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Interior Design vocabulary · Lighting

Colour temperature

Meaning in interior design, with examples

/ˈkʌlə ˌtemprətʃə/nounCore term

In interior design, colour temperature means: A measure of how warm (yellowish) or cool (bluish) white light looks, given in kelvins (K): about 2700 K is warm white and 5000 K or more looks like daylight.

In Turkish: renk sıcaklığı, ışık rengi

How it is used

Printed on every lamp and LED box. Homes and restaurants usually use 2700–3000 K, offices and shops often 3500–4000 K. Mixing different colour temperatures in one room usually looks messy, so designers specify one value per space.

Example sentences

  1. All the bedroom lights should have the same colour temperature: 2700 K.

  2. The kitchen feels clinical because the colour temperature is too cool.

Common collocations

  • warm colour temperature
  • colour temperature in kelvins
  • match the colour temperature
  • natural lightLight that comes from the sun through windows, doors and skylights, and changes in strength and colour through the day.
  • dimmerA switch or control that changes how bright a light is, so the same room can feel bright for work and soft in the evening.
  • lighting planA drawing that shows where every light, switch and lighting circuit goes in a space, often with a key listing the types of fittings.
  • ambient lightingThe general, even light that fills a room and lets people move around safely, usually from ceiling lights, downlights or daylight.

More terms: Lighting

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