Incandescent bulbs have a color temperature of 2700K. This color temperature is also called warm white, and is restful and flattering to skin tones. The designation color temperature has nothing to do with actual temperature, but describes the tint of different light on a SCALE. As the temperature goes up light goes from yellow to white to blue, and as it does contrast increases. It's easier to see detail, but that detail exposes the lines in our faces. So daylight bulbs at 6000K are great for reading or doing the taxes, but are not for relaxing or entertaining guests. In this PICTURE you can see that the color of a bulb can also impact the color of your walls and furnishings. Very bluish light washes out color, and a north-facing room should have brighter colors to offset that.

Lighting is also about intensity, the amount of lumens produced by a light. Kitchens and offices benefit from brighter lighting (more lumens) whereas living rooms can get by with dimmer lighting (less lumens). Here is an ARTICLE that talks about balancing color temperature with lumens for each room in a house. I agree with most of what they say, but I would put 2700K to 3000K lights in the guest bathroom. 5000K adds a lot of contrast that could disconcert women guests.

Since you did not include a photo detailing what you mean by contrasting lights, I really don't know how to advise you on a course of action. Most people don't look up, and they don't really notice small details. They are more likely to focus on your art than on your lighting. It seems perfectly acceptable to me to dim lights in one room and brighten them in another. However, as noted in the article linked above, living/family areas are better off with warm white light. If you feel these areas are too bright buy some lower K bulbs and switch out one room to see how it feels.

Dealing with this mix in my home as well. Thank you for these links, mindshift. Very helpful!

Before I posted this question, I read the article that was linked to here. The comment above about going to see Jesus was hilarious and true. I was looking around my room with the new daylight bulbs, and it completely changed the vibe of the room. So agree that living rooms and dining rooms should be more warm but the issue is the ceiling LEDs in the hallway never go yellow they just dim. So no matter what I'll have yellow next to White and it doesn't look right. More like an analogy of mixing modern with traditional style

Yes there is and IMO a daylight LED bulb is what works best if you want to have true colors that you worked so hard to choose. I never used incandecsent lighting as soon as halogen became available and now have switched out all my halogens for daylight LEDs . 3500K is a nice choice to avoid the blue that some people dislike. I don’t like warm and dsylight mixed because of the yellow cast from the warm BTW you can order bulbs online and even all the replacement ones.

I have a chandelier that uses the small tip base that dims. Any recommendation on the color and availability of a bulb for that fixture that will go with 3500?

iheartsix

Where can you find bulbs that are between 3000k and 4500k? All I see in brick and mortar stores are below 2,700k, 3,000k and 5,000k. Nothing in between the 3,000 and 5,000. Is there such a bulb?

Amazon is where I found them but then I did find some in my local Wally World.

i went over to daylight in my kitchen and my aging eyes suddenly discovered quite a bit of dirt that was starting to show up in unused corners.

cans and kitchen on daylight, lamps and chandeliers on warmer lights, and don't turn them on at the same time in the same areas. we have a separate kitchen so that works.

I find most stores to have either warm white or daylight color bulbs, but I haven't done an exhaustive search. You might call a local light bulb store. Do a search for "your city" and "light bulb store" to see if anything comes up. The local stores often have a display that allows you to compare color temperature. If you have nothing locally there are plenty of online sellers.

Ever consider any of the Phillips Hue bulbs? You can adjust to a WIDE variety of colors. Even actual colors like red, blue, etc if you get those types of bulbs. We had them in our LR, halls and pendants in last home and will be doing them in new home as well.

After much research, I got what I wanted at amazon.com. But you have to know what you want. The recommendation above for 3500 kelvins is a good one for the atmosphere I like and I even dialed it down to 3000 kelvins for several fixtures. These are soft white (which has a soft yellow but not the really yellow warm white). My contractor who changed my old cans with these LEDs said they only came in daylight but he was wrong. Daylight is too sterile in the comfy rooms at night...living room, dining room, bedroom and even my hallways. I switched everything out today and it's so much better. Now everything is in soft white but bright enough. I'm replacing all the warm bulbs (were too yellow) in the lamps to soft white. Replacing the dimming candelabras in my chandelier with soft (was warm). Brightens things up but doesn't look like an operating room. I'm leaving the bathrooms in daylight - they have no natural light - and have the lights on dimmers which is nice at night even though they cast no yellow at all.

Besides the consideration for ambience and eyesight comfort more pleasing with soft white in my opinion, the daylight bulbs are kind of creepy at night. Every light shouldn't be a reading light brightness imho. I'd recommend a supplemental reading light that is different than your atmosphere, general lighting. It's not to be on the same time the other lights are on when entertaining for example. And finally, the paint colors I have look nice in the soft white - and better than if they were in the deeper yellow warm light....and better atmosphere/ambience compared to daylight or brighter bulbs.

Modern life has burdened us with an unsustainable amount of choice. I was fighting these same choices until I just became exhausted. Here's what I ended up doing

Exterior - 2700k

Hallways / Bedrooms / Bathrooms - 2700k

Kitchen - 3000k

Kitchen Task Lighting - 3500k

need help!!!..
just painted taupe wall and had ugly oak kitchen cabinets painted a darker taupe
was thrilled in the daylight but at night old lights changed my perfect colors!!
got the GE REVEAL and colors look better
have open concept and really dont like the look of the REVEAL in my lamps..TOO HARSH!
Can u mixed bulbs..not thrilled that when all lights r on ..color of bulbs r different
is it ok to have different temp lights in open concept???

it would be more helpful for you if you started a new post. but anyway....

no, personally I don't like to see different color temps in one room, esp with Reveal. they look normal on their own, but compared to other bulbs they do look pink. you can test out different bulbs for yourself -- be sure to walk around the room so you can see it from different points of view. keep your receipts and return what you don't want.

or you can put Reveal in the entire room, using lamps that do a better job diffusing the light. white or frosted glass shades are great to soften harsh bulbs.

@buddy5783, I suspect you happened upon this thread via More Discussions or Related Discussions on the right side of the screen. Those threads can be years old, so please check the original post date below the user name before adding to it.

THANKS FOR THE ADVICE!!

@Adam hasden , I notice. And for aesthetics, one may not be aware why a certain light is better than another but lighting matters.

I think it's a matter of comfort. I'm sure that many people wouldn't even notice such a conflict in lighting. Perhaps, if you live in such an atmosphere for a long time, it begins to catch your eye more and more brightly. I believe that such a discrepancy harms your eyes as well, and affects comfort. Light bulbs should only change color if you want them to :) For example, the Phillips Hue mentioned earlier, or the multi-colored car interior lights like my brother's. By the way, does everyone here think that the light in the living room and the bedroom should be different?