Layer Light Like a Pro: Expert Shares Five Tips to Curate a Luxury Feel in Your Home
Layering lighting is the cornerstone of any luxurious interior decor and is a great way to avoid the dreaded ‘big light’. By combining different levels, temperatures and styles of lighting, you can cleverly create a space that feels curated, has depth and oozes sophistication. You just need to know how to do it in the right way.
1. Mix temperatures
When you think about luxury interiors, you’ll naturally lean towards warmer lighting as this feels cosier and more inviting. However, there is something to be said about mixing up lighting temperatures.
Keeping the main lighting warm will create that cosy ambience we all love to feel in our homes, but using cooler lighting strategically to highlight art or statement decor items can create a gallery-like feel, which looks both expensive and intentional.
2. Hidden lighting creates a high-end feel
If you want to create a real high-end feel to your home, then hiding lighting is a great way to achieve this. Whether it is behind coves, under shelves, behind mirrors or in wall panelling, using lighting in this way creates a soft halo effect that instantly feels thoughtfully curated and enhances a luxurious atmosphere.
3. Keep functionality in mind
Different rooms will require different approaches to light layering, dependent on the feel you want in that space, as well as how you use the space. You need to consider the tasks you will perform in your space to inform what types of lighting you should incorporate into it.
For example, a kitchen might benefit from under-cabinet lighting to aid food preparation and cooking, bathrooms used for beauty and grooming routines will need vanity or mirror lighting, and cosy reading nooks will serve their purpose with floor or table lamps that focus light on your book without lighting the whole room.
The key is to consider the use of the space and what light sources and styles would aid that, whilst maintaining a cosy and luxurious ambience.
4. Consider your shadows
Luxury comes from visual complexity, so considering shadow when choosing your lighting can play a big role in the vibe it creates.
Instead of flooding the space with flat, uniform lighting that creates no shadows, play with placement to create depth and visual intrigue. Positioning lights close to textured walls or objects, allowing them to graze the surface, will reveal their true texture. And adding subtle uplighting behind house plants or sculptural decor will cast intentional shadows that elevate the space, making it feel intentional and considered.
5. Use dimmable tech to curate ‘moods’
Investing in dimmers and bulbs can help you to curate lighting moods within your home that involve every lighting layer. For example, you could create a “romantic ambience” mood for those cosy at-home date nights and dim large overhead lighting whilst subtly brightening warm wall sconces and table lamps.
Dimmer-controlled lighting allows for infinite variations and can take you from bright, practical lighting to moody evening unwind lighting in seconds.
Written by Claire Anstey, Lighting Buyer at interior brand Heal’s