F loor lamps

Like all good lights, a floor lamp should enhance the beauty of your room whether it’s switched on or not. Adding one instantly adds a welcoming feel to a room, says Adele. “It’s great for providing that little bit of extra light where you need it. I tell my clients that lamps play an important role in filling out the light in a room. My advice is to start with one that’s inexpensive and introduces the right light so you can enjoy your room. You can always upgrade when you do find the ‘perfect’ one.” Scale is important for floor lamps and so is thinking about which angle you’ll be looking at it from – you don’t want the globe too visible – and what sort of light it will throw.

table lamps

Table lamps provide flexible, warm ambient light. “Wintry days and long, dark evenings mean now is a great time to invest in one,” says Allira Bell, stylist for Temple & Webster, adding that styles with natural and tactile lampshades are selling well at the moment. Before you buy, think about how the shade will disperse and diffuse light as soft fabric will give a different glow to a lamp with, say, a metal shade. You can have a lot of fun with lamp height, material, colour and shape, but if you’re choosing a style for by the bed, just make sure the base won’t occupy too much precious real estate on your side tables.

wall lights

“Wall lights soften a room and can create a focal point or feature,” says Adele. “You can use them to suggest formal symmetry with a gentle illumination, or to break up a long hallway and make it feel luxurious rather than tunnel-like.” Wall lights are also fantastic for introducing texture and shadow. “They’re a musthave in all good lighting designs,” adds Jessica. “Wall sconces serve many functions in lighting – they can be soft in their output, which plays into mood, or they can be directional and wash light up into a space.”

pendant lights

“Pendants are a crucial ‘ingredient’ in the recipe for layered light,” says Jessica. “They help to bring the light closer to the work surface where you need it. And aside from the design aesthetics of the fixture itself, a pendant light can introduce contrast to a room.” If you’re looking to create texture and movement, you will need a pendant that casts some shadow, and a light globe that is a ‘point source’ to create that texture because an opal or diffuse globe just won’t work that well, says Adele. “If you want function below, invest in pendant lights that are reflective inside and push the light down – then buy a high-output light globe, making sure it won’t be in your eyeline.”

Also, remember that pendant lights don’t have to be placed in the centre of the room. “Using them asymmetrically, to add drama, can be transformative in a living space,” says Adele.

Finally, she advises carefully considering the scale of the light. “Pendants that sit just below the ceiling or are too small for the space will actually detract from the room.”