How To Achieve Layered Home Lighting

As we head into autumn, our lighting requirements at home change. With naturally weaker daylight and nights drawing in early, rooms can feel more gloomy and shadowy – especially if our walls are painted in darker colours, which tend to absorb light.

So it’s the season to shake up your lighting a bit and think about introducing some layered lighting.

What Is Layered Lighting?

This simply means bringing in additional lighting sources that will create multiple points of illumination for a lovely layered effect. The result is a more ambient feel than a single light in the centre of a room can provide. The main light is still important for specific functions, but adding floor lamps, table lamps, wall lights etc. delivers ‘mood lighting’ which is more romantic, comfortable and relaxing.

Another way you can help achieve this is with a dimmer switch on the central light or using vintage filament light bulbs in your light fittings – and by choosing stylish or quirky lamps, the lighting becomes a feature in its own right and a key part of the decor.

Natural Wood Effect Task Lamp

Introducing layered lighting is something I wanted to do in our dining room with its nearly black feature wall. The obvious option was to introduce a lamp on top of our 1930s cabinet. A regular table lamp with a diffusing shade would bring a glow to the room, but I wanted to create a little drama and depth on top of the cabinet and draw attention to the accessories on top. So I chose a task lamp with a more directional light that would act as a spotlight.

Not just for your office desk, a task lamp can add a more focused layer of light to a room and is ideal to highlight a particular feature on a shelf or table. So the Natural Wood Effect Task Lamp that was sent to me from First Choice Lighting is ideal – tall with an adjustable arm in a natural wood effect finish, it has a shade and base in a lovely gunmetal colour.

I was really impressed with the lamp when it arrived as it is large and reassuringly heavy, with a great architectural look that so easily creates a statement. Smart yet quirky, with the flex running through holes along the length of the arm and a rocker switch on the cable, it has a vintage factory-style appeal. Definitely a great lamp if you like the industrial look and the colour of the shade and the arm are just perfect against the moody black wall.

I like the fact this is a versatile lamp that could be used in various places around the house, from a teenager’s desk to a bedside or hallway table. Together with my fun star lamp on the mantelpiece, it adds character to the corner of the room which grabs your attention as soon as you walk in, so it has achieved exactly what I wanted: a bit of charm and personality and giving that layered lighting effect.

Do you struggle with your lighting at this time of year and need more inspiration? Leave a comment and I’ll try to address it in my next lighting post coming soon!

The lamp used to illustrate this post was gifted, all words and opinions are as ever my own