Lighting design ideas to suit your space

Julia Kendell Interior Design Expert

Julia Kendell highlights the different ways to light your home efficiently

Light options

There are six categories of light available in various guises:

1. Downlights; Often recessed in to the ceiling, these are available as either fixed (where the beam of light shines directly downwards) or angled/directional (which allows for specific spotlighting), and low voltage (supplied for use with a transformer) or mains voltage. There has been a proliferation of the use of downlights in recent years with many ceilings festooned with the things, but they do have their place in well designed interiors. I always advise choosing downlights where the lamp (bulb) is positioned high into the fitting in order to reduce glare. Low voltage lights provide a much brighter, whiter light than mains voltage. You can buy different beam widths for downlight bulbs. These can create very different and interesting effects. Choose a wide beam lamp (50 degrees) for a ‘flood’ effect, down to 12 degrees for a narrow, pinpoint beam. Positioning a row of angled narrow-beam downlights 200-300mm from a wall will produce a beautiful effect.

2. Uplights Wall-mounted, generally above eye-line to throw light onto a ceiling, or floor-mounted to add a dramatic highlight to a pillar or architectural element. Look at the heat output for the fitting if considering for floor mounting. Don’t consider lighting your ceiling unless it has a flawless finish. Light picks up on all imperfections.

3. Decorative: Ceiling or wall decorative lights can add additional interest and sparkle to a scheme. Be aware that ceiling pendant lights have the effect of lowering a ceiling so I would never generally advise using them for ceilings under 2.5m in height, with the exception of hanging low over a dining table.

4. Wall wash lights: Either surface or recessed and used to light vertical surfaces. Particularly good for highlighting textured surfaces such as brickwork or tiles.

5. Lamps: Floor or table lamps add structure and decoration to a room and are a simple way to add further layers of light. Choose shades carefully; translucent shades will give a soft, filtered light, whereas solid shades give a stronger shaft of vertical light.

6. Discreet lighting: Used to provide light where the source can’t be seen, ie under shelves, within cabinets, above units etc. these can be particularly useful to create a warm and comfortable ambience and there are many fittings available now to achieve stunning results.

ABOVE, L-R: Plug-in square highlight, (H)18.5x(W)8x(D)8cm, John Cullen Lighting; Three-Glass Ball lamp with shade in Duck Egg, (H)53x dia.)27cm, Dunelm Mill; Celeste ceiling light, (H)49x(dia.)26cm, Wickes; Cream Ella the dog ceramic lamp by Ben De Lisi, (H)42x(W)42cm, Debenhams; Marrakesh lantern, white painted metal, (H)40cm, Littlewoods.com

Lighting placement

The current trend of a rectangle of downlights in the middle of the room combined with a couple of table lamps can be much improved by considering the three types of light required. Instead you might consider 3 directional downlights aimed towards a feature wall to provide ambient light, shelf under-lighting and narrow beam downlights highlighting a curtain treatment for accent lighting, and a floor reading lamp for task lighting. The overall wattage is the same, but it is split more usefully and with greater interest.

In a kitchen it is imperative to position ceiling lights directly over your prep area to avoid shadows from lights positioned behind you. If left to a builder, you would end up with a bank of downlights in the centre of the room. They need to be positioned appx 500mm out from the wall to sit within the 600mm depth of worksurface. A show-stopping pendant light over an island or table on a separate circuit can be used to create an intimate mood at night. Another trend in kitchens currently is the use of LEDs at floor level to throw a wash of light over the floor. Please use with caution unless you scrub your floor daily… trust me, nothing looks worse than illuminated crumbs and dog hair!

New technologies and energy efficiency

In the UK the energy consumed by lighting represents 35% of the yearly electricity bill for an average household. Traditional incandescent lamps waste 90% of their energy in heat and produce 8000 times more greenhouse gases than the newest energy efficient bulbs. Hence they are no longer being produced in the UK and are already banned in Australia and New Zealand.

As we say goodbye to the traditional light bulb, new generation LEDs (light emitting diodes) have been developed that emit varying colour temperatures and a good quality source of light, akin to that of low voltage. They provide the equivalent illumination as 50-75w low voltage halogen downlight for approximately a fourth of the power consumption.

Compact Fluorescent lamps have high outputs whilst using very little energy to run and can be used as direct replacements for incandescent bulbs. It has taken many years of development to produce energy efficient lamps that you would want to design into your scheme and although these fittings cost more initially, they more than pay for themselves in longevity and savings in energy (appx £53 saving for a CFL compared to an incandescent over its lifetime).

Part L1a of Building Regulations stipulates that all new buildings and most extensions (any where Building Control is involved) require 25% of all light fittings in regular use areas to be energy efficient; Energy efficient lights have a luminous efficiency greater than 40 lumens per circuit watt. Always check with your lighting supplier or electrician before purchasing fittings to ensure they comply. Low voltage fittings are not compliant, but CFLs and new generation LEDs are.

Bathrooms and wet areas

Within a bathroom there are various zones defined by their proximity to wet areas which demand a specifically rated light fitting for safety. Fittings are given different IP ratings (‘Ingress Protection’ or water resistance to you and me). Most fittings indicate whether they have passed a particular IP rating. Again if in doubt, check with your electrician.

Fibre optics are a great way to introduce interest and coloured lighting to a wet area. As the control unit is remotely positioned, they are perfect for creating a twinkly ceiling detail or lit shelves and niches.

Julia’s top tip

If you have an interest in lighting and want to discover the amazing effects you can achieve I highly recommend attending a seminar by Rebecca Weir, one of the UK’s leading lighting designers. Take a look at her website www.lightiq.com for other seminar dates.