How do you light a home?
We’ve all had those mornings where we feel things could have gone a little more ‘in our favour’. Arriving to work after flying through the chores with a coffee stain on your favourite shirt and wondering whether you actually locked the front door, or if that was the action of yesterday?
Take a look below for a lighter look at how lighting your home can lighten your mood – and brighten your mornings! If you are simply looking for some quick and inspiring ideas, please have a look at our Lighting By Rooms section to see some great products.
Whether you have birdsong, a radio or a screeching sound of sirens most of us wake to an alarm. It’s still dark outside and therefore it’s also dark in your room. You see the silhouette of your alarm and hit snooze, and whilst retreating your arm to the warmth of the covers, you also hit your glass of water. Jumping out of bed, you make your way to the light switch on the other side of the room. On the way, your big toe makes contact with the end of the bed and you continue your journey at a hobbled pace. Finally locating the light switch after a performance against the dark wall that would do a mime artist proud, the bed, where your partner lay sleeping is flooded in bright light.
Now, although most of your time in this room will be spent with the lights off and your eyes shut, the convenience of clever lighting can make everyone’s life easier. Consider wall lights with individual pull cords. These are a convenient way of gently lighting the room when only you need to get up, and are also great to read books or magazines and to use a phone or tablet. Some come on flexible arms enabling you to customise the focus area of your light. Or if you have bedside tables, table lamps with a touch sensor base are a great idea – no more fumbling for the switch. If you are lacking on surface space and don’t have the wall space for wall lights either, another idea is a desk lamp which takes very little room but you have instant angled light.
Due to the size of the bedroom in ratio to the size of our beds, the main light predominantly resides over the bed, meaning that this is brightly lit whilst the four corners of the room, which house all of your belongings, remain in the shadows. Just as well odd socks are fashionable! You can instead look to install a multi armed light, or a light with multiple bulbs to spread light into these corners. You could also consider a dimmer switch here, or you can choose the right temperature bulbs for your taste; perhaps around 3000k would keep things cosy, whilst being bright enough to enable you to hunt for your favourite socks.
As you will already be well aware, water and electricity should not mix, so there are some rules to apply in this room. There is an IP rating applied to lights, based on their resilience. There are generally two numbers to the IP rating, e.g. IP45. The first digit (4 in this example) corresponds to solid material i.e. dust entering the light fitting. This ranges from 0 (no protection) to 6 which is totally dust resistant. The second digit (you guessed it – 5 in this example) corresponds to steam or water able to enter the light. This rating ranges from 0 (no protection) to 8 which is fully submersible in water.
Now, further to the IP rating, it is important to consider where the lights would be situated. For a light in the shower cubicle, we would recommend using a minimum (of the second digit of rating) of 7, whereas elsewhere (even above a shower head) in the room it is perfectly safe to use a 4 rated light fitting.
Long gone are the days where we have to make do with a boring flush ceiling light – you can enhance your bathroom with a number of statement pieces including bathroom chandeliers! We have an extensive range of styles and trends to perfectly compliment your bathroom scheme.
For full and comprehensive bathroom lighting advice, read our complete bathroom lighting guide.
It is also a good idea to consider good lighting above your mirror. Flossing your teeth, perfecting your make-up or ensuring an even shave are virtually impossible in the dark and you don’t want to be heading out of the door looking like Coco the Clown. Similar in design to picture lights, you can leave the room knowing you’ll be looking your best. There are also a brilliant range of cabinet lights which means no more hide and seek for those pesky nail scissors!
Kitchens represent the most multifunctional spaces within our homes. From preparing meals, to socialising with friends and even as a home office, the lights we choose for this space need to be as diverse and flexible as the space we use.
Lighting in here needs to be practical – we don’t want to be chopping our fingers instead of the chilli we are holding due to a poorly lit corner! That said, the ranges on offer now mean that we no longer have to forfeit design for this practicality.
It is true, that for the main kitchen area, long lights with multiple directional bulbs are the way forward, but by teaming these with low wattage LED bulbs you will save pennies on the running costs allowing for additional lights. Pendants in rows or clusters over breakfast bars, tables and islands make a modern design statement whilst providing a more intimate ambience.
Turn off the main lights and the washing up vanishes into the shadows like magic! They are also a great way of adding a splash of colour to your kitchen which can be changed easily when you want a new scheme. Grab your tea and toast and allow yourself the luxury of sitting in the quiet solitude of the dining room…
Dining rooms can be luxurious rooms, where you can allow opulence and grandeur to shine. The lighting in here can really set the scene, whether it is a romantic dinner for two or a party with family and friends so the use of a dimmer switch here can be really useful.
Where possible, position your dining table centrally under the main ceiling light. Chandeliers can make a real statement in this setting, but consider the size of your room and table as it may make an impact for the wrong reasons! As a general rule of thumb, we would recommend the width of the chandelier being approximately half the width of your table. With regard to the drop, we think it works well with the lowest drop being around 75cm above the table. If you have a tall member of the family, it’s probably best to do a test run before you finalise it, otherwise you may find yourself a little unpopular! If you are lucky enough to have a long dining table, consider two chandeliers, each positioned approximately one third (of the total length of the table) in from each end.
If the chandelier route is too fussy for your taste, look no further than elegant pendants, or a cluster of pendants. They offer a modern clean lined statement and with hundreds of varieties of materials, colours and finishes available, you are sure to find the perfect one. They look really effective if you mix colours, sizes and heights if you want to add further interest.
That’s enough time sitting enjoying your tea – there’s work to be done!
Lights for the Hallway, Stairs and Landing:
Often overlooked as you don’t tend to sit in these spaces, but don’t forget that this is the first space that visitors see and your welcome home at the end of a long day! These areas can sometimes be devoid of much furniture; this is therefore perfect to try a statement light. Getting the tone of the light is important as if it is too bright, it detracts from the homely feeling that you are looking forward to on your commute home, but too dark and you could come a cropper on the stairs. Keep the lights a warm colour and consider wall lights, or a table lamp on your sideboard if the area needs to be brighter. A table lamp can be used with a timer so that you come home to a lit home during those miserable darker months. The use of warm colours, such as on-trend copper will help with this effect.
If you are fortunate to have a wide staircase, you could look at showcasing a longer drop feature light which packs a wow factor – glass shades look amazing used in this way.
The landing light can generally be seen from most of the bedrooms, so cool and neutral tones work best here. Nightlights can be used to great effect too, especially for those with children or for urgent trips to another room. You can also select to use a nightlight bulb in a lamp which creates a lovely glow – no longer do you have to plug an elephant shaped plastic light directly into the socket!
Now to get to work… Check you have all you need, quick check in the hallway mirror and we’re off. Lock the door, then check it a few times just to make sure.
It’s worth looking at your outside lights here. Any little frustration after a long day can push anyone over the edge and putting your key in a keyhole in the dark whilst carrying the baggage and shopping collected throughout the day is a challenge that we don’t require thank you very much! You can tailor your choice based on the style of your property, or use something to contrast with it. Some of the industrial ranges are not only bang on trend, but excellent at giving out lots of light to illuminate your door (and key hole!).
You’d better check that door one last time, then off you go. I hope this has helped to inspire you on lighting your home and have lightened your mood!