Selecting The Perfect Light Bulbs

Light bulbs in a dining chandelier of a Seattle, Washington interior design clients home.

Light bulbs. A few weekends ago, John + I were snuggled together on the couch watching a movie, when poof at the snap of a finger we were immediately sitting in the pitch black dark. A wind storm coming off the water had knocked out our power. 

Not wanting to wake our four year old son (we were enjoying the peace + quiet) but also not wanting to sit in the dark... we were crawling on the floor in search of lighters + candles trying not to stub a toe or make loud noises as our eyes acclimated to the darkness.

When we finally got the house all lit up with candles… it dawned on us both — just how important Thomas Edison’s invention of the light bulb actually was. 

I mean think about it for a moment, we live in a world that requires door delivery services + on demand music or movies and yet here we are taking for granted “on-demand light.” 

Though not a glamorous aspect of interior design, selecting the perfect light bulbs is actually relatively important. And there are a lot of decisions to consider around light bulbs; heck there’s SO many options + industry specific jargon that it can almost feel dare I say overwhelming to try + determine what’s the right bulb for your light fixture or room in your home. 

From lumens, wattage and color temperature to the type of light bulbs to use for each room, let’s illuminate the conversation around light bulbs! 

(And yes, I’m aware that was a very bad pun *wink*)

P.S. If you haven’t already, check out how our design team curates + selects lights for your home.


The anatomy of light bulbs hanging from a pendant in a Bellevue Washington, interior design clients home.

The Anatomy of Light Bulbs

What is really the difference between lumens, watts + color temperature? Well, let’s break it down 1-by-1.

What Are Watts?

When it comes to light bulbs, watts are simply how much energy a light bulb uses. 

If you’re alittle confused because you thought the higher the watts the brighter the light bulb, well you’re not exactly wrong.

Traditionally speaking, the higher the wattage the brighter the light bulb. However, with the popularity of LEDs, the watts of the light bulb aren’t a good indicator any longer of how bright the light bulb actually will be. 

In fact, the watts simply are the energy required to power the light.

What Are Lumens?

Lumens are simply how bright a light bulb is. 

In other words, the higher the lumens = the more light a bulb will omit and that in turn makes the room in your home brighter :) 

Told ya it was simple! But, what isn’t so straight-forward especially when it comes to open floor concepts is “knowing” exactly how many lumens you need to light up a room. 

Well, in order to do so you need to understand footcandles + then multiply the necessary footcandles by the square footage of the room. 

And we’ll dive into this deeper a lil further down the page. But first…


John + Sherri Monte of Elegant Simplicity a Seattle, Washington interior design firm standing in a clients home.

Light Bulb Types

There are several main types of light bulbs.

Incandescent Light Bulbs

It’s safe to say that you’re probably most familiar with incandescent light bulbs as they’ve been around for over a 100 years. So, not to date ourselves over here at Elegant Simplicity but the reality is many of us grew up with them. 

They’re not energy efficient, they don’t have a long lifespan + are often hot to touch. While they are being phased out for LEDs (which we’ll get to in a minute) the reality is some will still remain for quite some time. 

Light Emiting Diodes (LED)

Unlike it’s incandescent predecessors, an LED emits little to no heat (meaning its safe to touch). LEDs are versatile in color temperature, lumens + style. Not only that but an LED light bulb will last roughly 20-30x the lifespan of an incandescent light bulb. 

Compact Flourescent Light (CFL)

If you’re thinking of fluorescent lights like you have in your garage — well, you’re not far off. A CFL is known for it’s harsh light + its funky tubular + swirling shape. While a CFL is more energy efficient than an incandescent light bulb, these bulbs do contain a bit of mercury.

Light Bulb Bases

When it comes to light bulb bases, there’s specialty bases, bi prong bases + plug-in bases but the most common of all bases is the “screw in” where to properly install the light bulb you actually screw it into the light fixture. 

