The Cardinal Rule of a Fabulous Interior: Banish Bad Lighting or Perish.
Forget the paint colour, darling. We're talking about the very soul of your space.
Divine, designer darlings
Let’s get one thing catastrophically clear. You can have walls swathed in silk from Como, a sofa that costs more than a car, and a rug woven by celestial beings.
However, if your lighting is a sad, single bulb dangling from the ceiling like a lonely spider, you have failed. Utterly. Your room is a beautifully dressed corpse.
Lighting isn’t an accessory. It isn’t an afterthought. It is the very lifeblood of a room. It’s the makeup, the mood, the magic. It’s the divine chisel that sculpts the space, carving out intimacy here, drama there, and a functional glow where you actually need to do things.
It is, as I have always dictated, the jewellery of the home. And we do not wear plastic baubles when we can have diamonds.
So, let us begin the masterclass.
The Style Trinity: Your Lighting Manifesto
Every single room, from the grandest salon to the smallest, yet glorious, powder room, requires not one, not two, but all three layers of light.
This is non-negotiable. It is the unwritten law of exceptional design.
AMBIENT (The Cashmere Sweater):
This is your general, all-over glow. It’s the light that stops you from walking into the furniture. It’s the foundational layer, the soft, enveloping hug that says, “Welcome home.”
But for the love of all that is chic, this does not mean a grid of soulless, pockmark ceiling spotlights.
It can be a glorious central chandelier (on a dimmer!), a series of well-placed recessed lights (again, DIMMER!), or even the clever bounce of light from uplighters washing a ceiling in a soft luminescence. It’s the base coat. It sets the scene.
TASK (The Sharp-Shouldered Blazer):
This is light with a purpose. It’s a boss. It’s for reading your scandalous memoirs, for chopping your vegetables with surgical precision, for applying your face with the artistry it deserves.
Think a swing-arm sconce by your favourite armchair, a sleek lamp on your desk, under-cabinet lighting in the kitchen that makes your countertop a stage.
Task lighting is direct, focused, and utterly essential. To neglect it is to condemn yourself to a life of squinting. And squinting, my dears, causes wrinkles.
DECORATIVE (The Diamond Cocktail Ring):
Ah, now we’re talking. This is the sparkle. The flirtation. The pure, unadulterated glamour. This is light that exists simply to be beautiful.
A sculptural table lamp that looks as good off as it does on. A pair of dramatic sconces flanking a mirror, casting a seductive glow.
A tiny, jewel-like lamp tucked into a bookshelf. This is the light that creates shadow and intrigue.
It doesn’t have to illuminate a damn thing except its own gorgeous self. It’s the exclamation point. It’s the art.
The Ultimate Design Faux Pas: Planning Too Late
You wouldn’t build a house and then “figure out where the windows go,” would you? Don’t be absurd. So why, oh why, do people leave lighting until the decorators are packing up their dust sheets? It’s a design crime.
Plan your lighting when the walls are still bare skeletons.
This is when you talk to your divine architect or fabulous interior designer who will direct your builder or your electrician.
This is when you say, “I require a floor socket here for my magnificent floor lamp,” or “I envision a pair of devastatingly chic sconces on this wall, so we will need wiring.”
Planning early means the world is your oyster. You can have recessed channels, integrated stair lighting, wall washers—anything your fabulous heart desires. The wires are hidden, the result is seamless, the effect is pure, five-star hotel wizardry.
Style Rescue: A Second Chance at Radiance
Right, so you committed the ultimate design faux pas. You’ve inherited a lighting disaster. Don’t despair. Crying is bad for your mascara. We are designers, darling, we are problem solvers. We can bring the light, even without tearing down walls.
The Plug-In Sconce is Your Saviour: A divine invention. All the glamour and targeted light of a hardwired sconce, with none of the commitment or cost. Find a visible cord in a beautiful fabric—silk, linen—and make it part of the look. Own it.
The Arc Floor Lamp is Your Ceiling: Don’t have a central fixture over your seating area? Who cares. A dramatic, sweeping arc floor lamp can do the job with ten times more panache. It’s sculptural, it’s dramatic, it defines a space instantly.
LED Strip Lighting is Your Secret Weapon: That dark, gloomy space under your kitchen cabinets? The dead zone above your wardrobes? The black hole behind your headboard? Stick a self-adhesive LED strip there. It’s the design equivalent of a secret agent. It’s hidden, it’s effective, and it makes everything look impossibly expensive and deliberate.
Embrace Pools of Light: Scatter table and floor lamps like you’re scattering jewels. The goal isn’t to illuminate the whole room evenly. That’s for operating theatres. The goal is to create pools of intimacy. A lamp by a chair, another on a console table, one on a side table. Each one creates a little moment, a little vignette. Connect the dots, and the room comes alive.
The Arsenal: Know Your Weapons
Pendants: The statement necklace. Hang them low over a dining table (but not so low you’re head-butting it). Hang a cluster of them in a dreary corner. Use one in a powder room for instant, concentrated drama.
Wall Sconces: The perfect earrings. They frame things—mirrors, art, doorways. They provide the most flattering light for a human face because it comes from the side, not from above. A rule to live by.
Table & Floor Lamps: The workhorses of chic. They add personality, colour, texture, and sculpture at a human level. They are your best friends for creating that layered, lived-in, "I have impeccable taste" look.
Strip Lighting: The secret agent of sexy. Use it to wash a wall, backlight a mirror, or make your shelves glow like a high-end boutique. It’s all about the indirect, mysterious glow.
The Final, Unbreakable Dictates
DIMMERS ON EVERYTHING.
I will not say this again. It is the single most important thing you can do. Full blast for cleaning, a moody glow for cocktails.
Control is everything. Not having dimmers is like having a couture gown with no zipper. Pointless!
MIND YOUR BULBS.
Don’t spend a fortune on a lamp and then stick in a cheap, cold, blue-toned bulb/globe that makes you look like a ghoul.
We want warm light (around 2700K). We want a high CRI (Colour Rendering Index) so your colours look true, not sallow. Read the box, darling. It matters.
GO BIG OR GO HOME.
A dinky lamp in a big room is a tragedy. A pendant that’s too small for the table looks pathetic. Be bold. Scale is your friend. When in doubt, go bigger.
Lighting is not a utility. It is a medium. It is the narrative of your home. It’s the difference between a house and a sanctuary, a room and a feeling.
Now, go forth and illuminate; your fabulous life depends on it.
Love, Penelope xx
Chief Pro-Illumination Advocate
PS: YES! I am an interior designer and renovator, Principal Designer and Owner of Plush Design Interiors
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