might want to install in your child's room.

Main lighting

The main lighting is most often a pendant light that sits in the middle of the room's ceiling. It's important that this provides sufficient lighting as soon as you enter the room. For this type of lighting, an 800 lumens bulb is usually recommended. To keep the atmosphere pleasant, opt for warm lighting (you'll discover on bulb packaging that different warmth levels are possible for white light).

For the pendant light, choose something that matches the room's atmosphere. If you want to dim the lighting a bit, opt for a more covering pendant like a paper or fabric sphere for example. This type of pendant helps avoid glare when looking in its direction. You can also choose something openwork in natural woven material for example, for an even cosier effect that will even create pretty patterns on the walls.

Additional lighting

Once you've chosen your main lighting, you can add accent lighting. You might particularly consider a bedside lamp with softer lighting using a 400 lumens bulb for example. This light source will be perfect for reading bedtime stories in an atmosphere conducive to rest.

If your child has a desk, don't forget to add a desk lamp that will allow them to read without strain to concentrate properly on their homework, but also for reading, drawing, etc.

Finally, for younger children who have trouble sleeping, a coloured night light can be a good way to avoid complete darkness and create a more relaxing atmosphere by choosing blue for example.

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