Start by laying down a layer of even ambient light throughout the space

A room that is lit only by task & accent lighting will generally have harsh shadows and dark corners. That is, the contrast between brighter and darker points will be too high.

Therefore, ambient lighting should be used to provide the base level of lighting throughout a room, to which other types of lighting are added to achieve specific results.

Ambient lighting should be as even and non-directional as possible, to avoid harsh shadows and corners that are too dark.

Often designers will use a warm light, such as that provided by incandescent light sources, for ambient lighting.