Lighting tips (part one)

Welcome to our special two-part series on styling your home with lighting. Today Pia, mydeco.com Design Director, lets us know what you can do to light up your home.

Lighting is one of the most important elements in designing your home, it affects how you live and use your space. This is especially relevant at this time of year; the evenings are drawing in and lighting can play a key factor in making your home take on a cosy, autumnal mood.

Cube light by East London Furniture

Think about lighting in 3 ways  - general overall, accent (to show off a special feature or area) and lighting for doing specific jobs – working, reading etc.

In small spaces try and light the corners, as this will open up the dark areas and make the room feel larger.

The Gubi SM-1 pendant looks great in a corner…

Consider the shape of the light fittings you’re choosing, as this will affect the distribution of their light around the room.

Also be sure to choose 3 levels of lighting e.g floor lamps, table and wall or ceiling, as this gives a well-rounded feel to your scheme.

… Or as a focal point for a dining room

Table lighting is an essential part of a room design; table lamps create a focal point for the room and in turn become a feature to be viewed.

Muuto wood table lamp

Be flexible with your lighting choices as this allows the room to be used in different ways, which is very relevant to the way we live today.

Jeeves table lamp by Innermost

If you can use dimmers with your lights, it’s worth it because it allows you to control the mood and warmth of the space, especially with ceiling lighting.

Colourful Kartell lighting

The type of light bulbs you use in your fittings will affect the scheme hugely, so be considerate of where the bulbs are being placed and match them to their use.

I love these delicate light bulbs

Part two of this series will follow next week. Stay tuned!