Even the most luxurious room can look shabby with poor lighting, almost every room in your home will benefit from applying an interior design lighting tip or two. If you plan out a suitable lighting arrangement for your space it will be more functional and help create just the right ambience.

Lights are just as big a part of a room’s aesthetic as anything else, so it is important to get it right and with that in mind, here are some tips for you to think about when it comes to your home interior lighting.

6 Interior Design Lighting Tips to Transform Your Home

When it comes to lighting, there are two main categories - natural and artificial and for these tips, we will be looking at artificial. Lighting is one of the most fundamental elements to creating the desired atmosphere in your home. Brighter lights make you feel more awake, whereas dimmer and softer lights will be more relaxing and sleep-inducing.

Make a lighting plan

Whether you’re starting from scratch or simply redecorating a room, you must plan ahead if you want to achieve a successful lighting scheme.

Now, we are not talking about planning everything to the smallest detail but think about what you want from each room before you start to light it. Your mini brief should tackle the essentials like the following:

• What activities will take place in this particular room? Is it for relaxing, eating, having guests over?
• Are there any distinct architectural features you want to highlight?
• Think about the colour of the walls and floor, the style of the furniture.

You also want to consider the style of light, scale, output and even colour temperature of lights before you go rushing into decisions. If you’re struggling with colour temperatures, a smart light would be best as you can completely customise the lighting output to suit your needs, whether it’s bright or warm white, or you’re looking for a colour to set the mood, a smart light can help you achieve this. Having an idea of what you want ahead of time will save you stress further down the road.

The right lights for the right job

Different types of light fixtures create wildly different outcomes, both when illuminating a room and during the day. Finding the right one for the appropriate situation is half the battle. There are many different lighting solutions out there such as pendants, recessed, chandeliers, smart lights, flush lights and more and for those who don’t know much about lighting, it can become a bit overwhelming.

Flush Mount Ceiling Lights

Flush mount fixtures are directly mounted close to the ceiling and provide greater ceiling clearance. As these features tend to blend in more with the ceiling, they are great for a bathroom, hallway or kitchen as the omnidirectional illumination will be useful in a practical sense. While you can implement them strategically to be used as a decorative feature, we advise against using them in other rooms of the home as they can often look harsh and sterile.

Pendant Lights

Pendant lights are any fixture suspended from a chain or a cord, including chandeliers. While the right pendant light can transform a room, they need to be in proportion to the height of the ceiling they are hanging from. If you have low ceilings, then make sure to get yourself something with either a semi-flush or an adjustable suspension.

Pendant lights are an extremely popular choice for task lights in different working areas. Since they create bright focused light directed downwards, they are indispensable in spaces where the working surface must be perfectly lit and for this reason, are commonly used in kitchens.

Recessed Lights

Whether you’re building a new home or renovating your current home, recessed lighting can be a key element in both the function and style of the space you’re decorating. Perfect in homes with low ceilings, recessed lighting offers a clean, streamlined look in a home and can be used to increase the amount of light in a room or even highlight special features in a room.

Do not be afraid to express yourself.

Always remember, this is your home. You decide what it looks like and it’s your taste that has the final say. You spend most of your life in your house, so make sure it’s somewhere you want to be! There are a variety of different lighting styles out there, you could always go for the popular Scandinavian and minimalist trends, or keep it traditional and classic with chrome, make a bold statement with a chandelier or if you feel less is more, pendants might be best for you! These different lighting styles allow you to convey your personality in your home.

The importance of colour when choosing lighting

The interplay of lighting, colour and texture can have a profound impact on how your finished space looks and feels. The natural lighting of a room can affect the colour and vice versa. That’s why you must consider lighting conditions when choosing the colours and different furnishings for the space you’re decorating.

Bright, bold colours that look great in daylight can take on completely different tones at night, so choose your lighting with that in mind. If you also have a lot of daylight coming through or rely solely rely on artificial lighting sources, the colour in a room can look different. This drastically changes the colour and appearance of your room. You then also need to think about the lighting temperature which can be either warm white, daylight and cool white.

Choosing the right textures

What a lighting fixture is made from can be just as important as what it looks like. Materials such as glass, wood, and fabric, give an entirely different feel to a room compared to chrome, steel, copper and what type of material you buy will also depend on where it is going; you can’t use wood in a bathroom for example as it will rot over time due to the moisture. If you choose fabric for a kitchen, it will likely become stained by day-to-day cooking activities.

Creating a focal point

The next time you are in an art gallery or museum, as well as looking at the painting, notice how the light illuminates the artwork itself, spotlights and picture lights are great for highlighting art, be they paintings, photographs, or sculptures. Even a table lamp beside a nice ornament can do wonders for your main focal point in a room.

Need some help with your interior lighting design?

We have put together this guide to give you a few ideas when it comes to styling a room with lighting fixtures and if you would like to have a chat about the best course of action for you and your unique home, get in touch. 

One of our friendly and experienced advisors will be happy to talk about which lighting fixture would be best suited for you and your circumstances. With literally thousands of lighting products in our range, we will be sure to find one that’s perfect for you!

Shop our entire interior and exterior lighting collections online, with free shipping for all orders over £100/€120, and contact us today if you have any questions, we are happy to help.