Dark rooms with no widows can feel cold and unwelcoming. If you have a room with limited light or no natural light, it could affect your sleep pattern and mental health.
Humans need a regular cycle of daylight and night darkness to keep a steady circadian rhythm. It can also make achieving daily tasks like cooking, reading or washing more difficult if your body isn’t in tune with this rhythm.
Ideally, you want enough natural light in your bedroom when you need to wake up and in areas of your home where you conduct tasks, like the kitchen, bathroom and home office. However, if any of those rooms don’t have access to natural daylight, you need to recreate it to mimic the effects of daylight and reap the benefits.
Here, we’ll explain how to lighten a dark room with no natural light to help create a better living space.
First, you should understand the Kelvin scale if you’re trying to brighten a dark room.
What is the Kelvin scale?
The Kelvin number indicates the colour temperature a light bulb emits. All bulbs will sit on the Kelvin scale and emit LED light from cool to warm white light. You can see the warmth of light emitted on the graphic above for a clearer visual of the Kelvin scale.
LED bulbs emit different coloured light because different materials used in the bulbs produce different photons at varying wavelengths, which appear as colours on a scale.
Bulbs that produce a natural light will be in the middle of the kelvin scale, somewhere between 4000 and 6500k.
Remember that natural sunlight changes colour temperature depending on the time of day, latitude and season. So, mimicking natural light falls on a spectrum, but anything between this range will help artificially bring natural light into your windowless room.
How to choose the best natural light fitting
Choosing the best natural light fitting will depend on the room. If your bathroom or kitchen has no windows, you’ll want to select light fixtures closer to 6500K on the Kelvin scale. Natural daylight bulbs are the best option for cooking in the kitchen or doing your makeup in the bathroom.
Natural light will show colours how they are, which is perfect for completing tasks. Choose light fittings like spotlights and downlights for the kitchen and bathroom to bring the effects of natural light into your room.
Similarly, for a windowless home office or study, you may want a desk lamp to emit natural light to help you see your work, concentrate and feel awake.
However, if your dark room is a bedroom or living room, you may want to lean towards the warmer side of the natural light spectrum. Because you tend to use these rooms to wind down and relax, you don’t want to add daylight bulbs that mimic the colour temperature of broad daylight, and your brain won’t be able to de-stress at night. So, use artificial light that mimics a softer, warmer natural light like 4000K.
Lean towards living room and bedside natural light table lamps to brighten your bedroom and lounge. You can also use floor lamps to alter a room’s feel.
The best way to recreate daylight in your windowless room is to add different types of light that provide both stark daylight colours and warm sunrise and sunset colour temperatures to mimic the different times of the day and maintain a healthy circadian rhythm. For example, you may choose ceiling lights to provide natural daylight and a natural light lamp to mimic warmer natural light for the morning and evening.
How to brighten a dark room with no windows
Colour temperature is essential when choosing lights for a windowless room, but brightness is also crucial.
Traditionally, watts did indicate bulb brightness, but with the evolution of LED bulbs, lumens are a better indication of brightness.
You will want brighter bulbs in rooms where you perform tasks, like the kitchen and bathroom. But there is no need to install bright daylight bulbs in your living room and bedroom. Choose bulbs with a lower lumen count for these rooms.
You must also consider your room size to determine how many light sources and lumens you need to achieve tasks and multiply it by the room’s square footage and height. Whether you have natural light lamps or overhead lights, place them strategically to provide an even amount of light throughout the room.
Additional tips on how to brighten a dark room
Besides the right lighting, there are other things you can do to brighten a dark room instead of natural light. For example, interior designers use mirrors and reflective surfaces in dark rooms to reflect light back into the room.
You can also use light colours in your decor and light paint colours to make a windowless room seem brighter.
Lastly, try to keep the room clear of clutter to help open the room up.
Natural light bulbs at Castlegate Lights
If you have a windowless room devoid of daylight, fear not! Now you know how to brighten a dark room with natural light bulbs. Always think about Kelvins to get the right colour temperature and lumens to get the ideal brightness depending on the room’s purpose and size.
Discover daylight and natural light bulbs at Castlegate Lights and transform your dull, windowless room into a haven.
With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, you might want to modify your bedroom lighting to create the ultimate romantic ambience. But where to start? At Castlegate Lights, we have you covered!
Follow our 9 top tips to create the perfect romantic bedroom lighting this Valentine’s Day and fall in love with mood lighting.
Lighting can have a powerful effect on the mood of a room. For example, lighting can make a room feel cosy, productive, open, airy and more. But, for Valentine’s Day, you’ll want to use lights that create a cosy, romantic or sensual atmosphere.
