TRANSFORM YOUR IOWA SPACE WITH PURPOSEFUL LIGHTING DESIGN & SHADING

Lighting Design

Architectural Fixtures

Lighting Control

Motorized Shading

Iowa Lighting Design Services

Designing a beautiful home here in Iowa is more than choosing the right color palettes and furniture — lighting design plays a vital role as well. Whether you’re in Des Moines, Iowa City or Davenport, lighting should highlight your home’s architectural features, bring attention to high-end furnishings and make colors stand out. That same lighting also serves to enhance your everyday life, boosting your mood and helping you accomplish important tasks. Hire a Reference professional lighting designer to optimize your lighting design and lighting control for a luxurious lifestyle and residence right here in Iowa.

Why hire a lighting designer?

Employing an independent lighting designer like Reference may seem like an odd choice for Iowa homeowners that have relied on electrical engineers and interior designers to take care of their lighting needs in the past. But when you make lighting a secondary job for others, it becomes an afterthought in your home. Reference masters technical, scientific and stylistic fields to deliver bespoke lighting control solutions for our clients in Iowa City, Des Moines, Davenport and beyond.

Speak to a professional lighting designer

See Lighting Temperatures

Experts on the latest cutting-edge lighting control and motorized shading technology through ongoing training
Refined techniques transform invisible light into dynamic architectural design
Special training on physics, optics, electricity, codes and environmental impact
Equipment costs reduced through competitive bids and manufacturer partnerships
Initial cost analysis outlines lighting techniques that will reduce equipment and labor costs
Detail-minded staff craft innovative lighting designs attuned to your home and lifestyle needs

Color Temperatures at a Glance

1,700 K

Red lighting reminiscent of a match flame offers a calming effect in the evening.

2,700 - 3,300 K

Elevate warm interior colors and wood finishes with warm, soft white lighting.

4,100 - 4,150 K

Stay focused on tasks in workspaces or kitchens with cool, white lighting.

5,500 - 6,000 K

Enjoy vertical daylight hues in the afternoon to stimulate your mood and décor.

6,500 K

Deliver lighting in main living areas with hues reminiscent of overcast skies.

15,000 - 27,000 K

Reserve clear blue lighting for activities that require ample energy or focus.

1,850 K

Craft the perfect date night light with romantic candlelit or sunset hues.

3,000 K

Facilitate relaxation with neutral white lighting while reading in the family room.

5,000 K

Employ crisp-white daylight hues to highlight artwork and bolster security.

6,200 K

Blue-white light mimics natural sunlight and delivers bright, energizing illumination.

6,500 - 10,500 K

Turn to blue hues for hyper-focused task lighting in your primary workspaces.

1,700 K

Match flames & low-pressure sodium lamps

2,700 - 3,300 K

Incandescent lamps & soft-white flourescent lamps

4,100 - 4,150 K

Moonlight; cool-white lamps

5,500 - 6,000 K

Vertical daylight

6,500 K

Daylight; overcast fluorescent lamps

15,000 - 27,000 K

Daylight; overcast fluorescent lamps

1,850 K

Candle Flame, sunrise, sunset

3,000 K

Warm-white fluorescent lamos

5,000 K

Horizon daylight

6,200 K

Xenon short-arc lamp

6,500 - 10,500 K

LCD or CRT Screen

Essential Layers of Light

You risk strained eyesight, obtrusive shadows and rigid spaces with a one-tone lighting design. Leverage ambient, task and accent lighting for a visually balanced and flexible space.

Ambient Light

Illuminate the entire room with soft lighting from natural sunlight, recessed ceiling lights or pendants.

Task Lighting

Special pendant, desk or under-cabinet lights provide bright, focused illumination for specific activities.

Accent Lighting

Highlight artwork, photos and architectural details with lighting three times brighter than ambient fixtures.

Daytime

Keep to your workday schedule with a “Daytime” lighting scene that automatically activates at 9 am every day. As you head into your home office, bright white-blue ambient lights and desk lights greet you for optimal focus and concentration.
Bedtime

As you head to bed at the end of the day, prepare for restorative sleep with a “Bedtime” lighting scene you can activate from a bedside remote or tablet. Not only do lights dim gradually, but they switch to a warm, orange hue that induces relaxation.
Entertaining

Entertain in style with a “Party” lighting scene that activates lights in the kitchen and living room to a white-blue hue that keeps guests energized throughout the night. Add landscape lighting to the scene to encourage guests to gravitate to your beautiful outdoor spaces.
Movie Night

Transform your theater into the perfect viewing environment with a “Movie Night” lighting scene on your handheld remote or touchpad that dims recessed lights and decorative sconces while turning on floor track lighting for safe movement during the movie.

Architectural Fixtures

For a successful layered lighting design to work in your Iowa home, you’ll want to incorporate a wide range of lighting fixtures throughout your space rather than relying solely on canned ceiling lighting. Through a mixture of high-end pendants, downlights and track lights, our designers ensure even, layered lighting that adds depth and beauty to your home while facilitating all your everyday tasks. Explore how each model has a role in enhancing your overall space in Iowa City, Des Moines, or Davenport.

Linear Pendants

Design-Forward Lighting

Pendant lights available in a wide range of colors and finishes add a spark to your décor while supporting ambient or task lighting needs. Transform your interior lighting design through elegant fixtures hanging from the ceiling or within a track light system.

Downlights

Illumination without Clutter

Downlights are primarily used for ambient lighting, though they’re also used for task or accent lighting in some applications. Recessed or flush mounted in the ceiling, they’re available in round or square trims to match your décor.

