The Ultimate Guide To Decorative Lighting

22 July 2024

This is your ultimate guide to decorative lighting! As an established lighting wholesaler, we at Searchlight make sure our stock resembles a range of decorative lighting concepts. Read this blog and make sure your store is doing the same.

The Impact Of Designer Decorative Lighting

The impact of lighting on interior design is unquestionable. Not only does it facilitate the basic function of a room by providing ambient illumination, but it can also add depth, character, accents, texture, and so much more.

Lighting heavily impacts how you feel in a room. Without realising, lighting can control your productivity and focus, or your emotions and sense of calm. The feeling you get once you’ve entered a room is influenced by the glow it omits. Over-illumination can cause migraines, while little to no light limits practicality. Ultimately, decorative lighting is a balancing act.

There are no limitations to decorative lighting and the impact it can have. No matter the style, whether lighting is to be the forefront of a room's design or a complimentary accessory, there is a lot that can be done.

Understanding Layered Decorative Light

There are three layers of light that are the basis for any decorative lighting plan. Finding harmony amongst these three layers is the key to a perfected aesthetic.

Base Layer: Ambient Lighting
When people refer to ambience, they’re talking about the general lighting of a room. Ambient lighting fills a space from corner to corner and is considered the base layer of any lighting plan. The brightness or dullness of ambient light can drastically affect a room's atmosphere, from light and energetic, to dark and sultry.

Second Layer: Task Lighting
Some areas, where specific tasks are carried out, require more light. An office desk, kitchen counter, or bathroom mirror needs crisper illumination than other spots in the room. Task lighting facilitates whatever task needs doing by providing more light to a specific area. While task lighting is purely functional, that is not to say it cannot be decorative.

Final Layer: Accent Lighting
Now to add dimension, elevate and dramatize the design features of a room. Accent lighting is used to divert eyeline to a focal point in a room to a certain feature. Artwork, sculptures, arranged shelves or ornate furnishings will all appear more vibrant and enticing with the support of accent lighting.

Decorative Lighting Effects

Downlighting
Downlighting is likely the most common form of lighting used in interior design. Most ambient lights or fitted lighting fixtures are downlights. While it works well to provide a flush of light across a vast space, downlighting is typically deemed unflattering. Hence, downlighting is usually the base layer, wherein decorative lighting plans are built on top of.

Uplighting
Uplighting is a softer approach to ambient light. By omitting light upward, it then reflects from the ceiling, offering delicate illumination.

Wall Washing
Wall washing evenly spreads light across a vertical surface. By positioning a light at a far enough distance, the beam can cover an entire surface, making a room look and feel bigger.

Wall Grazing
With the opposite effect to wall washing, wall grazing is where a fixture is purposefully positioned close to a wall, creating depth and shadow. Grazing can accentuate a wall's texture or patterns and subtly manipulate eyeline.

Spotlighting
Spotlights can come in many forms, and appeal to both task and accent lighting layers. For decorative purposes, spotlights are used to highlight specific elements of a room that the interior designer wants to draw attention to.

Perimeter Lighting
Perimeter lighting is used to accentuate the dimensions of a room. In doing so, it expands its apparent size. This is particularly appealing for rooms that are physically smaller in size. Good decorative lighting is about altering one’s perception of a space.

Types Of Decorative Lighting Fixtures

Pendants
Ambient – Downlighting
Pendants are an example of extravagant, centre-piece lighting fixtures. Cascading down from the ceiling, pendants inject decadence and emphasise ceiling height wherever they’re used; over dining tables, tops of staircases, or entryways.

Chandeliers
Ambient – Down / Uplighting
Nothing suggests elegance like a chandelier. Associated with traditional style and luxuriousness, chandeliers are both breathtaking and picturesque. In terms of decorative lighting, they are certainly a standalone piece that should be built around, not on top of.

Floor Lamps
Task – Downlighting – Wall Washing / Grazing
Floor lamps come in a range of styles, and fit to any individual's taste. Whether strategically placed in a reading corner, used as a structural piece, or to brighten dark areas... Floor lamps can shift a room's atmosphere, control eyeline, and enlarge a space. The range of floor lamps means they can be adjusted in a decorative lighting plan.

Table Lamps
Task – Spotlight – Wall Grazing
In living rooms, dining rooms, bedrooms, offices and entryways, table lamps add a subtle yet practical touch. While it’s rare for a table lamp to be the focal point of a room, that’s not to say it doesn’t add dimension and style.

Spotlights
Accent – Spotlight
Spotlights guide eyeline to whatever feature requires accentuating in a room using carefully positioned spotlights. You could call them unsung heroes of decorative lighting. The fixture sheds light and attention on everything other than itself.

Wall Lights
Accent – Down / Uplighting - Wall Grazing – Perimeter
The function of wall lights is highly adaptable in a decorative lighting plan depending on the fixture itself. Whether the vibe suits a simple fixture, or for a wall light to act as art itself, there is something available for everyone.

Decorative Lighting Available From Searchlight

We hope our ultimate guide to decorative lighting now gives you an idea of what you need to fill your shelves.

It can be hard to determine what customers are looking for. That’s why at Searchlight, we cater to a vast variety of styles, lighting layers, price ranges and lighting effects. You can access our new decorative lighting range here.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed with choices, or still don’t know where to start when it comes to decorative lighting, don’t panic. We are happy to use our 80+ years in lighting retail service to offer advice.

If you’d like to know more about us, follow this link, or head over to our contact page with any questions you may have.

The Ultimate Guide To Decorative Lighting

The Impact Of Designer Decorative Lighting

Understanding Layered Decorative Light

Decorative Lighting Effects

Types Of Decorative Lighting Fixtures

Decorative Lighting Available From Searchlight

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The Ultimate Guide To Decorative Lighting

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