A Helpful Guide to Living Room Lighting
Even if your living area is endowed with ample natural daylight, it's imperative to think carefully about lighting to make sure your space is illuminated the way you want during all parts of the day.
Here, we've broken down three ways to successfully light up your space. Follow along and make sure to shop our lighting selection to put these tips into action.
1. Overhead Pendant Lighting
Overhead lighting solutions can provide a functional boost where natural light doesn't solve all your needs. Plus, it can add a serious dose of style.
Tip: If you have an overhead fixture, put it on a dimmer.
Usage Case #1: Signature Pendant Lighting
The core of this Southern Californian prefab home was kept open to maximize natural light. Clerestory windows, walnut cabinetry, and concrete floors define the living room, while additional lighting is provided by a signature accent piece, the Moooi Random Light.
Jay and Jaclyn Lieber worked with Erla Dögg Ingjaldsdóttir and Tryggvi Thorsteinsson of Minarc to design a house using the designers’ mnmMOD panels, which can be assembled with a screw gun.
Photo: Art Gray Photography
Usage Case #2: Cluster Chandelier
The Clear Ice Chandelier was designed to resemble a floating cluster of ice.
The unusual layout of René Roupinian’s Upper West Side home is what initially attracted her to the space, but the three-level plan proved difficult to organize. In his first solo project as STADT Architecture, Christopher Kitterman used a palette of walnut and white to unify the apartment, which he filled with space-saving solutions. Near the entrance, a Goliath table from Resource Furniture can expand to seat up to 10.
Photo by Stephen Kent Johnson
Usage Case #3: Natural Materials
A hanging pendant light made with natural materials can bring some texture and warmth to a modern living room.
Courtesy of VICUGO FOTO and Mauricio Fuertes
Graypants Ohio Scraplight Pendant
Handmade with layers of recyclable cardboard, the Graypants Ohio Scraplight Pendant finds warmth in the raw material, forming a rustic source of ambient light. Part of the larger range of pendants, the Ohio is held in place with a steel frame, and also includes a sandblasted glass diffuser to shield and further soften the down light below. Founded in 2007 in Seattle, Washington, Graypants is the creative brainchild of architects Seth Grizzle and Jonathan Junker. Known for their acclaimed first line of pendant lights made entirely of repurposed cardboard, Graypants has matured into an industrial and product design studio with a diverse portfolio of lighting focused on responsible production. Each pendant is characterized by this philosophy of local and sustainable production, and the company has even branched out to the European market stationed in Amsterdam. Never losing sight of the fun in designing, Graypants is young, fresh and current, meeting the demands of today's need for sustainable design. Photo Courtesy of Lightology
ShopUsage Case #4: Never Too Many Pendants
This house features one-of-a-kind glass pendants from Bocci that accent nearly every room.
Arbel’s projects—both products and architectural commissions—follow a chronological numbering system. The house itself is his 23rd design, while the one-of-a-kind glass pendants that accent nearly every room like a starscape are called "28."
Photo: Jason Schmidt
Bocci 28 Series Random Multi-Light Pendant
As much a meditation on process as it is a collection of functional forms, the 28 Series by Vancouver-based designer Omer Arbel is fabricated by manipulating the temperature and direction of air flow into blown glass. As a result, each pendant in the 28 series is unique, comprised of a subtly distorted sphere punctuated by inner shapes. The outer glass orb also encloses an opaque milk glass diffuser that holds a low-voltage xenon or LED lamp, creating an ambient effect. Each light can be installed as one sculptural element or grouped in a celestial arrangement. Photo Courtesy of Lumens
Shop2. Task Lighting
This is the type of lighting that helps you accomplish everyday tasks like reading on your sofa. A mix of light sources at different levels can help create a cozy ambiance and ensure that you have adequate light.
Tip: Living rooms should be lit in three of four corners with a combination of table and floor lamps.
Usage Case #1: Matching Materials
This wooden standing lamp blends in with the rest of the home's material palette.
Photo: Marcelo Donadussi
Usage Case #2: Modern Sculptural Piece
This graphic floor lamp from FLOS stands out like a work of art.
Photo Courtesy of This is IT
FLOS IC Floor Lamp
Perched on a slender metal arm, the spherical diffuser of the FLOS IC Floor Lamp relies on careful engineering to balance on its minimalistic frame. The opal shade diffuses the light warmly, playing off the metallic finish of the bracket-shaped stem.
