The Ultimate Guide to Lighting Your Home

Choosing and placing the right lighting in your home can work wonders, helping to enhance your scheme, illuminate your furnishings and create a warm and inviting atmosphere for you and your guests. Wondering where to start? We’ve put together the ultimate guide to letting adding light to your home…

What Are the Different Types of Home Lighting?

Table Lamps

Table lamps sit beautifully on side tables or hallway dressers and are perfect for focusing light in a particular area. If you have a reading nook, a work space or simply a corner of your room that needs a little brightening up, we would recommend featuring one.

Top tip: When positioning a table lamp, the bottom of the shade should be slightly below your line of sight. Shorter, squatter designs pull a scheme in, making a space feel cosier; taller designs add height and elegance.

Ceiling Pendants

Pendants are best utilised where you want light focused from above. They are commonly found above dining tables or kitchen islands as well as in entrance halls. Along with being practical, there are some striking pendants which double up as beautiful works of art.

Top tip: If you have a smaller pendant shade, gather a selection together and hang them at different heights to create an attractive installation that is truly unique to your home.

Wall Lights

Wall lights are considered the most classic form of lighting. They require no floor or table space, and are best suited to simple uncluttered schemes. They look wonderful in pairs placed either side of a fireplace, a work of art, or along a hallway to light the way.

Top tip: Position your wall lights higher up on the wall to make the room feel larger, or lower down to create an intimate atmosphere. Dimmer bulbs are also popular as thet add an extra level of control in lighting your home.

Floor Lamps

Floor lamps typically provide more light than a table lamp, but can be a lot bulkier, so choose a tall and slender base if this is a concern. Alternatively, a mixture of floor and table lamps at different heights create balance and harmony.

Top tip: Place your floor lamp in the corner of your room to reflect light back into the centre.

Ready-Made Lampshades

Ready-made lampshades are a wonderful way to add some colour, pattern and texture to your interiors. Available in a variety of shapes and sizes to suit every different interior style, they will instantly transform your home.

Top tip: Your shade should be twice as wide as the lamp base, and one third of the total height of the lamp.

Bespoke Lampshades

Bespoke lampshades are made in your favourite fabric so that is seamlessly fits into your interior scheme. Made to the highest quality by our expert team, we will work with you to create something truly unique for your home.

Top tip: Your design can be personalised with braid, pom-pom or trimmings to add character to your lighting.

What Are the Different Shapes of Lampshade?

The lampshade itself is just as important as the base, so familiarise yourself with all the options before choosing. There are many different styles and shapes of lampshade; from classic empires and contemporary drums, striking squares and fluted shades. However, when choosing your style and shape of lampshade, it’s important to consider the type of lamp base you’re pairing it with, as well as where it will be placed within your wider scheme.

As a rule of thumb, it's advised that you match like-with-like. For example, a square or rectangular lamp shades often work best with a square or rectangular lamp base, while a curved shade will pair well with a shapely base. The setting will also influence your choice as classic styles such as an empire or oval shades will work well in more traditional homes, while more modern shape such as a square or drums will suit contemporary interior. Of course, these are general rules, and we encourage you to experiment a little, to find the right combination to achieve the style you're looking to achieve.

Choose your favourite shape...

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Ultimate Guide to Lighting Your Home....

Lighting for Direction

Being clever with your lighting can not only highlight period features and banish dark shadows, it can actually transform the size and scale of your room. And when planned effectively, you can create the atmosphere that you want, whilst devising flexible options for lighting your home. A good rule to follow it multi-layering. This means adding sources of light at different heights across the room, as different types of lighting serve different functions.

Ceiling lights have the widest reach and can significantly enlarge the appearance of a space. They are perfect for illuminating rooms that don't receive much natural light as their cast is far and wide. Commonly used in kitchens, bathrooms, and dining spaces, ceiling lights are also valuable in living rooms and bedrooms during the daytime when a brighter light is needed.

If you are looking to elevate the proportions of your room, wall lights with upward projections can draw the eye upward, creating the illusion of increased space and height. They are also fantastic for adding light midway up a wall, breaking up large blocks of colour or large pieces of artwork.

Finally, table lamps placed on side tables or beside the bed can reduce the shadows that often fall in the corners of a room. These lamps add depth and are perfect for creating a cosy atmosphere, especially in the evening when you seek a calmer, softer source of light.

Lighting as Artwork

Doubling up as both a practical addition to your interior, and an eye-catching component of the room. table lamps, wall lights and pendants can assume the role of artwork in your home. And with so many creative designs on the market, these sculptural showpieces and magnificent masterpieces are to be admired in their own right. However, on finding the perfect base or shade to complement your scheme, you will see how it can instantly transform the space. Injecting colour, shape, textile and form into your interiors, they provide a central focus and offer a great talking point.