You will need low-level ambient and accent lights to create a romantic atmosphere. Ambient light typically fills the room with general lighting, but you don’t want the light to be too harsh! To achieve this, assemble low-level lights with light shades or warm-coloured light bulbs.
You might also layer your lighting scheme by adding accent lights. Use accent lights or lamps to frame the bed in light. Layered lighting is crucial when planning a lighting scheme for a well-balanced and customisable romantic setting.
2. Use romantic lighting fixtures
Here are our top lighting fixtures to consider buying when planning a romantic ambience in your bedroom.
There’s nothing more romantic than an elegant chandelier above your bed. Straight out of a fairy tale romance novel, the classic designs evoke romantic and whimsical feelings. A chandelier can offer ambient light, but hanging it above your bed can highlight the room’s main furniture piece.
If you prefer pendant lights in your bedroom, it is possible to have one and still keep the atmosphere cosy. Ensure that your pendant light is properly shaded or diffused to stop the light from being too harsh and creating unwanted shadows.
You might consider choosing a flush ceiling light that distributes the light evenly throughout the room if you think pendant lights are too concentrated.
You can also use wall lights in your bedroom to create a romantic ambient light. As they’re not in the centre of the room, they draw less attention and distribute the light more softly, like wall sconces.
You can use wall lights to produce general ambient romantic light or accent lighting to frame your bed. Why not opt for glass orb wall lights that diffuse the light to create a soft, romantic glow?
Romantic bedroom lamps are fantastic for creating mood lighting in a bedroom because of their shades. The shaded light diffuses and softens the light to create a romantic and cosy atmosphere. Whether you use a floor lamp to produce a low-level ambient light in the room or bedside lamps to accent your bed, lamps are essential for romantic bedroom lighting.
3. Use romantic bulb types and colours
Consider bulb types and colours when planning a cosy, romantic bedroom setting. Changing the bulbs is an easy way to update your lighting scheme for Valentine’s Day without changing your light fittings.
You could also choose a candle bulb to mimic the effect of candlelight to help enhance the romantic setting.
4. Consider dimmers
If you want to create a more flexible lighting scheme that can create a romantic atmosphere one moment and practical lighting the next, we recommend installing dimmable lights. Instantly transform your bedroom into a romantic haven by lowering the light intensity with the dimmer switch.
5. Think about placement and arrangement
Placement is king when creating a romantic lighting scheme. First, create a balanced light distribution using ambient lights to avoid harsh shadows. However, you can also use accent lights to create focal points. For example, use lamps to highlight the bed.
6. Use candlelight and decorative lighting
You can also incorporate decorative lighting like LED candles and fairy lights to enhance the romantic ambience. Make sure you choose fairy lights with warm white bulbs, or your bedroom will look too cold.
7. Don’t forget personalisation and style
Your personal choice will also help you choose the perfect romantic bedroom lighting. Consider what you think is cosy and romantic and tie it in with the rest of your bedroom’s style.
Your romantic bedroom lighting will depend on your bedroom style. For example, the lights should reflect the style if you have a classic, elegant, modern or cosy room.
8. Utilise romantic colour and texture
Colour and texture can play a significant part in enhancing the romantic atmosphere of your room. You can choose lights and bulb colours that reflect the season, for example, deep reds, purples, pinks, ambers and black lights.
One way to create a cosy, romantic atmosphere without a dimmer switch is to soften the light intensity. You can do this using textures, for example, mottled or smoked glass shades or cosy fabric shades in dark, sensual colours like red, black, purple and amber.
You might also consider luxurious fabrics like silk shades or fluffy feather textures to add to the romantic atmosphere.
9. Add temporary additions for special occasions
As Valentine’s only happens once a year, you might only want to create a temporary solution for your mood lighting in your bedroom. Adding string light, LED candles, or different lamp shades are easy, temporary ways to create the perfect romantic bedroom lighting for special occasions.
Romantic bedroom lighting at Castlegate Lights
We hope we’ve helped inspire you to experiment with mood lighting for your bedroom this Valentine’s Day. Whether you want to enhance the romantic ambience in your bedroom or keep the love strong all year round, discover our selection of romantic bedroom lighting at Castlegate Lights today.
Choosing kitchen lighting can be overwhelming with so many kitchen light fittings and design options to browse. If you’re in the process of choosing your kitchen lighting design, we’re here to help!
In this guide, we will outline all the different types of kitchen lights you can choose and when and where it’s best to use them to help you find the perfect lights that work for you in your kitchen.
