The Ultimate Lighting Guide
Lighting is an integral part of interior design, it has magical powers, highlighting, adding depth and intrigue, drawing the eye and even making a room look bigger as well as cosying up the space. Read on for helpful hints and tips on how to curate a stylish lighting scheme for any living space.
The Benefits Of A Good Lighting Scheme
How many types of lighting are there?
There are three main types of lighting and most rooms will need a selection of all three. The different types are ambient, task and accent. Use ambient lighting to create soft lighting that illuminates large spaces.Task lighting is great to brighten a space and is focused in one position while accent lighting will create little glowing pockets of light for atmospheric, cosy, intimate spaces
Ambient Lighting
These tend to be the general lighting sources within a room and consist of overhead lights, recessed, pendant or chandeliers. They are designed to illuminate the majority of the room and can be quite bright. Don't make them the only lights in the room and ideally you need to have them on dimmers, so you can change the vibe of a room by lowering the light levels. This will prevent your house feeling all lit up like an airport lounge!
Task Lighting
These are the practical lights you need in the room, so desk lamps, reading lights, under cabinet lighting for preparing food in the kitchen, mirror lights in the bathroom, motion sensor lights in cupboards and drawers etc. Task lights are practical and functional, but they also make a room feel more beautiful and harmonious because you get little pools of light dotted around the room.
Accent Lighting
These are the lamps that you can load up on everywhere in the room, and Abi's favourite design trick. Plop lamps everywhere and anywhere, on side tables, consoles, on central islands and on the floor. These little glowing pockets of light create atmospheric, cosy, intimate spaces, and our portable lamps are especially useful for this. As you enter a beautifully lit room you immediately get that feeling of squishy contentment. Use them to highlight architectural features, add a soft to glow alcoves or along stairtreads. Hidden backlights tucked behind headboards and above kitchen cabinets give an unexpected extra layer of glow. Or the lighting can be a feature in it’s own right, like a stylish floor lamp or a neon wall sign.
Shop Lighting At Abigail Ahern
Create ambience and add a beautiful glow with statement lighting like show stopping chandeliers and textural table lamps. Lighting can turn a room around with its magical powers and can enhance your decor by showcasing your sculpture, art and unique pieces as well as highlighting, drawing the eye and making a space look bigger or cosier.
Home Lighting Design Tips
Styling Tip 1: Make a Statement
Adding a large chandelier above a dining table or console, or even as your central ceiling light, and hanging it a little lower than you would think adds immediate grandeur, a large pendant like the Drongo or the Sarria (pictured left) will have a similar effect. If you go larger than feels comfortable it makes spaces so much cooler.
Styling Tip 2: Layering Your Lights
By choosing lamps of varying heights think table lamps, floor lamps and pendants, you create a layered scheme that will excite the eye and highlight different elements of the room. Using side tables to elevate and stacks of books as a styling aid, will add another layer of style.
Styling Tip 3: Create Contrast
Add further intrigue to your living space with your lighting choices through a mixture of materiality. Super textural concrete lamps or shiny mushroom lamps look effortlessly cool but just remember to keep things balanced and curated by reigning in the colour palette.
Portable Table Lamps
Take your glow wherever you go with one of our portable table lamps. Whether they're battery operated or rechargeable, you've got the freedom to pop them in any room of your home. Read our helpful guide on how to incorporate these versatile design heroes into your home decor.