In every consultation, the question we hear most is not about price, but: "Should I choose warm or cool light?" The wrong answer has ruined many a beautiful home.
What Kelvin is, and why 4000K ruins a living room
Colour temperature is measured in Kelvin: 2700K is as warm as an incandescent bulb, 3000K is neutral-warm, 4000K is a cool office white. Home materials — wood, leather, fabric, warm stone — are chosen to look good under warm light. Shine 4000K on walnut and it turns a pale grey; human skin under 4000K in the evening looks tired. Five-star hotels almost invariably use 2700K in rest areas — and not by chance.
IDA's quick-reference guide
Living room, bedroom, dining room: 2700K. Kitchen: 3000K — warm enough to flow with the dining room, clear enough to work. Bathroom: 3000K, with the vanity mirror light at CRI 90 or above. Home office: 3500–4000K by day if you need to stay alert, but with a scene that shifts back to warm after 7pm. Garden: 2700K or lower — warm outdoor light feels welcoming, while cool white feels like factory security lighting.
The simplest rule: the closer to where people rest, the warmer the light should be.
Dim-to-warm: the technology most worth its price today
High-end European fixtures now feature dim-to-warm: as you lower the brightness, the colour temperature slides from 2700K down to 1800K — mimicking exactly how an old incandescent bulb reddens as it's turned down. This is one of the big reasons a dinner under a Flos or Occhio fixture has an atmosphere that ordinary LEDs cannot reproduce.
Colour temperature is not a personal preference — it is a design parameter tied to materials, time of use and the body's circadian rhythm. Getting it right from the start is far cheaper than replacing every bulb after you've moved in.
Demo notes
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