It may sound straight forward but is it? There are ceiling lights, wall lights, light boxes, light tunnels, strip lights and … you get my gist! Then… you have to consider the power each unit may use.  Remember we will not have mains electricity so usage will be quite crucial when we move into our cave. We will be dependant on systems such as solar, wind and/or generator.

As I look at the various options for lighting, I am tending to move away from ceiling lights and wall lights. In Cyprus we live in a large villa/house. Yes it has windows all around and yes it is not a cave, but when night falls, it gets dark. When we need light we use table lamps and floor lights. We very rarely use ceiling lights except for the kitchen, bathrooms and halls. This may be because that is the only source of light in these rooms!

This got me thinking. Can we live without ceiling lights? As I am not a lover of standard wall lights, I may extend that to, can we live without ceiling lights and wall lights?

After searching through the web and looking at Pinterest I have concluded, (for now anyway but I am happy to consider your thoughts too), that we can do without these types of light fittings in most (if not all) areas of the cave.

The modern variations of floor and strip lights on the market are unbelievable. My plan is to try and make a feature of the lighting in each room.  Funds permitting.

I love these particular examples.  We will have small corridors within the cave which would be ideal for strip lights as shown in the first picture.  I would also like to use the strip concept in the bedroom as shown in the second picture.  How good would it be to have the base of the beds, which are to be built in to the room, having strip lightening at the base. That would look amazing.  As you can see in picture three, lighting can also be art.  Just up my street!  The final picture is lovely or the bathroom.  A circular mirror surrounded by light but I do concede that another source of light would be needed especially in a cave bathroom.

Then you have floor and table lighting.  The sky is the limit, (especially if you have the budget which sadly I will have to limit quite a bit).

Did I say that I did not want ceiling lights in the cave?  Well, I did say I may have to reconsider and that I may just do.  Look what I have found.  I just love them.

The next consideration is what kind of bulb should be used? Again after research I am leaning towards LED lighting. They are cheap to run, use little electricity, last 2/3 times longer than most other bulbs and do not get hot.

Talking to the architect, he is looking at designing a light tunnel – not sure until I see the drawings – but it is worth consideration at least.  My only concern would be leaks and heat.  We have had many problems with leaks over the years so we are trying to avoid anything that may cause us problems in the future and… one of the positives of buying a cave is that they keep cool in the heat of the summer.  Not sure if these are valid reasons for not having a light tunnel so need to do my research.

If you have any other ideas, suggestions or have a favourite light fitting you would like to share with me, please do.  I need help!

Please follow my blog so that you will get notifications of my postings.  Thank you.  Sue