Not sure about you but there is not a lot lighting up my life right now. Resultingly when I’m not walking the dog, bingeing on Netflix or eating more than I probably should I’m spending way too long indoors pondering the big questions… like how to change things up at home (without spending too much money or heading to the shops). The first – spending money - banished by my husband and the second courtesy of this now seemingly never ending lockdown!
So hey in an attempt to keep things light & breezy I thought we might look a bit closer at lighting and specifically how to create (more) atmosphere within your home. We will look beyond the fixed ceiling lighting of your home (be they overhead pendants, or downlights or both) as they are not easily changed without engaging an electrician (and likely spending a lot of money) and instead focus on the creation of ambience and mood with the use of accent lighting which can simply be plugged in.
Remember lighting is transformative – it changes the mood of a space, creates shadows and play with our senses. As the name suggests accent lighting is used to accent your environment - it is generally the final layer of lighting in a room & used to highlight or accent something in a room like an artwork or a piece of furniture eg. next to armchair so that you can cast light down on a book that you are devouring.
It’s worth noting that having different lights, at different heights is a sure fire way to instantly change up the mood of your room and create a bit of variety away from the rows of overhead lights. So lets look at some of the accent light styles out there.
Floor lamps – as the name suggests these are lamps that stand on the floor and are are usually (though not always) tall and thus helpful in offering light at a different heights - an instant mood changer in your room. A higher pool of light can throw light down on your book (or cheese platter as may be the case at the moment) or the higher pool of light can highlight something like an artwork or texture on the wall etc.
To the trade. Available from Rickward Design Studio.
Of course if you are really wanting to show off an artwork there are a number of gorgeous picture lights out there but then we are back to requiring an electrician so lets move on to table lamps.
As the name suggests table lamps are for a side table, or desk or bedside – they are great at helping create atmosphere in your room – when watching tv, surfing Pinterest or drinking wine or if lockdown has made you really talented at multi tasking, then all three…
Depending on the design not all table lamps are they useful in providing enough light for reading though – so if this is important think about a directional light to angle the light where it is most needed.
To the trade - available through Rickward Design Studio.
To the trade - available through Rickward Design Studio.
Also remember the colour of the lampshade will also determine how much light is extruded – with the dark shades throwing light up or down but not necessarily providing an ambient glow. Or the gorgeous coloured floral shades creating a tinged lighting. Also metal lamps – look glamorous and fabulous – but not always that useful in providing a good light source for old eyes.. (just saying).
Stay well (and sane)
Elisha x
This blog post forms part of our website services and is subject to our legal notices accessible at www.rickwardesignstudio.com.au