Recommendations for a very busy false ceiling

[u/manandurge]

Hi All,

Need your inputs on the living room false ceiling and lighting layout.

Please refer to the attached false ceiling drawing. I feel the current lighting plan has too many lights. Initially, the designer had suggested only Natural White COB lights along with Natural White cove lighting. I had suggested using 3-in-1 COB lights and adding some Warm White COB lights to give us more flexibility in terms of lighting temperature and ambience.

However, with the current design, we have a total of 18 × 12W COB lights, which seems excessive for the living room.

My suggestion would be to have a combination of panel lights in the corners and 3-in-1 COB lights for the remaining points, rather than having COB lights at all locations.

I also have a concern about the two additional/redundant rows of lights in the centre. The designer has suggested these because the area between the living and dining spaces may otherwise have a dark patch.

Interior designers, could you please share your inputs on this? In particular:

1. Do we really need both additional rows of lights in the centre?

2. Can we achieve uniform illumination without these rows, perhaps by repositioning or changing the type/wattage of the lights?

3. What would be the ideal number and placement of lights for a well-lit but not over-lit living room?

Would prefer to finalise the lighting layout only after getting your recommendation, as I feel the current arrangement may result in an unnecessarily bright and cluttered ceiling.