ShopUsage Case #3: Functional and Stylish
Sometimes, the right call is to choose a floor lamp that looks like a blown-up desk light. They're bound to get the job done.
The residents removed vestiges of bad renovations from the past. "The 11-foot ceiling had been lowered in some rooms, which was a popular thing to do in Sweden in the 1970s in order to save energy," Martin explains. "Some of the stucco had been destroyed, so we re-created both ceilings and windows." The restored floors are original; the residents also removed and replaced all the electrical outlets, switches, and door handles.
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Gothenburg, Sweden
Dwell Magazine : September / October 2017
Birgitta Wolfgang Drejer
Usage Case #4: Conversation Pieces
This iconic floor lamp by Serge Mouille, alongside the Flow S4 Pendant designed by Nao Tamura, work together to create a standout space that's inspired by the reflections of the Venetian cityscape.
This iconic floor lamp from Serge Mouille alongside the Flow S4 Pendant, designed by Nao Tamura, inspired by the reflections of the Venetian cityscape, are both stylish standouts.
Carola Ripamonti
Serge Mouille Three-Arm Floor Lamp
French designer Serge Mouille originally created his Three-Arm Floor Lamp in 1952 for a customer who requested a large light for his clients with large rooms in South America. He believed that the Italian models of the day had become too complicated, and he aimed to design something that was refined and unobtrusive. The result is an angular, almost insect-like design that includes three arms that can be rotated in various directions for well-directed light. Today, the shades are still produced with the original molds, proportions, materials, and techniques as what was used in the 1950s. Made in France, the light’s arms are joined to the diffusers while the lacquered aluminum and steel frame features brass ball joints. Mouille’s design is also available in ceiling, wall, and desk versions. Photo courtesy of Design Within Reach
Shop3. Accent Lighting
Accent lighting can be used to enhance architectural details, artwork, or a favorite piece of furniture.
Tip: Use your lighting to create a spotlight on something special you want to highlight.
Usage Case #1: Highlighting the Decor
Simple black ceiling lights are sprinkled throughout this house in areas that need extra illumination. Plus, some of them can be pointed in different directions in order to highlight certain areas of the space.
Courtesy of Tatjana Plitt
Usage Case #2: Track Lighting
Track lighting serves a functional purpose, and can be integrated into your space in a more subtle way than you may have imagined.
WAC Lighting Summit ACLED Beamshift Line Voltage Cylinder Track Head
The Summit ACLED Beamshift Line Voltage Cylinder Track Head is the perfect replacement for halogen MR16's as they offer lower wattage with superior lumen output, over 10 times the rated life span, less maintenance, no projected heat, and BeamShift technology in-field changeable beam angle. All Summit series track luminaires are equipped with BeamShift technology, allowing in-field modification of beam angle simply by changing the location of the lens. WAC Lighting designs for the toughest lighting challenges-and solves them with the most advanced materials, production and LED technology. Their lighting products span a wide range of decorative and functional categories, from contemporary pendants to LED undercabinet lighting to outdoor landscape systems. A family-owned American company for 30+ years, WAC Lighting is also committed to sustainability, choosing to follow manufacturing processes with zero landfill impact.
ShopUsage Case #3: Angular Ceiling That's Covered With Lights
The entertainment and dining spaces sit below the angular roof in this penthouse. A combination of two different types of ceiling lights illuminate the various angles of the ceiling.
Entertainment and dining spaces sit below the angular roof in the penthouse.
Photo: Bruce Damonte
Fabbian Mochi Wall or Ceiling Light
Mochi wall or ceiling light, from the Lumi collection, features a satin-finish, white, blown glass diffuser to evenly diffuse the light. The soft-shape allows this light to be used in various applications. Photo courtesy of Nostraforma
ShopUsage Case #4: Accent Lighting That's Part of the Design
Discretely tucked away into an architecturally interesting ceiling, the lighting in this retreat is actually part of the space's design.
When glass dominates a home, the result is a borderless residence that syncs with its environs, creating a stunning, new visual and psychological sense of space. See how these glass homes use the versatile material to create ambiance and connect with the outdoors.
Courtesy of Boutique Homes
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