Kitchen ceiling lights are the most common and typical way to light your kitchen. If you’re unsure where to start planning your kitchen lighting, ceiling lights are an excellent place to begin. They usually provide general ambient light to the entire room, which is necessary to see and conduct everyday tasks. Here are the different ceiling lights you can choose.
Pendant lights are a fantastic way to light your kitchen, especially if you have a kitchen island or dining table in your kitchen. Use a pendant light to provide ambient lighting to the whole room by installing it in the middle of the ceiling. Using a pendant light in the centre of the room can also act as a beautiful centrepiece, especially if you opt for an unusual design piece. Or, use it to highlight a feature like a kitchen island or dining table slightly off-centre.
Flush ceiling lights
The Italian Collection Ovalino 8 Light Flush Ceiling Fitting In Chrome Finish With White Glass
Flush ceiling lights are also a great way to illuminate your kitchen, particularly if you have a low ceiling, where a pendant light would be impractical. Many flush ceiling lights can still be beautiful room centrepieces with intricate or stylish designs.
Although not a typical choice for kitchen lighting, if you have a grand traditional kitchen or want to make a bold statement, you could add a chandelier to wow your guests.
Spotlights are an excellent ceiling light option for kitchens due to their bright LED bulbs, focused, directional light and adjustable heads. As your kitchen is a high-activity area, you need sufficient task lighting to do your daily jobs, like cleaning, prepping food and cooking.
Spotlights offer excellent kitchen worktop lighting because you can direct the light beams to where you work most frequently. You can also prevent shadows from forming on your work surfaces by using kitchen spotlights. Choose between single spotlights or multiple, depending on how much and where you need the light.
Downlights offer many of the same advantages as spotlights. They provide focused, adjustable beams to where you need them most, but they are more discreet than spotlights. Often recessed into the ceiling, downlights offer a minimalist modern look, perfect if you have a contemporary kitchen interior design.
If you’re looking for a modern, flexible lighting alternative, you can always look at track lighting. To install track lights, you need to install tracks onto the ceiling and then fit your lights. These lights get energy from the tracks, but you can fully adjust and move them, giving you the ultimate freedom to change your lighting design to your heart’s content.
Use track lights over your kitchen table, island or worksurfaces for focused and adjustable task lighting that is ultra-modern with a hint of industrial chic.
If you don’t want a looming ceiling light in the centre of your kitchen, wall lights are an excellent alternative. Dot these around your kitchen walls to create ambient light throughout the room. Whether you enjoy wall sconces, lanterns, up and down lights or flush wall lights, choose lights that reflect your kitchen style.
A trendy kitchen wall light option is wall spotlights. Attach them to the walls to illuminate work surfaces more clearly, and install them where you need the most light.
Under-cupboard kitchen lights
Under-cupboard kitchen lights are a sleek and modern way to illuminate your kitchen. As an accent light type, under-cupboard kitchen lights sit underneath your kitchen cabinets and light the space below.
You can install this lighting type to illuminate a dark work surface or the sink area shadowed by the cabinets, offering a practical light solution. Or, set it underneath your floor-level cabinets for a futuristic glow on the floor. Use these lights to create an ultra-modern aesthetic in your kitchen.
Who’s to say that walkover lights are exclusively for the outside? Why not use walkover lights to highlight your kitchen cupboards or island from the floor? Use uplighting techniques to highlight your kitchen furniture and create a unique, ultra-modern lighting design.
If you’re interested in trending lighting, we’ve seen people using tiny lamps to decorate their kitchen shelves. To create an aesthetically pleasing kitchen environment, interior designer influencers have placed a lamp (or two) on their kitchen shelves next to their cookbooks, pasta jars, house plants and other kitchenware.
The effect is subtle, homely and comforting, providing accent lighting to atypical places. Recreate this look with a little lamp from our kitchen lamps at Castlegate Lights.
Kitchen Lighting at Castlegate Lights
Remember, the perfect lighting scheme relies on lighting layers. You will need ambient lights to illuminate the whole room, task lights to help you see and complete tasks and accent lighting to highlight your favourite features and unleash your creative side. Use a selection of these lighting types to complete your kitchen lighting.
Hopefully, our guide has helped you decide what lighting you want to utilise in your kitchen. Now, you can choose what light fittings best suit your interior aesthetic. Browse our kitchen lighting to find the perfect lights for your kitchen interior. We have many styles, from modern to traditional, industrial chic to Scandinavian, to cater to your individual taste.
