Lighting Design Tips: The 3 Essential Layers Explained

Good lighting can completely transform a home. It’s not just about how bright a room is, it’s about mood, function and style. The secret to truly inviting interiors lies in layered lighting, which combines ambient, task and accent lighting. When done right, it creates a home that’s functional, welcoming and visually striking.

Here’s some considerations with a few of my favourite lighting suppliers along the way, plus tips on drawing up a successful lighting plan for your space.

1. Ambient Lighting: The Foundation

Ambient lighting provides the overall illumination for a room, ensuring it’s bright enough to move around comfortably. It’s the foundation layer of any lighting plan.

Examples: Ceiling lights, recessed downlights, chandeliers.

Top Tip: Use dimmers to adjust the intensity and mood.

My go-to for elegant ceiling fixtures is Jim Lawrence which offers timeless designs that complement both classic and contemporary interiors.

2. Task Lighting: Light Where You Need It

Task lighting focuses light where you need it for specific activities like cooking, reading, or working. It makes daily tasks easier while enhancing the room’s style.

Examples: Desk lamps, under-cabinet kitchen lights, bedside reading lights.

Top Tip: Position lights to reduce shadows and glare - an interior designer (like me!) or a lighting designer will be able to advise you on lighting plans

Lamps with stylish shades or metallic finishes add personality to functional lighting. I often use Pooky which functional lamps & pendants that are also a design feature.

3. Accent Lighting: Highlight Features

Accent lighting draws attention to architectural features, artwork or decorative objects. It adds drama and depth to a room.

Examples: Picture lights, wall washers, LED strips, spotlights.

Top Tip: Use accent lighting sparingly to create focal points to highlight your homes best features.

Corston Architectural Detail have a beautiful selection of accent lights that will work well with a range of design styles.

4. Decorative Lighting: The Finishing Touch

Decorative lighting isn’t just functional – it’s a style statement. Think chandeliers over a dining table and sculptural floor lamps in corners. Decorative lighting ties together the three layers and adds extra personality. Designers style with decorative lights to bring the room scheme together through colour, material, form and pattern.

Conclusion

Combining ambient, task and accent lighting ensures your spaces are bright where they need to be, moody where appropriate and stylish throughout, with decorative lighting added to elevate the scheme.

Before starting a lighting plan you firstly need to do some space planning and decide a furniture plan for the room so you know where the light is required. The worst mistake to make is to have a grid of ceiling spotlights that create a flat even light in the room; downlights are incredibly unflattering and the space will feel like a supermarket! Instead you want to create areas of interest and an inviting atmosphere through different levels of light situated in considered areas within the room, more like a cosy French bistro! Use your furniture plan and start with adding the ambient light, add in task lighting where it’s required, next add the accent lights to draw attention to the best features of the room and lastly add the decorative lights to bring the room scheme together.

Want some support to bring layered lighting to your home? I can help you create a considered furniture plan and lighting plan to share with your electrician to avoid having to make quick decisions on the spot! I can also help you choose the right lighting fixtures, bulbs and accessories for every room.

Please get in touch to book a consultation.