Accommodation lighting design encompasses a wide variety of building types and purposes. Each one can be unique in its intended use and habitation which affects the way lighting needs to be designed and distributed to cater for individual needs and requirements.

These places can be for either single or shared use., they can have one function or several. As an example, in a living room there can be space for watching the TV, maybe a home study or reading area, a space for relaxing and a dining table. Each of these spaces involve very different activities and therefore, lighting requirements.

Some of these premises become a real challenge for lighting designers, especially when lighting design forms part of a high-end interior design. In addition to the funtionality of the lighting, due consideration must also be given to the physical product design and building decor. The overall effect of the interior room design is achieved by both the aesthetic of the luminaire and the atmosphere it creates.

Creating contrasts, focusing on particular points, playing with colour temperature and using direct, indirect and diffused illumination are just some of the practices employed in lighting to create a functional lighting design scheme which can also be a work of art in itself.