If you’re decorating your child’s bedroom, lighting is an essential part of the decor. Whether it’s making sure they have enough light to illuminate their room, task light to do their homework or fun lights to make their bedroom cosy, we have everything you need to know when lighting your child’s bedroom, including lighting recommendations and top tips.
Children of different ages require different lighting types and have different style tastes, so here is our guide to children’s bedroom lighting by age.
When planning lighting for a kid’s bedroom, you must begin with the practical and essential lights, for example, the big room lights for ambient lighting so they can see adequately. These would be fixtures like ceiling lights or wall lights.
Lighting also helps your child with their sleep cycle. Always include accent lighting like lamps and night lights to help your child’s body relax before bed. Ensuring they get the right kind of sleep while they’re young improves their overall development.
Your child will also spend much time in their room doing other activities while not sleeping. For example, they may read, do arts and crafts, or later, do their homework and study. Therefore, they need adequate task lighting to complete these activities with sufficient light to achieve the tasks.
Style
It’s crucial for a child’s development and mental health to feel like their space is their own. Listen to them if they want a particular lighting fixture. Many children’s lights have novelty features like bright colours and caricatures, making their room feel comfortable and welcoming. Ensure the lights are age-appropriate so your child feels comfortable in their room.
Safety
Always consider safety before you purchase a kid’s bedroom light. Ensure there are no sharp edges and that they aren’t made of material that could break and cause injury, like glass.
Also, avoid lights with inadequate safety features that might get too hot to touch. Choosing lights with LED bulbs will help keep your children safe from burns, as LED bulbs aren’t hot to touch.
Newborns to infants (0-2 years)
When preparing for a newborn and planning the lighting for the nursery, you want to choose soft ambient lighting that will create a calming and gentle atmosphere.
For example, you may choose a shaded ceiling light with no exposed light bulb or soft lamps with warm colour temperature bulbs. Alternatively, you could select lights with dimmable switches to achieve varying light levels. However, it’s essential to balance enough light for caregiving tasks and maintaining a sleep-friendly environment for the baby.
Opt for this soft, calming ambient light to promote relaxation for yourself and your baby, especially during nighttime activities. Dimly lit and warm colour temperatures will also preserve the sleep environment, minimise disruption to the baby’s sleep and support circadian rhythms.
Harsh, bright light can be jarring and make it more difficult for the baby to go back to sleep after feeding times. Keeping the room dark or dimly lit will help them associate darkness with sleep time. Furthermore, exposure to blue or bright light can suppress the production of melatonin, the sleep hormone. So gentle lighting can minimise this effect and allow the baby’s body to continue to produce melatonin.
Soft lighting also reduces stress for the baby and caregiver and facilitates bonding by providing an intimate setting for nurturing. For practicality, soft lighting can also allow you to navigate the room without disturbing the baby and avoiding accidents during the night.
Toddlers to preschoolers (2-5 years)
When your children get to preschool age, you may want to add an element of interactive lighting to stimulate their minds and provide enjoyment in their bedrooms, as well as practical and restful lighting.
Maintain a warm colour temperature lighting to create a calming environment before bed. Achieve this with warm LED bulbs and shaded lights and lamps. Warm colour temperatures will signal to your child’s body that it’s time for sleep so they can drift off to sleep more easily.
You also might consider purchasing lights with dimmer switches to control the light intensity and create the ambience your children require for sleeping and waking up.
As your child grows, you may want to update their lighting to something more age-appropriate. For example, lighting they can engage with. Fun characters and novelty lighting will delight your child and make them feel safe and comforted in their room.
Many children at this age may develop a fear of the dark. Therefore, a night light for kids is the perfect way to comfort them at night, reduce their fear of the dark and allow them to fall asleep peacefully.
School-age children (6-12 years)
When your children reach school age, they may want more say in decorating their own room. Allowing them to choose their light fittings and lamps fosters a sense of ownership and personal style. They may want to choose coloured lighting, put up a string of fairy lights or have a novelty kid’s bedside lamp.
They might also enjoy doing arts and crafts at their bedroom desk or get to the stage of doing light homework. Therefore, they will need adequate task lighting like desk lamps. If they are interested in reading books, add a spotlight or reading lamp beside their bed for nighttime reading.
Teenagers (13+ years)
In their teenage years, you may want to consider versatile and adjustable lighting to cater to your teenager’s needs and as their style evolves.
They will still require ceiling or wall lights for ambient lighting and task lights to complete their studies. But their other accent lighting should be unique to their style.
General tips for all ages
Top Tip 1: As well as artificial lighting, you must consider letting enough natural light into your children’s bedrooms. Natural light in the morning will allow your child to develop a healthy circadian rhythm.
