Let's FOCUS on Interior Design: Lighting for Drama - Part III

Interior design professionals are accomplished at merging both function and form to create breathtaking results. In this three-part series which I call "Let's FOCUS on Interior Design," I draw on my experience working with some of London's top interior design experts to explain how to create focus, balance and drama through the use of lighting.


As explained in my previous articles, Interior Design Professionals rely on focus lighting to showcase favourite features of a room. However, focus lighting can also draw out the intimacy of a London dinner party. Some interior design professionals will incorporate just a single downlighter over the dinner table, attracting guests like moths to cashmere. I have known some famous interior design teams to add a dash of candlelight to evoke a wink and a glitter on glasses and chinaware. It is important for the interior design professional to also provide a low level of general light for infill, beautifying the faces of London guests and smoothing out any wrinkles or blemishes.


Focus tends to be less important in non-primary areas such as passageways, cloakrooms and conservatories, where the interior design professional will more often think mainly about function. However, in my experience the very best London interior design teams treat these "transitory" spaces with just as much energy, because of their atmospheric, mood-giving qualities. A London mansion design just won't make sense if the rooms are beautifully and dramatically illuminated but a dull, flat hallway outside lacks inspiration.


London passageways, basements and staircases are often structurally intriguing, featuring unfamiliar frames of reference, level shifts, and historic interest such as bell-curved walls or pointed archways. Subtle lighting effects are the ideal interior design choice here. Too many inexperienced interior design teams make the mistake of including just one central illuminator, missing a great opportunity to articulate qualities or structures that may enlarge the visual space or add interest. The result is often disappointing - either too washed-out or too shadowy.


If the interior design team sees a cove or niche, it can be backlit for silhouetted intrigue. Floorsprayed lighting on stairs can be another interesting interior design option, with high-visibility but muted illumination emphasising each step while simultaneously meeting health and safety guidelines.


Thank you for reading my series on how London interior designers create focus and drama with light!



Interior Design London - Global Interior Design Consultancy Company in London, UK for interior design services.

Let's FOCUS on Interior Design: Lighting for Drama - Part II

Interior design professionals are accomplished at merging both function and form to create breathtaking results. In this three-part series which I call "Let's FOCUS on Interior Design," I draw on my experience working with some of London's top interior design experts to explain how to create focus, balance and drama through the use of lighting.


Deciding when to use contrast is critical for top-notch interior design results. At nighttime, feature lighting can be wonderful - think of a dusky London back garden that suddenly gets illuminated from under the flower bushes! By daybreak, however, interior design professionals know that clients crave a more even brightness. This will be less wearisome for one's eyesight than constantly gazing from a super-bright illuminator, such as a desk lamp, to an environment that is often shrouded in shadow. Top London interior design professionals always bear this in mind when planning home office spaces.


Having said all that, the secret to creating focus really is all about feature lighting. This type of illumination must be crisp, accurate and controllable using different settings than the rest of the light sources. Often the London Interior Design Professional will be asked to focus on a structural feature or a treasured sculpture. In such cases, the interior design team should use muted lighting, gently shifting the guests' attention onto the chosen object instead of causing diversions. The interior design professional is only allowed to make the illuminator centre-stage if it really is a solo feature - like an historic chandelier in an opulent London mansion, for example. Most interior design boutiques will employ dimmer circuitry to modulate the balance between general and feature illumination. The results can be theatrical and exciting - giving the client complete control of the atmosphere and mood.


Many London interior design professionals love to re-imagine living and dining rooms - places where we unwind and receive guests. Decorative accessories are often a contemplative focus for welcomed guests, and some of London's top interior design teams will rely on bespoke light sources to realise this. A fabulous vase will look mystical and historic, maybe as if illuminated from the interior, when the interior design professional paints it pastel pink using a narrow-beam downlight. A prize photograph can act as a foil when showcased by multi-view up/downlighters on either side. Interior design professionals will similarly give the focus treatment to plants and flower arrangements, as light brings out the texture as well as the hues of petals and buds.



Interior Design London - Global Interior Design Consultancy Company in London, UK for interior design services.

Let's FOCUS on Interior Design: Lighting for Drama - Part I

Interior design professionals are accomplished at merging both function and form to create breathtaking results. In this three-part series which I call "Let's FOCUS on Interior Design," I draw on my experience working with some of London's top interior design experts to explain how to create focus, balance and drama through the use of lighting.


The London Interior Design Professional is adroit at creating balance by fine-tuning the various lighting levels in a scheme and reducing global brightness. This process is critical in building mood and drama. Away from the field of interior design, think of how natural light works. Imagine the sleek freshness of a shaft of London sunshine through a skylight, which causes the gloomiest room to brighten up vivaciously. London's interior design professionals often use the word "emphasis" to describe the resulting contrast between brightness and shade.


For example, in a given interior design concept, the client will often ask for a favourite ornament or table to be highlighted. In such cases, the interior design professional may decide to wash the area around the highlight with low-level general lighting. A graphic artist or web designer uses the same approach to incorporate both bright-lights and contrasting dimmed-lights in a painting. Achieving proper emphasis is critical to any lighting scheme, whether in an interior design setting or not.


London's inclement weather can pose a challenge for those who work extensively with light. For example, many London photographers need to take special classes to learn how to use a light meter in order to measure intensities and guarantee the proper illuminative balance. The interior design professional doesn't need such fancy equipment and mainly relies on her eyes and ears. Instead, interior design professionals learn about reflectivity in their colour and lighting classes. Matt and gloss metrics, together with saturation quotients, all determine the reflectance value. An object that is highly reflective is difficult to photograph, but easy for the eye to make out. The interior design expert knows this, and understands how to use infill lighting to mellow out the contrast values and thereby create more cohesive and melodious interior design concepts.



Interior Design London - Global Interior Design Consultancy Company in London, UK for interior design services.