My Favourite Subject…Lighting!
Hello September! I always see September as a fresh start month, almost like New Year’s Day. I think it’s been inbuilt from my school days, fresh school year, new bag and new stationery (my favourite thing to shop for growing up!). Now it’s the same but for my children.
This morning I decorated the table to get them excited for the new school year. It’s my youngest child’s first ever day of school and I just thought, why not make it special for all of them? It made the first day of school a bit more exciting and they were very excited about their new keyrings on their bags!
What welcomed my children this morning
On the ‘subject’ (excuse the pun!) of school I decided not long after I had my 3rd baby to pursue a career in Interior Design and I chose to study with the Interior Designers Hub. My absolute favourite module was lighting! Within my huddle group module 7 is known as ‘Sophie’s Module’ because I enjoyed it so much! I’ve always enjoyed having quirky lights in my home and in my portfolio tasks for my assignments I chose unusual lighting as well. I like to make a functional necessity aesthetically pleasing but also it doesn’t hurt to have a talking point does it? For my 30th birthday my husband made me this lamp and I love it! He is often saying it should go but, why? It provides light to the room and is so special because he made it for me. Plus, no one else has one the same one!
My ‘Lady Lamp’ which my husband made for me
I enjoy the way lighting can affect the mood and function of a room. At one point a light provides task lighting in order to complete homework but then it can be dimmed down to provide an ambient mood to eat dinner and socialise. Lighting is one of the most fundamental criteria in interior design projects. Not only is light needed in order to see, but within interior design it can affect a room and how it is used. When making decisions on lighting it is important to consider the purpose and function of the room and what lighting it will require.
There are different types of lighting. Ambient lighting is general light, natural or artificial, which creates a comfortable feeling within a space. It does not need to be particularly bright but allows us to use the space for general purposes. Ambient lighting can be created using different light fixtures such as ceiling lights, floor or table lamps. There are fewer, softer shadows with ambient lighting as there is no clear direction. Task lighting is used for specific tasks purposes, for example, knitting, cooking or reading. Or in the case in my family home, homework. It has a clear purpose and direction. Task lighting can create a glare and dark shadows. The light needs to be a stronger light source in order to complete the task. Decorative or accent (my favourite type!) is a type of lighting which is used to highlight something within a space. It could be that the light fixture itself is a feature or it could be used to highlight something within the room for visual interest. An example of this is artwork on the wall or an interesting architectural aspect within the room, the light will then be focused directly on that to draw people’s attention.
To create a good lighting scheme within a space you should use several lighting points which ought to include all 3 types of lighting at different heights to create successful lighting layers.
Lighting layers
Did you know that within the context of lighting, the term ‘lamp’ actually refers to bulbs? There are many different lamps available in different shapes, sizes and strengths. The most common lamps are Halogen, CFL and LED. There are 3 distinct ranges of colour temperature; warm, neutral and cool and when designing a space it is very important to consider the lamps used within the finished room and the impact this will have on the colour and its temperature and also the effect it will have on walls, objects and furniture. For example, in this image the table lamps are shown with different bulbs; cool, neutral and warm. The different ranges show the wall, bedside table and bedding to be different colours. The one on the left in the cooler light shows the bedding to be grey with a blue bedside table and the wall colour an off white. The middle image in the neutral light shows the bedding to be slightly yellow, the bedside table green and the wall colour creamy yellow. The right hand image in the warmer light shows the bedding to be pink, the bedside table to be white and the wall colour pink. The bedside table, bedding and wall are exactly the same but change colour to our eye due to the different temperature of the lamps.
How colour temperature can impact a space
There is soooo much more to lighting, I could go on as like I say this is one of my favourite aspects of interior design, I’ll save the rest for another day!
If you also love lighting but not sure how to implement a good, successful scheme within your home, then get in contact! Perhaps you want to be a bit more adventurous but not sure how? Or maybe you just need to bring some more layered lighting in. Why not visit my website www.sophielawsinteriors.co.uk or pop me an email at sophielawsinteriors@outloo.com and we can have a chat about how I can make your space a happy place!