SHED SOME LIGHT

Good lighting is what brings an interior to life

Lighting to me is everything. Without it, a room is never finished. Just as the type of music you play at a party will dictate how the party evolves, lighting unequivocally sets the mood and tone of an interior. People can destroy their homes with awful lighting, because without correct illumination even the most well-considered scheme will feel flat and uncomfortable. Conversely, basic furnishings and fixtures can look fabulous if they are lit properly. The trick is to build lighting up in careful layers, and ensure it is adjustable so it can be adapted to every occasion. At its simplest, good lighting combines a basecoat of task lighting, so you can see what you’re doing, with mood lighting as the atmospheric topcoat. Star pieces of lighting can be a spectacular addition and are one of my favourite ways to introduce a sense of theatre to a space. Sometimes a statement light fitting doesn’t even have to be a source of light itself, but can be lit up by concealed directional spotlights recessed into the ceiling, floor or wall to create drama and atmosphere.

Suspended low over the lacquered surface of a copper-based table by Robert Kuo, this impressive contemporary lantern, Lustre Ovale from Galerie Van der Straeten, is the centrepiece of an entrance hall in a New York apartment. It lights the painting, I Am Not a Geisha by Daniel Kelly, while the metal frame casts a dramatic starburst pattern of shadows onto the ceiling.

Spectacular lights should look like pieces of sculpture, and still have an impact on a space even when they are not lit. This amazing pendant light is made of tiers of thin white plaster tiles for a contemporary twist on traditional chandeliers of tiered crystal. Like an oversized upside-down wedding cake, it hangs in the centre of a circular stairwell.

SPARKLE

Far more than a merely functional element, lighting is one of the most dynamic and versatile design ingredients you can use in an interior, creating pools of light and dramatic shadows, drawing the focus of attention where you want it, highlighting artworks and objects, and enhancing the textures and colours of surfaces and materials. Statement lighting is an amazingly effective way to create drama. Whether antique or contemporary, ornate or sculptural, statement lights can have the impact of artworks even when they are unlit, as well as creating spectacular plays of light and shadow when they are.

Successful lighting design is the result of good planning. Lighting is such an essential ingredient – having a direct impact on mood as well as being a practical necessity – that it needs to be considered at the early stages of any project. A carefully thought-out lighting scheme – drawn up in consultation with a specialist lighting designer for best results – will build in flexibility in order to combine functionality with atmosphere and impact.

Decorative elements and objets are a great way to express your personality, and light adds an extra dimension. This lizard-shaped metal and crystal wall light, Lézard Électrique by Mathieu Lustrerie, has pride of place on a shelf, bringing a quirky and humorous twist to a living space.

Multifaceted crystal sparkles like nothing else when light shines through it or reflects off its surface. These magnificent spirals of wired Swarovski crystals bring everything I love to a space in a single design – glamour, drama and impact. I often use these sculptural pieces as the wow factor in hallways or have them swirling through the centre of a stairwell.

DESIGN

I always design the lighting for an interior on floor plans and elevations, working out exactly the right balance and where I want each beam or wash of light to fall. Once the surface materials have been chosen and the furniture layout has been planned, I can then decide where I want pools of light in a seating area, where I need to spotlight artworks or provide task lighting over a work surface, whether I want shadow-gap lighting up a staircase or low-level wall lights washing over the treads, whether I want backlighting in a glass-fronted niche or LED strips running along the underside of shelves, and whether I want floor lights, wall lights or downlights recessed in the ceiling.

Every aspect requires absolute precision. A series of pendant lights suspended over a dining table, for example, need to be spaced accurately to fit the proportions of the particular table, which may, in turn, be placed on an inset panel of contrasting material within the main flooring. The pendants need to hang at exactly the right height to provide flattering, conducive lighting, without blocking the view of people sitting opposite each other.

The most essential ingredient is flexibility, which can be achieved by installing several circuits and dimmer switches for optimum control: a five-amp circuit for task lights and table and floor lamps; a circuit for recess lighting to highlight artworks and walls; a circuit for low-level or shadow-gap lighting; and another for wall lights and chandeliers.

Assessing the levels of natural light in an interior is the first step to designing your lighting.

The different views shown here (above and below) of the fabulous, dark lacquer, pivoting-panel doors in my home illustrate how much impact the choice of materials has on light.

I designed these innovative floor-to-ceiling doors to divide my television room from my open-plan dining space, and whatever angle they are moved to, their shiny surfaces bounce light around and reflect ever-changing views of the room.

Ambient lighting is provided by shadow-gap lighting and directional downlights recessed in the ceiling, while the shelves in the television room and in the kitchen breakfast nook (see far left portion of this image) are lit with LED strips along the underside of each shelf.

The cascade of Fluid pendant lights by Beau McClellan seems like an art installation when viewed from the walkway above, with the photograph by Daniel Parker behind. Suspended over the glossy lacquered surface of the bespoke Bellavista table, the hand-blown mirrored glass ’teardrops’ creates multidimensional reflections that change throughout the day.

This Lalique-style foor lamp by Mathieu Lustrerie has all the drama and presence of an illuminated sculpture and its beaded texture echoes the mesh curtain hanging behind it.

The combination of crystal and light produces a magical effect. These sparkling strands are part of a glamorous light suspended beside a bed.

I designed this Kelly Light Sculpture for Spina. Made from crystal, silver chain and chrome, it hangs from ceiling to floor, making a fantastic decorative feature and an effective zoning device in any room. Here, in one of my old sitting rooms, it lights up a photograph of the actress Jibby Beane by Nadav Kander.

Jeremy Cole’s White Flax pendant light is made up of 350 handcrafted porcelain ceramic leaves, arranged geometrically to distribute the light evenly. It hangs like a softly illuminated hedgehog, bringing a wonderfully spiky texture to a living room.

I used these enormous ‘floating’ bubbles, blown by DARK, to hang in the shades that I designed above the linear coffee tables in my sitting area, where they provide a wonderful ambient light. Being made of clear glass, they don’t obstruct views of the room in any direction, and their curves reflect light and balance out the strict straight lines elsewhere in the room.

Melogranoblu’s cloud-like formation of hand-blown glass bubbles, lit from above, forms a theatrical light installation over a dining table.

These glass chandeliers within metal gimbals, by Arteinmotion, have a great presence but still look delicate and light. Suspended at different levels, they are perfect for this double-height space, where they look stunning viewed from above or below.

These lightboxes were custom-designed by Kelly Hoppen for the Eastern-inspired hallway, reflecting its white décor and black joinery.

Stéphane Davidts’s brushed bronze and ivory Chinet lights cast a soft wash of light up and down a hall wall.

The linear bronze light I designed to hang above my dining table emphasizes the grid and balances the bubble lights on the other side of the room.

Gunmetal steel wall lights by Tristan Auer for Pouenat give soft, diffuse light in a bathroom.

Tom Dixon’s textured nickel-plated aluminium Gem pendants reflect light off their angled surfaces like the facets of a gemstone.

A combination of metal and opaque glass pendants and metal and paper wall lights, both by Kevin Reilly, provide chic illumination in a narrow hallway.

Reflected in a glass table at basement level, this glass and metal lantern is the last in a series commissioned from Kevin Reilly to hang through the centre of an oak and wrought-iron staircase.