Advice on how to light a room  

Huge and complex subject.
Especially with the technology undergoing dramatic changes.
Before getting into color temperatures and color rendition indexes, I'd recommend visiting a good high-end showroom to ask questions, see some different choices, and listen for the catchwords. Good sales staff will know how to get you started.

I remember being
really impressed with the quality of the light emitted by the new halogen lamps, when they appeared a generation ago. Having also detested central ceiling fixtures, the uplight provided by the inexpensive "torchiere" floor lamps that everyone was selling -- the price got down to $20, complete with bulb and dimmer switch -- was an instant room remake. Colors were much truer when lighted thus -- and the difference in the direction of the illumination (glowing indirectly overhead on the ceiling, instead of being directed at the floor) was a delight.
Another revelation was an opaque cone light hanging very low over a coffee table, another eon ago. And directed downlight onto the dining table -- all of these sources in an otherwise dimly-lit room.
Things weren't always as complex as they are today !

Interior Lighting for Designers
It seems the entire Gary Gordon Interior Lighting for Designers is available in .pdf form here:
http://arch3511.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/interior-lighting.pdf
This should provide everything you are looking for.

wow, that looks cool.
I'll take a look. thanks

Lit Up,
Try the Artemide...
Lit Up,
Try the Artemide practical guide to home illumination (link attached). This is very good.
http://176.34.131.251/luce_servizi/luce-servizi.action