Five bright ideas with lighting

Box™ interior designer, Sam Elliot, describes five ways that a good lighting plan lets the architecture of your home shine…

Three

Lighting above the kitchen bench is either pendants (perhaps three different shapes/forms but in the same collection) or track lighting which suits a cleaner, more stylised look. Box tends to install lighting under high-level cupboards.

Over-bench lighting and cabinet lighting are always on a separate switch and again on a dimmer so you can crank them up when cooking yet turn them down to create the right mood for dinner guests.

Four

LED bulbs are preferred in recessed ceiling lights for their energy-saving qualities and, for a contemporary look that suits the modernist mood, we tend to specify black casings (on a white ceiling) that can tilt to direct the light.

Five

Stake lights are a good option in the gardens. These are run on cables and placed under features such as trees or an architectural feature. Avoid harsh direct spotlights and choose security lighting that washes walls instead.

One

To allow better ambience in a living room, a combination of ceiling and wall lights are used. Light that bounces off the walls is more soothing and creates ambience and can be positioned to pick out an artwork, plant or architectural feature.

Don’t pepper the ceiling with recessed lights; keep them as pared back as possible and aim for symmetry rather than scattered everywhere. And don’t forget the dimmer especially on the overhead lights.

Two

Apart from the overhead lighting that is traditional in bathrooms, Box™ has recently been installing pendant lighting on either side of the hand basin as an alternative to side lights. Teamed with a round mirror this brings a glamorous look to the smallest room in the home.

The pendants don’t have shades (unless these are made of glass) because that would be impractical for shaving or applying make-up (the light would simply pool onto the vanity top). Oversized decorative crystal bulbs are proving popular for this purpose.

Strip lighting that operates on a sensor can be installed under a wall-hung vanity: this lends a soft ambience to the room that transforms it into a peaceful sanctuary. The lights also come on automatically during that middle-of-the night dash to the loo.