Lighting Buying Guide

LIGHTING BUYING GUIDE

To help you illuminate your home in style, we have produced a Lighting Buying Guide that describes different types of designer lighting and deciphers the technical jargon for you. Our guide aims to help you make an informed decision and to give you confidence when purchasing your ideal modern lighting.

Lighting is fundamental to your home’s interior. As well as providing illumination, lighting creates a distinctive ambience and warmth. For a cohesive look and feel, we recommend layering three types of lighting throughout your home – ambient, task and decorative. This will ensure that your home not only looks its very best, but that it works on a practical level too. This Lighting Buying Guide has been produced to talk you through these different lighting methods, in order for you to make an informed decision about what’s right for you and your space. After all, the choice available these days can be overwhelming. We are confident that this guide will provide you with the information you need to shop in confidence.

AMBIENT LIGHTING

One of the main reasons that we shop for lighting is to fulfil a practical or functional need. Ambient lights act as a replacement for natural light in our homes and often come as pendant lights which hang in the centre of the room for even illumination.

There are countless lights to choose from depending on the style of your room. This simple contemporary pendant is ideal for living or hallway areas and offers a soft, warm glow. They look particularly striking hung in clusters of three in a spacious or open-plan living area.

Dining rooms look great with a pendant hung directly over a dining table.

For bedrooms, hanging pendants are important, not only will these offer a delicate glow ideal for a relaxed environment, but they also become a focal point in the room, even when the light is turned off.

TASK LIGHTING

Task lights are mainly used when you need additional or precise light for a particular job, such as working at a computer, sewing or reading.

Desk lamps are a common source of functional lighting and offer a direct and intense light.

Kitchens or cooking areas are best lit via spot or wall lights as these offer a focussed and uncomplicated light. They are fixed with hidden wiring and can often be twisted manually to direct the light in the preferred direction.

STATEMENT/DECORATIVE LIGHTING

Once you have the basics sorted, you can start to think about adding statement lighting to your interior for that ‘WOW’ factor. Shopping for decorative lighting can be a lot of fun as there are so many different options to choose from and if you have the key elements already in place, it shouldn’t need too much practical consideration.

TECHNICAL DETAILS

Incandescent Bulbs
Incandescent bulbs are a familiar concept – they produce light by means of a filament wire.

CFL Bulbs
Compact Fluorescent Lamps, also known as Energy-Saving Bulbs, give off a similar ‘warming’ light to incandescent bulbs and use around 70% less energy. They are safe to use and handle as they produce less heat.

LED Bulbs
Light Emitting Diodes use up to 90% less energy than incandescent bulbs and are the most energy-efficient bulb available on the market. They give a warm light and last the longest of any bulb on the market, typically up to twenty five years.