Regardless of type (incandescent, led or cfl), there are quite a few light bulb bases for “screw in” fixtures in your home. They are…

  • Medium or E26

  • Intermediate or E17

  • Cadelabra or E12

  • Mini Candelabra or E11

And light bulb bases aren’t all there is…

Light Bulb Color Temperature

What Does Color Temperature Mean?

The color temperature of a light is measured in Kelvins (k). 

The lower the Kelvin, the more yellow a light is. The higher the Kelvin, the brighter or more white/blue a light is.

A warm yellow tone is somewhere in a kelvin temperature of 2700-to-3000K while light that simulates daylight is along the lines of 4500-to-5000K.


Bellevue, Washington interior designers at Elegant Simplicity created a color temperature chart for each room in your home.

Color Temperatures For Each Room

There’s A LOT to grasp here but in order to make this as simple as possible here’s a quick breakdown of what color temperatures we like for each area in your home.

Rooms In Your Home With A Warm White (also known as soft white) Color Temperature

  • Living Rooms =  2700K - 3000K

  • Family Rooms = 2700K - 3000K

  • Dens = 2700K - 3000K

  • Bedrooms = 2700K - 3000K

Rooms In Your Home With A Bright White Color Temperature

  • Kitchens =  3100K - 3500K

  • Bathrooms = 3100K - 3500K

  • Offices / Homework Stations = 3100K - 3500K

  • Reading Areas = 3100K - 3500K

There are times where wall colors that are cooler in undertones require brighter color temperatures or in some instances a kitchen, bathroom or office may require a higher kelvin temperature.

Calculating The Necessary Lumens For Each Room In your Home 

Remember when I said in order to calculate the necessary lumens for each room in your home you needed to understand footcandles? Well, here you go.

What Are Footcandles?

Let’s not get too granular here but a footcandle is how bright or intense a light is — one foot away from the source. And obviously, depending upon the task: cooking, sitting in a living room, eating in a dining room — the required footcandles for adequate lighting will be different. 

Isn’t interior design fun *wink* but truth is… WE LOVE THIS STUFF! And it’s how we ensure that a room we’re designing has the right amount of light for the appropriate mood :)

Here’s a quick breakdown of how many footcandles are needed:

  • Living Room 10-20 

  • Kitchen General 30-40

  • Kitchen Stove  70-80

  • Kitchen Sink 70-80 

  • Dining Room 30-40 

  • Bedroom 10-20

  • Hallway  5-10

  • Bathroom 70-80

Determining Lumens

You’re more than likely SO glad we do this for you when we design your home BUT if you’re still interested… here’s how determining lumens breaks down.

Remember, we need to multiply square footage by the footcandles from above.

  • Living Room: 100sf x 10 footcandles =  1000 Lumens

  • Kitchen General: 100sf x 30 footcandles = 3000 Lumens

  • Kitchen Stove: 6sf x 70 footcandles = 420 Lumens

  • Kitchen Sink: 5sf x 70 footcandles = 350 Lumens

  • Dining Room: 100sf x 30 footcandles = 3000 lumens

  • Bedroom: 100sf x 10 footcandles = 1000 Lumens

  • Hallway: 50sf x 5 footcandles = 250 Lumens

  • Bathroom: 60sf x 70 footcandles = 4200 Lumens

For simplicity’s sake, we’ve kept the square footage relatively conservative but regardless whatever the square footage of the space is we know that to enjoy spending time in those spaces + to have adequate bright light this is how we determine lumens.


Alrighty boo, we know that light bulbs aren’t the sexiest topic when it comes to interior design BUT it’s still an important one to ensure each area in your home has adequate lighting + sets the appropriate mood for the space.

Don’t hesitate reaching out to our team + asking for help –– let’s chat.  

And if you absolutely loved this article about Selecting The Perfect Light Bulbs For Your Home then trust me boo, you’re going to really enjoy this FREE video course: 4 Days To A More Beautiful + Functional Home