Retrofit Downlights

Remodel without Limitations

Replace outdated lighting fixtures seamlessly with retrofit downlights featuring low-profile designs that fit into most standard recessed housing. Select from our collection of high-end tunable LED fixtures available in round or square trims.

Track lighting

Bright, Versatile Spotlights

Track lighting offers a flexible solution for your Iowa home’s accent and task lighting needs. Install adjustable spotlights on a track or rail system to showcase artwork or illuminate cabinets. Expand your stylistic choices with straight, round or curved track models.

Lighting Control

Effortless lighting control is vital for unleashing the true potential of your lighting design. Easily manage the diverse fixtures in your Iowa City, Davenport or Des Moines home to develop beautiful layering while maintaining a uniform feel throughout with a lighting control system. Take advantage of a centralized approach to your lighting that not only yields intuitive, tailor-made control from your devices of choice but also results in a streamlined installation for a beautiful, clutter-free space.

Interfaces

High-end lighting control systems feature personalized interfaces available on dedicated touchpads or mobile apps. Approach lighting your way with easy-to-use graphic menus that show the status of lights in each room and let you make changes with a simple button tap. Adjust intensity, color and color temperature for fixtures individually or as groups, then save your favorite settings and pull them up at any time with ease.

Processor

The processor is the heart of your lighting control system, facilitating communication between your control devices and fixtures. Having a high-end processor ensures clear, uninterrupted communication without any lag. Efficient communication means as soon as you input a command—no matter the source—you get an immediate and accurate response. During the initial design stage, our lighting experts determine which model best fits your needs based on its bandwidth and processing power.

Dimming Panels

What makes a professional lighting control system stand out is its centralized control using dimmer panels. All dimming and control capabilities are routed through these remote panels that are installed out of sight in an equipment room or utility closet. Dimmer panels reduce wall clutter in individual rooms, cut down on the wiring infrastructure, allow for more complex programming capabilities and minimize the need for power boosters while also controlling fans and motors.

Smart Dimmers/Switches

Reduce your wall acne even further with smart dimmers and switches that incorporate complex commands and scenes. These luxury keypads replace banks of switches and dimmers to streamline your décor. Improve convenience with keypads that offer instant access to scenes, let you manage lights throughout the house and offer combined dimmer and switch control in one housing. Explore models fit for any décor with flush-mounted solutions featuring matte, metal or glass finishes in plentiful colors.

Why Motorized Shading?

Adding motorized shading to your Iowa home greatly improves your morning, midday and evening routines while allowing you to experience upgraded climate management and lighting control, enhanced security and privacy, and an all-around improved quality of life in your home. With a vast array of beautiful fabrics and styles, you can create a set of window treatments that perfectly complements your existing decor. The added automation allows you to experience effortless control of your home with timers and scenes that will transform your space without you having to lift a finger.

Create perfect light every time by integrating your motorized window treatments with your existing smart home system and adjusting shading and lighting systems together.
Automate your Davenport or Iowa City-area home by creating zones for various lighting and motorized shading needs throughout your living spaces.
Enjoy enhanced precision control as your motorized shades rise and lower in unison, quietly and right on schedule.
Straightforward control means that anyone in the home can experience the simplicity that automated window treatments bring.

Explore the Benefits of Motorized Shading

Save Energy

Program your shades to keep the sun out during the hot summer months while harvesting it in the winter for natural solar heat.

Enhance Security

Timers are an efficient way to raise and lower your shades automatically to keep up the appearance that you're home — even when you're not.

Match Aesthetics

With hundreds of fabrics and materials to choose from, there's no need to sacrifice the interior and exterior decor you've perfected.

Enjoy Privacy

Privacy is easy to accomplish when you can lower all your shades with the press of a single button and set them to automatically raise and lower at high-traffic times.

Protect Your Furniture

Ultraviolet rays can be damaging to artwork, furniture, flooring and rugs. Avoid bleaching and fading by programming your shades to lower during the brightest time of day.

Roller Shades

Solar Shades

blue honeycomb shades on a window overlooking the ocean

Cellular Shades

Woven Roman Shades

Blackout Shades

Horizontal Sheer Blinds

Roman Shades

Craft a Beautiful Space with Light

Outfit your home with professional lighting design and control for illumination that ushers a new level of luxury into your every day. From design to installation, our lighting experts deliver white-glove service and unprecedented quality.

Talk to a Lighting Expert

TRANSFORM YOUR IOWA SPACE WITH PURPOSEFUL LIGHTING DESIGN & SHADING

Iowa Lighting Design Services

Why hire a lighting designer?

Color Temperatures at a Glance

1,700 K

2,700 - 3,300 K

4,100 - 4,150 K

5,500 - 6,000 K

6,500 K

15,000 - 27,000 K

1,850 K

3,000 K

5,000 K

6,200 K

6,500 - 10,500 K

1,700 K

2,700 - 3,300 K

4,100 - 4,150 K

5,500 - 6,000 K

6,500 K

15,000 - 27,000 K

1,850 K

3,000 K

5,000 K

6,200 K

6,500 - 10,500 K

Essential Layers of Light

Ambient Light

Task Lighting

Accent Lighting

Architectural Fixtures

Linear Pendants

Downlights

Retrofit Downlights

Track lighting

Lighting Control

Interfaces

Processor

Dimming Panels

Smart Dimmers/Switches

Why Motorized Shading?

Explore the Benefits of Motorized Shading

Save Energy

Enhance Security

Match Aesthetics

Enjoy Privacy

Protect Your Furniture

Roller Shades

Solar Shades

Cellular Shades

Woven Roman Shades

Blackout Shades

Horizontal Sheer Blinds

Roman Shades

Craft a Beautiful Space with Light

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