Interior design is about function as well as appearance, and once you’re done choosing the furniture and finishes – paint, wallpaper, curtains, carpets etc – for your room, one thing you should never neglect is the lighting.
On the tightest of budgets, there is nothing wrong with relying on a single ceiling bulb, but if you have any spare cash at all, lamps are the way forward.
Here’s just a handful of things to consider when choosing the right lighting for your room.
1. How bright?
First of all, it’s sensible to think about exactly how much light you want to have in the room; the answer is not always ‘as much as possible’, particularly in a living room where you might prefer it quite dark in the evenings.
Dimmer switches can enable this, but check the compatibility of the bulbs you use too, as not all energy-saving bulbs are dimmable; in contrast, in functional rooms like the kitchen, consider bright spotlights so you can illuminate work areas well even at night.
2. How many?
This may be a point of preference, but how many lights do you actually want? Several lamps placed around the room can give a landscaped feeling to your lighting, with areas of highlight and shadow where their illumination overlaps.
A practical question to ask here is how many switches you’re willing to turn on and off each night; would you rather have more switches to press, and individual control over your lamps, or wire them all into one circuit with a single wall switch by the door?
3. Loop or socket?
Another purely practical consideration is whether you want your lighting wired to the mains lighting loop, controlled by the wall switch, or if you want lamps that plug into electrical wall sockets.
The latter can be repositioned quite easily, but each one will take up a socket that could be used for other things, so if that is a concern, go for wired-in loop lighting.
4. Statement pieces
If you have a piece of furniture you are particularly proud of – a decorative dresser, or a stylish sofa, for instance – give it pride of place by making sure your lighting shows it at its best.
You don’t have to floodlight it, but make sure nearby lamps are bright enough to show the fine details, even if the rest of the room is in near-darkness.
5. Ceiling art
Finally, returning to the main ceiling light in the room, consider ways to make it decorative as well as functional; a new shade or chandelier can be a striking addition to your interiors, while altering the texture of the light that is produced.
A ceiling rose – a circle of patterned plasterwork that surrounds the light fitting – is an elegant and classic option too, and can create a kind of inverted pedestal against which your chandelier can be displayed.
For more information on The English Sofa Company and the products we offer, call us on 0161 736 5733 or visit our Showroom.
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