Lighting the Way

Nothing highlights your decor and sets the tone for your spaces like well-chosen lighting. Elaine and Richard Kunicki share a few of the ways they add authenticity to their Billerica, Massachusetts, home with reproduction lighting:

1 Task master. Start by considering the type of room in which your primitive lighting will be used. Heavily trafficked areas or work spaces, such as the kitchen, will require more candlepower than areas that are less used and need mostly mood lighting. Choose your overhead lighting or task lighting accordingly.

2 Material issues. The Kunickis chose a multicolored candelabra-style chandelier for their dining room to provide visual warmth and enhance the dining experience. A punchedtin fixture in the breakfast nook has a decidedly more casual look and meshes well with other lighting in the room, including a metal candle stand and wall sconces.

3 Suitably sconced. Utilize sconce-style fixtures to underscore your design intent. Simple shapes won’t distract from artwork or the cabinets they adorn. Flashier designs, such as the reproduction globe-glass sconces in the Kunickis’ den, draw the eye on their own as well as cast light on cherished artwork.

4 Magical multiplicity. Include multiple types and sources of light within each room, incorporating real and battery- or electric-powered candles on tabletops and windowsills or in hanging lanterns, in addition to wall sconces, table and standing lamps, and overhead fixtures. These can be used at different times of day, as needed, or combined to cast layers of light throughout the room.