Soft, subtle lighting these days

Press, 11 April 1979, Page 15

Soft, subtle lighting these days

To choose the right lighting atmosphere you must first decide on an over-ail theme to complement the features already existing in your home. If co-ordinated well with the house design, interior furnishings in mind, your lighting will enhance and develop on the mood you are aiming to achieve. The best place to gain an over-all idea of the selection in lighting available is a display showroom which stocks imported fixtures as well as the New Zealandmade products. The lighting specialists are ready to give free advice and consultations on designs for your home. Some showrooms offer a complete co-ordinated display of living rooms, dining rooms, hallways, bedrooms and bathrooms to give you a more vivid picture of how lighting features are dictated by the colours, styles and designs of the walls, furniture and drapes. In some cases the complete look can be purchased at the showroom — the colour and pattern of the bedspread, wallpaper, lampshade and drapes in a bedroom perhaps, can all be suited together. Lighting tends to be subtle these days. A central room fixture has given way to a more soft restful look often in the form of subdued button lighting and variable dimmers which can be switched from fullon to a soft candle glow. Table lamps and wall brackets also seem to be more preferable.

There is also more overall simplicity in the current decor. Plainer wallpapers and furniture for example enable more exciting highlights such as in the lamp design and drape patterns. While tropical greens and bamboo flavourings were popular for summer the trend towards winter furnishings is for richness. Hot chilli, curry 7 , brown, amber, grey nickel, clover and champagne are popular wallpaper colours leaving the bigger abstract flower

designs for furnishings. To ensure the best lighting system for your home the height from floor to ceiling will have to be assessed in each room that is to be fitted. Light to medium coloured rooms will need 15 to 20 watts per square metre. Darker rooms will need 25 to 30 watts per square metre.

The range of light fittings available is somewhat overwhelming at first glance but once you narrow it down to the main types of design the choice is somewhat simpler. It is important to keep your overall theme in mind when selecting these items. What is the general character of your house? Is your furniture modern or traditional? Do you want an antique table lamp or a perspex pendant dome in that corner? Pendants are still the most varied and decorative source of light and can be the feature focal point of the room even when not illuminated. The choice and variety is almost unlimited and they need not be restricted to the centre of a room. The length of chain or cord attached can also be lengthened or shortened depending on your preference and the heights involved.

Wall brackets are usually available as single and double units and usually match pendant fittings. Wall brackets are ideal for supplementary lighting and because they are normally mounted at eye level lamp wattage should be kept low to avoid glare. Ceiling (flush) fittings are useful in today’s low ceiling homes and there are many situations where pendant type fittings are just not suitable. There are many types of flush fittings available including multiple light or single light, exposed, enclosed or even fully concealed or recessed. Standard lamps can per-

form the same functions as table lamps but they are less portable and probably less versatile. Correctly located they can create tremendous atmosphere and are ideally suited for that corner setting. Shades should preferably be lined with a reflective material to direct light upward and downward and have a reasonably dark outer lining to avoid the possibility of glare. Table lamps are an ideal means of supplementary lighting because they are portable, versatile and can be placed in almost any location to perform the desired function. They can also be a decorative attraction on their own.

By carefully selecting your light fittings, arranging viewing angles and choosing the right colours, you can make your liome inviting, restful and comfortable and provide adequate light for all domestic activity.

Tiffany lampshades hail back to the cabaret days of the Charleston and the Black Bottom. Today’s nostalgic fashions have brought this style back to popularity. Some are crafted like the design above in coloured leadlight glass, in a variety of flower and fruit patterns, some with scalloped edges. Others are made from silk, with embossed designs and fringes. The range available includes pendant and table-lamp styles.