Lighting advice

In the bedroom, you need enough light to get dressed, tidy the room, or read for a while before sleep, but you also want the space to feel calm by evening. It can be hard...

A dining room is shaped around one point more than any other room. Everything else works around it: chairs, movement, conversation, and even how long people tend to stay. Lighting above the table carries a...

Kitchens need more from lighting than almost any other room in the home. You cook there, clean there, sit with coffee there before the day begins — and increasingly, people gather there long after meals...

Some rooms need more than one point of light overhead. A single ceiling fitting can leave larger spaces feeling uneven, especially where dining, cooking, or seating areas stretch across a wider layout — one central...

Victorian and Edwardian chandeliers both bring a sense of history into a room, but they do it in different ways — the effect is noticeable as soon as you switch them on, or even just...

Lighting affects how we experience rooms more than we often realise. Poor lighting can undermine good design, create visual discomfort, and affect mood. Good lighting, on the other hand, makes spaces more functional and more...

Glass and pendant lights work naturally together. Glass lets light pass through, transforming and softening it in ways solid materials can't. But clear glass has drawbacks - harsh glare, too much brightness, a clinical quality...

Brass has been used in crafts and decoration for thousands of years. Ancient Egyptians made jewellery and decorative objects from it; Romans used it for coins. The alloy's golden-brown colour and workability made it valuable...

Bronze has been used for over four thousand years. Ancient smiths discovered that adding tin to copper created a metal that was both stronger and more beautiful. While it was first used for tools and...