What a lovely relaxing morning, decided not to get up at the crack of dawn and start work as  Iv’e been so busy with projects and working on the shop I have been literally working day and night! Except for my quick dart to a spinning class, had such a bad sleep the night before (so much swimming in my head) I sort of didn’t know why I was going to spin! Most spin classes are 45min but oh no not mine, trainer decided to up it to an hour, so in my head I’m thinking I will tell him I need to leave and can only do 45min until he said “I need to talk to you after the class” didn’t think kick enough so bang went my plan! during the class I was thinking please get through this as I don’t want to be the first one to fall off the bike in a heap on the floor! For some reason my adrenaline kicked in! So got back from spin and promised myself to have a bath and go to bed, oh did I heck, I worked on shop stuff! so hence my relaxing morning!!
Enough yabber yabber! So lets talk lighting!! I always say lighting is key, get this right and you are off to a good start! No this doesn’t mean you have to have the most advanced system to achieve this. Many of the projects I work on haven’t got the scope to change the lighting within the fabric of the building, so I go about adding lamps and lots of them! You can never have too many lamps. Years ago I would of been a lot more structured when placing lamps, ie a bit like Noahs ark! lamps 2 by 2! if you see what I mean. I now like mixing it up so it looks like the lamps have been collected over time (and in some cases maybe they have) So no more console tables with 2 identical lamps for me, don’t get me wrong if it’s a living space I often still use 2 of the same lamps but these tend to be much more discreet for instance task lighting next to the sofa, start with this then ad lots more! floor lamps are great near a chair which creates a little area/zone, I always try and create a little reading area within a living room as it creates interest and is a great way to ad a quirky lamp and it can instantly take a drab corner to a wow corner! Then you need to play with scale, a large lamp with an oversized shade works wonders and gives a room a focal point, plonk it on a small table or almost in the way, so as soon as you enter the room it throws you off course which adds another dimension to the room. Then dot around some small lamps which give off a soft glow (tea lights will also create this effect). If you have a pendant light, why not go for an oversized drum shade, one of my signature styles and it’s  fairly inexpensive way to ad drama and also not forgetting a great way to add in a zip of colour! Try dropping it lower, don’t hide it away make a feature out of it. There are lots of local artisans that make bespoke lampshades to your specifications, you can get exactly what you want and get a chance to be creative. You can also use this service to recover existing shades. Now for that oddball piece, if you want to add a little fun into the room, a tongue in cheek piece! Add a something like the Abigail Ahern dog lamps, something we will be featuring in the shop,
it oozes character and will be a great talking point, maybe a bit marmite for some but I love it and trust me something like this will just finish the room off! I know I know some people will be thinking I hate dogs! but it can be a sculture type of lamp or something that reflects your taste and give the room it’s personality or more importantly your personality.
If your thinking what the hell is this guy going on about, take a look at the pictures below as they totally explain what I am trying to say! (pictures from rue mag)
If you can have a more advanced system, take a look at this, lots of soft hidden lighting!
Have a great day!