People often assume that if you’re logical and organised then you’re not creative, and that creative people are away with the fairies. Codswallop. I’m sure there are those that fit this stereotype but I couldn’t come up with the ideas and designs that I produce if I wasn’t creative, yet I love a good process, and my friends and family will tell you my organisational skills are superhuman. Of course there’s a fine line between being organised and being bossy and I probably walk that line…
Designing a room is an interative process for me. I typically follow a number of steps, but then repeat them to see if everything still works together. There are always changes so I keep repeating the steps until I’m happy with the whole scheme. It’s not always this logical of course, sometimes I find an amazing light and I build the whole scheme around it. Flexible too see!
Speaking of lighting, I see lots of lighting mistakes – ceiling runways (too many recessed spotlights in the ceiling), wall lights and ceiling light that are too small for the room, floor lamps that are too big for the room. Not enough lighting is the most common. So I thought I’d share a few tips in case any of this sounds familiar.
Tip 1, try planning your lighting around scenarios. Take the living room for example, these would be my scenarios:
- I’m building flatpack furniture and need all the light (and help…) I can get
- I’ve got friends coming over and need to dim the lights so they won’t notice I haven’t hoovered or dusted…
- It’s been a long day and I want just enough light that I won’t fall over the furniture when topping up my wine
You then match each scenario to a lighting source. It works for all rooms – try it!
Tip 2, you should aim for at least 2, preferably 3 sources of light. Even my tiny upstairs bathroom below has 3 light sources – recessed ceiling spots for bright light, over mirror light for tweezing (come on we all do it), and a tiny spot light hidden behind a beam for night time bathroom visits.
Tip 3, don’t limit yourself to the obvious solutions, be creative. The kitchen isn’t the only place you can have under shelf and in-cupboard lighting. Forget about ceiling lights, what about floor and skirting board lights. Make features of your mirrors and artwork with over and behind frame lighting. No surface, nook or cranny should be overlooked.
Hidden lighting at 3 levels in this bathroom by FORM Architectural Bureau
Tip 4, your light fittings don’t need to match either, in fact it’s better if they don’t or your room can end up looking like a page from the (insert name of retailer) catalogue. It increases your opportunity to add more interest, colour and texture to your room. I just paired blue enamel pendants with faux deer hide table lamp shades in my summer house.
So take a look around, how many sources of light do you have, do you need another? Just don’t add more ceiling spots – very unflattering!
