One of the bigger trends in home design is using natural elements to bring the outdoors inside. It's a design aesthetic that people have tried to perfect for generations, as organic looks and elements tend to create a serene environment in the home.

At the same time, bringing home lighting designs into your organic and natural décor can be a tricky task to tackle. However, there are some ways to get you moving in the right direction - toward efficient and practical lighting - while still maintaining the natural elements in your home.

Simplicity Brings Peace

For many people who want a calm and peaceful home, removing the clutter is usually the first priority. Organic designs are often simplistic, which means your lighting design should follow suit.

For example, try hanging two pendants in a natural material over your bedside tables, rather than placing a lamp. This eliminates clutter on the table, while maintaining functionality.

Use Organic Material for Your Backdrop

Another way people effectively bring organic themes into their home is with a natural element for the backdrop. This could be in the form of a reclaimed wooden wall to stand out among the rest of the home's design. This will add texture and color to any room, which will ultimately make the lighting design easier.

The shift toward LED light bulbs in interior design is happening quickly, as manufacturers and homeowners find more ways to use these new types of lighting inside common areas of homes.

LEDs come in a wide variety of hues and colors that can transform an ordinary bathroom into something that will give you an artistic experience when you get ready for work in the morning.

According to The Wall Street Journal, not only are LEDs extremely efficient and effective at reducing home electricity costs, but they are allowing light designers to get more creative with interior lighting. Instead of standard track lighting with incandescent bulbs, homeowners can now use LED light bars or undercabinet lighting to adjust to the exact color or mood of your desire.

Smaller Light Resources

Piero Gandini, chairman of Flos, a lighting design firm, said LEDs simply give more options than standard light resources.

"It's similar to what happened in the 80s, when halogen arrived," Gandini explained. "Everything became smaller. Design will be less and less about the fixture itself and more about the immaterial aspect of lighting."

Entrances, hallways and foyers all have a major commonality: These spaces are typically the focal point to the entrance of your home. Guests are greeted in these areas and you use the spaces as a means to get to other rooms throughout your home.

While these spaces are one of the first you and your guests will see upon entering your home, they can be some of the harder spots in a house to light. These areas are difficult because most foyers or entrances are not alike, which means you have to take into account the design of your home.

Creating a Grand Entrance

If you're looking for the right fixture to fit in your entryway or foyer, you need think about the size of the light and the open space available. Chandeliers are a great source of light for these tricky architectural areas, and they give guests a majestic entrance into your home. Typically, you want to calculate this exactly, Hinkley Lighting Inc. explained.

Hinkley recommends that, for chandlers in foyers, you should add the length and width dimensions of the entrance area and convert the total area to inches.

While there are plenty of ways you can bring new life to your home through lighting design, there are also some common mistakes to avoid.

If there seems to be a void or a piece missing in your home's lighting design, here are five common lighting mistakes to consider:

1. No Control Over Your Lights

It might sound simple enough, but light dimmers, motion sensors, timers and automated systems all help you stay in control of your lighting. When you're unsure if the room is too dark or too bright, dimmers help you solve the problem with a middle ground. Moods change, and so should your lighting. Additionally, having better control of your lights will help you save on your energy bills. The track lighting in this photo by WAC Lighting are fully adjustable and allow the homeowner to control the levels of light throughout the day.

2. Light Fixture is Not the Right Size

Another common mistake in home lighting design is using the wrong sized fixture. For example, when homeowners use too small of a chandelier in the dining room or bulky desk lamps in the living room, everything can seem disproportionate.

The best way to prevent buying irregular fixtures is by measuring them in the showroom and consulting a trained lighting professional before purchasing. Eyeballing is tough in showrooms because fixtures tend to look smaller with the larger space of the room. However, a lighting expert will be able to help you avoid purchasing something that won't work in your space.