Choose your lighting...and your mood

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There have been mood rings, mood lipstick and mood bracelets, but have you tried mood lighting? It's a little different than those other mood things. You don't just stand under the light and see what color it or you turn.Instead, with a little but of skill, you can put people in the right mood -- whatever you consider that to be.Bright light is stimulating and calls up energy. It makes us feel like getting up and doing something. So, if your get up and go got up and went, bright lights might help get it back.But not always -- I tried shining a bright light in my husband's face to see if it would call forth some of this energy, but he just looked at me as if I were crazy then turned his gaze back on the television. I guess it doesn't work on everybody. If overused, bright light will become boring and fatiguing. Perhaps this is why we get tired when we shop in discount stores that have very bright lighting throughout. Working in a brightly-lit environment will create the same lethargic effect after a while.Moderately bright light is as middle-of-the-road as you can get. It is the safest, non-descript type of lighting and can create feelings of general well-being. When in doubt, make it moderate. What is moderate? Well if it is not brilliantly bright and it is not dim, it's moderate. How's that for precision?Subdued lighting has a split personality. On the one hand it is relaxing, restful and romantic. On the other hand it can be depressing, dingy or scary. Part of the reason for this is that the soft light minimizes the definition of the shadows and textural differences. Romantic? Sure. Since you can't see well in this type of lighting, you can imagine the best. Scary? That depends on your thoughts. Your mind can't tell the difference between what it imagines to be true and actual reality. Spooky thoughts = spooky shadows. Flickering light from a fireplace or candles draws attention in a positive way. It emits feelings of warmth and casts a flattering light on everything and everyone around it. Working on the same principle as subdued lighting, the flickering of fire can be as restful, romantic, melancholy, depressing or scary as you wish. It is sort of like a you-pick-'em for moods.An appropriate balance of lighting in a room is the best way to go. For example, there might be a very brilliant light directed on a piece of art. That brightness adds sparkle to the area -- particularly the art -- while the space beyond the illumination is shadowed. Flickering candles in the same room creates warmth while a dimmed chandelier brings in the subdued light with its relaxing effect.Now go put on that old mood ring and see what kind of mood the lighting in your house creates.(Rosemary Sadez Friedmann, an interior designer in Naples, Fla., is author of "Mystery of Color," available at Barnes & Noble Booksellers and Amazon.com.)