The home lighting mistakes you’re probably making – and what to do instead

Sally Storey

Sally Storey knows a thing or two about lighting. With over 30 years’ experience designing architectural schemes for both luxury residential and commercial projects, she is one of the UK’s most renowned lighting experts, with four books on the subject under her belt.

“I am absolutely passionate about lighting,” she says. “It’s such an emotive tool, and I truly believe that it can directly impact how you feel. If lit badly, a space will feel uncomfortable, dull and lifeless. Done well, however, lighting has the power to lift not just the ambience in the room, but your mood as well. Therefore it can be one of the most transformative elements in an interior scheme.”

Her latest venture is a course with online learning platform Create Academy, in which she demystifies the lighting design process via a series of video lessons and downloadable workbooks. Here, she shares some of the key takeaways from the course, including ideas for schemes in both period properties and modern homes.

Think beyond the ‘big light’

“Traditionally, people focus on a central pendant as the main light source in a room. It then tends to be too bright or too dim, or too strong in one area and not strong enough in another,” says Storey. “Instead, we should aim to create layers of light. An interior designer builds up a palette of colours, textures, materials and fabrics, and light can be considered in a similar way. I have a palette of lighting options that I use to accentuate particular areas and create an overall mood.”

There are three fundamental types of lighting – ambient, accent and task – each of which serves a different purpose. “Getting the balance between these three is the key, and the perfect sources and styles of lighting will vary depending on whether you have a traditional property or a more contemporary interior,” she explains.

Get rid of the grid

When planning lighting from scratch, another mistake people often make is to install a regimented grid of spotlights, especially in the kitchen. “While this may illuminate the room, the light ends up focused on the floor rather than relating to the three-dimensional space,” says Storey. Instead, she suggests positioning lights strategically in order to highlight specific elements within the room.

“Interestingly, if you use a grid that shines directly on the floor, the room will feel smaller, the walls darker and the ceiling lower,” she says. “In fact, it’s much more flattering if some of those lights are angled to reflect off the walls, as the room will appear brighter and more spacious.” It’s also important to consider the layout, and to highlight specific functional elements such as a kitchen island and the surrounding area. Spotlights then can become accent lighting too.

Add the all-important accents

“For me, accent light is what provides the magic in a space,” says Storey. “Very simply, there are things in a room that you want to highlight, and accent lighting draws those key features out, reveals details of an object and creates drama. This could be a downlight on a sculpture, or the coffee table.”

Thanks to the availability of good-quality LED lighting, it’s also now easier than ever to illuminate shelves, either from the front, where the LED strip can be concealed by a discreet pelmet for a softer effect – ideal for bookshelves – or from the back, where it will accentuate the material of the shelf itself as well as items on it. Miniature downlights, recessed into the shelf, can be used to highlight objects or sculptures too.

“Lighting art also works well,” says Sally. “In a period home, where you may not be able to touch an ornate or listed ceiling, a picture light is a great solution; go for one that’s mounted on the frame. In a contemporary room, a recessed, surface-mounted or track-mounted spotlight will create a striking look.”

Embrace the ambient

Sally Storey

Ambient lighting provides general illumination in a space. “In a period home, this might be something decorative such as a pendant light or chandelier, which ideally would be slightly dimmed,” says Storey. “You might also have table lamps at a low level to create a soft, warm feel. In a modern setting, you could instead choose concealed light sources such as strips of LEDs recessed in the ceiling to create a wash of light down the walls, or alternatively you might include uplights set into the floor.”

Both can be particularly effective if they’re used to highlight a textured surface such as bare brick, stone or sculptural plaster surface. “It’s worth noting that, depending on how far away the light is from the wall, it will reveal or conceal the texture,” she continues. “Lit from a distance, it will create a very flat effect but bring the source closer, and the texture will be accentuated, which can be wonderful.”

Tackle task lighting

Finally, as the name suggests, task lighting has a distinct purpose and specifically relates to certain activities. This could be an adjustable arm wall light for reading in bed, under-cabinet lighting or pendants above a food preparation area in the kitchen, or wall-mounted lights for applying make-up or shaving in the bathroom. “For an effective and flexible scheme, you must be able to control the ambient, accent and task lighting separately, so install them on different circuits,” says Storey.

Consider colour and temperature

If a room feels dreary even with the lights on, it’s probably because the temperature of the light bulbs hasn’t been considered. From a technical point of view, the cooler the light, the higher the Kelvin, which is the measurement used to describe the colour temperature of the source. “For example, a cool light might be 3000 Kelvin, whereas soft candlelight could be 2000 Kelvin,” explains Storey. “What I recommend in a home is a base level of around 2700, with 2400 for LED strips, and in areas where you’d like things to feel a little cosier. Tuneable LEDs [which can be adjusted from cool to warm] can also be very useful.”

To get really technical, consider the colour rendition index, or CRI, which measures how closely an LED resembles natural light, and therefore how closely things illuminated by the light will appear to their real colour. “Natural light is 100 on the index, so look for LEDs that are into the 90s as the higher the colour rendition, the better things will look,” Storey explains. “LEDs with a higher CRI come at a premium but are worth the investment. The CRI should be labelled on the lighting product, and if it’s not, the quality is likely to be low.”

Use the right recipe in the kitchen

Most lighting techniques can be used in a kitchen, and ideally, they will be factored into the design from the planning stage. However, there are also ways of incorporating new lighting into an existing space. “If the cabinets are below the ceiling, put LEDs on top of the units to create reflected, ambient light,” says Storey. Starting from scratch? If yes, consider recessed spotlights in the ceiling and direct them onto the cabinets, or under-counter strip lights as an ambient source too. “Next, think about task lights, such as decorative pendants over a kitchen island, which could be on a dimmer switch to adjust at different times of the day. If necessary, these could be supplemented with stronger downlights either side,” she continues. “Under-cupboard downlights work brilliantly to illuminate countertops.”

Choose beautiful (and functional) bathroom lighting

Bathrooms lighting should go from ultra-practical to soft and spa-like at the flick of a switch. “In the morning, bright lights encourage get up and go, and lights that stand proud either side of a mirror will illuminate the face evenly,” says Storey. “You can add a downlight above, but angle it towards the mirror, so it bounces off the basin and back on to your face. This will also make a feature of the vanity unit.”

Backlighting a mirror will create depth as well as an ambient glow, as will illuminating the back wall of the shower or the wall behind the bath. “Rather than placing lights directly above your head, an even wash of light on a wall will make sure the room is well lit. Alternatively, position downlights closer to the tiles to emphasise the surface texture and create a dramatic effect. Gentle, low-level uplights will pick up the texture in a softer way.”

Sally is the design director of John Cullen Lighting