With winter drawing in across the northern hemisphere, Hudson Valley Lighting Group share tips on how to warm up homes with layered lighting and worn-in finishes.
When standing in front of an empty room, staring down four featureless walls, the challenge to make it a home can be real. Transforming a cold canvas into a sanctuary – a place to retreat to for R&R, a nook to read in, a backdrop for your favourite art pieces, a place to entertain – can stretch even the most seasoned interiors professional. There’s one tool in the interior architect’s armoury, however, that will make the difference: lighting. Nothing in the field of design works as hard as lighting to transform a room.
Creating atmosphere by layering light
'Lighting is everything,' says Ben Marshall, Creative Director of Hudson Valley Lighting Group, for whom building atmosphere with light is second nature. 'I always encourage people to think about the overall vibe of the space. What do they want to feel, what tasks will they be doing, who’s room is it? From there, build a plan.'
‘We have to think of lighting similar to the way we think of jewellery and or clothing accessories. Those pieces can alter an outfit dramatically. In the same way, the lighting we choose does this for our living spaces‘
A carefully composed system of layered lighting is the means with which to curate atmosphere in the home. The right sofa can cosset you physically, but good lighting massages you mentally. Hudson Valley Lighting Group design with choice in mind; stylistic choice (its designs cross and fuse the traditional, contemporary and industrial) and also lighting genres with which to layer and customise the ambient geography of your space. 'In a bedroom for example, you might want task (reading lights) and ambient (your main light source). However, most people never consider mood. Sconces help create that fill when you are just in the mood to chill.'
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Building style and mood in unison
Hudson Valley Lighting Group have been arming North American interior architects and home improvers with elegant pendants, sconces, task lights and chandeliers for over 30 years and are now afoot in Europe. They see the role of lighting, both fixed and freestanding, as twofold. The hardware is there to enhance, beautify, accessorise a room, blending with the furnishings, uplifting or underscoring its style. 'We have to think of lighting similar to the way we think of jewellery and or clothing accessories. Those pieces can alter an outfit dramatically. In the same way, the lighting we choose does this for our living spaces,' affirms Marshall.
Equally, however, lighting design is about the wattage cast, its direction and intensity, the way it interacts with the materials around it. It has, after all, an important job to do – whether it’s illuminating a kitchen prep area, spotlighting an area of work, or as a background mood builder.
This is the trickier consideration, and while often left to the professionals, Marshall offers words of wisdom to guide in an effective layering plan. 'We need the appropriate amount of lights to get the job done – to complete our tasks. Typically, adding or subtracting wall sconces will get us there,' he offers, 'Bulb wattages can also be sourced that include plus or minus wattages.'
A lighting scheme to warm up winter
With winter for many of us on the horizon, and more downtime indoors on the way, cosiness is on our minds, and a little lighting upgrade wouldn’t go amiss. Aesthetically it might be a matter of banishing cold shiny finishes and choosing, for example, the gentle gold leaf lustre of Hudson Valley Lighting Group’s new Charm Pendant. This teams well with the Barron Wall sconce for a touch of warm mid-century modern glamour.
While watching the temperature in your light sources, 'The main point I try and emphasise to people in today’s world (as most bulbs are LED) is to stay within 2500- 2700K temperature in your bulbs. Beyond that, the light will cast blue in your space, making your interiors feel drab,' recommends Marshall. Drab is not what we are after when the freeze sets in. But match the finish of your fittings to the focus and intensity of light in a room, and you’ll have no need for cashmere come December.