Light up a dark room with suspended ceiling lighting fixtures.
A suspended ceiling is a ceiling facade designed to hide the actual ceiling. It is a frame supporting ceiling pieces placed beneath the actual ceiling in a room. This type of ceiling is also called a drop ceiling or false ceiling and is most often seen in schools or offices. A suspended ceiling hides cords easily, leaving many options for interior lighting designs.
Fluorescent Lighting Fixtures
Standard fluorescent fixtures can give off a harsh light.
Standard fluorescent with plastic covers are quickly and easily installed into most drop ceiling panels. This type of lighting is often considered harsh and unattractive, but it is a good choice for drop ceilings in stout buildings where space for fixtures and budget is limited.
Light Panels
Recessed light panels can give light to a room without crowding its headspace.
The old standard for adding lighting to a suspended ceiling, many companies make light panel accessories designed for easy installation into a suspended ceiling panel. These familiar panels feature a frosted plastic cover over a fluorescent panel embedded in the ceiling frame. Installing standard light panels is the easiest, and often the cheapest, method for quick lighting in a drop ceiling, but it not a good choice for lighting in rooms designed for flair or personality.
Decorative Light Panels
Though somewhat higher in price than standard light panels, decorative light panels install almost as quickly while avoiding the institutional office look given off by standard light panel fixtures. On higher drop ceilings, consider panel covers that hang or separate from the ceiling itself.
Wall Sconce Lighting
Wall sconces are decorative and helpful in lighting a small room.
Wall sconces are lighting fixtures hung on a wall. When they are designed to project light upward toward the ceiling or parallel along the walls, they are an effective source of lighting in a room with a suspended ceiling. This type of lighting is better for small rooms; large rooms may need supplemental ceiling lighting to light the areas away from the wall sconces.
Balance Lighting Colors
Most light bulbs on the market give off a certain hue. Whether the lights lean toward the blue or yellow end of the spectrum, if only one type of light is used, the room may glow an uncomfortable version of that hue. To balance yellow lighting, add cool bulbs that look slightly bluish. For lighting that is too blue or harsh, add some soft lighting bulbs with a warm or yellowish tone.
Tags: suspended ceiling, light panels, drop ceiling, lighting fixtures, standard light, This type, actual ceiling