Lighting for Function

Whether you are placing an adjustable floor lamp next to your favourite reading spot, or a sleek wall light to brighten your bathroom mirror, lighting is ultimately about illuminating your home. Essential for creating a practical and efficient living space, functional lighting is especially important in task-oriented rooms. Over-island lanterns in the kitchen, desk lamps in the study, outdoor lighting in your entranceway; each will enhance functionality and ensure that each area of your home is well-lit and suited to its intended purpose.

With this principal function in mind, we are also very excited to showcase our new range of rechargeable table lamps. Beautiful and versatile, these stylish cordless designs can join you for alfresco drinks at dusk, a relaxing soak in the bath, or an afternoon reading session as the sun goes down. Opening a whole new realm of possibilities when it comes to positioning lighting in your home, our rechargeable lamps can be rearranged and taken with you, wherever you go.

Lighting for Style

Each piece in our currated collection of lighting is carefully chosen to inject personality and character into your home. Whether you live in a traditional property, a country cottage, a contemporary new build or an eclectic residence, your choice of lighting can further accentuate your preferred interior style and highlight the unique features of your home.

It is important to consider the materials used in your lighting fixtures. Glass and polished metals achieve a sleek, modern look, while patterned fabrics and elaborate trimmings add a more decorative, lived-in feel. Adding a kick pleat to your bespoke lampshade to inject some playful charm, or choose a lamp with a striking silhouette to mimic the clean lines of your contemporary home; never underestimate how powerful these subtle design details can be on the overall style of your home.

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Lighting To Make a Statement

From sensational chandeliers to showstopping pendants, statement lighting is the ultimate way to create a focal point within a room. Whether highlighting treasured features such as photographs or artwork to make them stand out, or selecting lighting fixtures that command attention in their own right, statement lighting adds a dramatic and stylish touch to any room in your home.

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What Are the Different Types of Home Lighting?

Table Lamps

Wall Lights

Wall lights are considered the most classic form of lighting. They require no floor or table space and are best suited to simple uncluttered schemes. They look wonderful in pairs placed either side of a fireplace, work of art, or along a hallway.

Ceiling Pendants

Pendants are best utilised where you want light focused from above. They are commonly found above dining tables or kitchen islands as well as in entrance halls. Along with being practical, there are some truly striking pendant designs which double up as beautiful works of art.

Top tip: Hang a selection of pendants together at different heights to create an attractive installation.

Floor Lamps

Floor lamps are ideal if you’re lacking table-top space. They typically provide more light than a table lamp, but can be a lot bulkier, so choose a tall and slender base if this is a concern. Alternatively, a mixture of floor and table lamps arranged at different heights creates balance and harmony.

Top tip: Place your floor lamp in the corner of your room to reflect light back into the centre.

What Are the Different Types of Lampshades?

The lampshade itself is just as important as the base, so familiarise yourself with all the options before choosing. The main lampshade shapes are:

Drum

Drum lampshades are the most commonly seen type. They are cylindrical and can be tall and narrow or short and wide. If your lamp shade base is particularly unusual or striking, a drum lampshade in a plain fabric will be a smart addition without distracting from it.

Empire

Empire lampshades taper outwards towards the bottom and come in gathered or non-gathered varieties. Gathered shades have a more traditional appeal and should be covered with a plain or abstract design fabric for the best results.

Straight Square

Straight square lampshades, like rectangular ones, have a smart feel, but their added height makes them perfect for showcasing a fabric with an all-over pattern or prominent motif.

Square

Square lampshades are similar to empire lampshades except they have panelled sides resulting in a square or rectangular bottom. They are also seen as quite traditional, sitting well on minimal or antique floor and table lamp bases.

Rectangle

Rectangle shades have a professional air about them and are often suited to quite formal schemes. They work well on wall lights or tall thin floor lamp bases.

What Kind of Lampshade to Choose

The type of lampshade to go for will depend on the lamp base and interior style...

Shape

As a general rule, if you have a rounded base, then a round shade such as a drum or empire in a similar or complementary shade will look most at home. If you want an eye-catching piece, consider a round shade on an angular base or vice versa.

You should also think about the surrounding décor and how the shade will fit in with or stand out from this. A shade with straight sides can look striking against an abstract wallpaper design, while one with tapered sides can provide welcome relief in an otherwise geometrically styled space.

Size

For table lamps, select a shade at least three quarters the height of the base to achieve a balanced look. If it’s a particularly squat base, you can pair it with a wider shade, whereas a slender base will often call for a narrower shade.

Floor lamps can usually accommodate shades with a minimum diameter of 45cm, depending on the size of the base. Skinny floor lamps can appear ‘top heavy’ with wide shades, while tripod styles often need one to balance their wider base.

Bespoke Lampshades

With our bespoke service, you can have a beautiful custom lampshade made with any of the designer fabrics on our website. Drum, empire, square, oval, and coolie shapes are available in sizes starting from 20cm (8”) and you can also add trimmings such as a bobble fringe for a unique overall finish. Our custom made lampshades are ready within four to six weeks from design to delivery. Request a quote today.