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Lighting as the Finishing Layer

Lighting is usually the last decision made when furnishing a room, and often the first thing you notice when you walk in. A beautifully furnished space can feel unresolved if it is lit only by a single pendant in the middle of the ceiling, or by downlights alone. When the lighting is right, the room will feel warm, layered and finished.

Here are a few of our design tips for getting it right.

One Light Is Never Enough

The most common mistake is relying on a single overhead light to do everything. It flattens a room, casts shadows in the wrong places and makes even good furniture look tired. A well lit room uses several sources working together: general light to move around by, task light where you read, cook or work, and accent light to bring out the art, joinery and details.

As a rule, aim for at least three or four light sources in a living room, at different heights. The overhead light then becomes the one you use least.

A woven statement pendant adds a sculptural element to this sitting room in our Mosman Federation project, even when not illuminated, combined with an oversized table lamp creates a gorgeous warmth to a dark corner against moody grasscloth walls.

Too Bright, Too Cold

The colour of the light matters as much as where it sits. Cool white globes are the quickest way to make a home feel like an office. For living spaces and bedrooms, choose warm white, around 2700K, and keep it consistent across the room so lamps and downlights do not fight each other.

Put everything you can on dimmers. The same room needs to work on a bright Saturday morning and a quiet evening, and a dimmer is the simplest way to give it both.

Lamps Do the Heavy Lifting

If we could only add one thing to most rooms, it would be lamps. A table lamp on a console, a pair either side of the sofa and a floor lamp beside a reading chair change the feel of a room more than almost anything else, and they are one of the quickest changes to make.

The shade is where the character comes from. Linen, pleated silk, rattan and patterned fabric shades all filter the light differently, and a well chosen shade can be the hero piece in an otherwise quiet corner.

Getting Scale and Placement Right

Pendants are where scale most often goes wrong. Over a dining table, a pendant should be roughly half to two thirds the width of the table and hang around 750 to 850mm above the tabletop, low enough to light the table without blocking the view across it. In living rooms and entries, a pendant that is too small looks like an afterthought.

Wall lights and picture lights need the same care. Set wall lights at a consistent height, generally around eye level, and size picture lights to suit the width of the frame.

Light the Room for the Evening

Most rooms are planned in daylight and lived in at night. Before you finalise anything, sit in the room after dark and notice where the light falls and where it does not. Dark corners, unlit art and joinery that disappears at night are all easy to fix with a lamp, a picture light or a strip of LED within the shelving.

Lighting is the finishing layer. Buy well, place it with care, and it will make everything else in the room look its best.