Add a Welcoming Vibe To Your Home With Soft Lighting

Getting the lighting right is essential to creating a cosy atmosphere in your home. Small changes can make a big difference in making your house an inviting home. Interior designer Benji Lewis offers his expert advice on lighting design to transform the way your home looks and feels.

Avoid overhead lights/spotlights, focus on side lighting by blending table lamps and floor lights and plentiful amounts of mirror glass.

By positioning a floor light or lamp in front of a mirror you’ll achieve double the effect of ambient light.

Floor sockets are brilliant for enabling you to position a side table and lamp more centrally in your space which creates a well-considered and glamorous impression.

Use light bulbs that are cool white only for task lighting otherwise you’ll create the same chilly impression you would when you open a fridge door. Look for bulbs that are warm white, to provide a warm glow.

Use dimmer switches, they’re fantastic for creating different feelings in a room.

Always include table lamps in your design thoughts and explore sculptural bases made in ceramic, glass or metal.

Vary the textiles on lampshades; linen provides a less formal feel than satin or silk.

Layer your ambient side lighting by using a neat floor lamp to cast a directional wash of light onto a space where you sit in the evening, alongside a table lamp that will provide a soft diffused glow.

No matter how splendid your ceiling pendant light is don’t assume that this will suffice in lighting your room. All its going to do is contain light around it without casting an ounce of ambience.

Put your lamp lighting on a separate circuit to your wall lights or overhead pendant, it’ll enable you to play around with different effects.

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