Top Tip 2: Ensure your child’s bedroom light switches are easily accessible for children of all ages. If your child is young and developing their motor skills, allowing them to turn lights on and off is a fantastic way for them to interact with their environment in safely.
Top Tip 3: We always recommend installing lights with LED bulbs. Not only are they more energy efficient, but they’re safer for children as they do not get hot.
Children’s Lighting at Castlegate Lights
Age is one of the most crucial facts to consider when choosing lights for your children’s bedrooms. Every age is different and requires lights for different needs, from comforting lighting to help them fall asleep to creating a sense of ownership.
Find the perfect lighting for your child’s bedroom, whatever their age, at Castelgate Lights in our children’s lighting collection.
When planning your interior lighting, the stairs often get forgotten. However, stair lighting is crucial to increase safety in your home, and it’s an untapped area where you can enhance your home with a stylish lighting design feature.
In this staircase lighting guide, we will help you choose the best lighting for your staircase with a selection of ideas you can incorporate into your interior. We will also teach you how to install stair lights safely – keep reading to find out how to illuminate and upgrade your stairs.
Illuminating your staircase is a fantastic opportunity to showcase your interior design flare. If you have an architecturally beautiful staircase, why not compliment it with a showstopping lighting fixture or highlight its innate beauty with subtle lighting?
Enhance the welcoming atmosphere of your home with a warming ambience up the stairs.
Staircase lighting also has safety benefits. Adding more light to a staircase helps increase safety on the stairs to prevent accidents in the dark.
How to choose lighting for the staircase
When choosing staircase lighting, remember these crucial considerations when browsing.
Style
When shopping for staircase lighting, try to match the lighting style to the overall feel of your interior decor. For example, shop for modern lighting if your home has a contemporary aesthetic.
Homes can feature various types of staircases, which may need different illumination. The staircase style can affect the lights you choose. Here are some examples of staircases and the best staircase lighting for their design.
1. Straight Stairs
Straight stairs are self-explanatory. They run from the ground floor to the upper levels in an upward ascent with no curves. Use mirroring symmetry to mimic the ascent with multiple wall lights ascending with the stairs and illuminate the strains evenly.
2. L-shaped stairs
An L-shaped staircase is split into two sections and follows the right angle of a wall to get to the next level. Where it turns in direction, there is a landing step, usually in a square shape. Create balance by illuminating this middle section from above with a pendant light or chandelier.
3. U Shaped Stairs
U-shaped stairs are two parallel straight stair flights joined by a landing, creating a 180-degree turn in the walk line. Illuminate the landing section from above like the L-shaped staircase, or use two ceiling lights to illuminate each flight of stairs.
4. Winder Stairs
Winder stairs contour around corners but have narrower steps on one side. Due to the unevenness of the steps, they can be more challenging to navigate. Add recessed step lights to illuminate the narrow steps.
5. Spiral Stairs
Spiral staircases are typically used in compact spaces as they ascend directly upwards in a helix arc. You can either illuminate these stairs by hanging ceiling lights underneath the step above or light the step with under-step lights, which will help people navigate the narrow part of the steps.
6. Curved Stairs
Curved stairs can curve in any direction with any level of arch curve. As these are usually a design feature, you need a light to match the grandeur level and technical prowess. Suspend a pendant light or chandelier in the negative space of the curve to create symmetry.
7. Cantilever Stairs
Cantilever stairs give the appearance that the stair treads are floating but are attached to the wall. These often appear in modern homes, so add recessed step lights to illuminate the stairs in a contemporary way and help people navigate the gaps between the treads.
8. Split Staircase (Bifurcated)
Split staircases, or bifurcated stairs, start at the bottom level that ends at a landing, which splits off into two staircases going in opposite directions. As these staircases are usually in a grand entrance, hang an equally extravagant ceiling light above the landing to create symmetry and balance.
Brightness and colour temperature
Consider the best brightness level and colour temperature to match your interior decor, create the right ambience and provide the optimum amount of light for safely using the stairs.
For the brightness level, you want a balance of the optimum amount of light to climb the stairs safely without the light being too glaring.
You also want to create the right ambience to match your home’s aesthetic. For example, even though staircase lighting is practical, you still want the light to create a warm and inviting atmosphere.
We recommend using light with a warm colour temperature to maintain an inviting and cosy atmosphere. However, if you have an ultra-modern interior, you might want to experiment with white or cool white light on the steps to match the futuristic aesthetic.
Energy efficiency
We always recommend using LED bulbs in your staircase lighting as they can offer the best energy-efficient lighting option.
Ambience vs accent lighting
You have two main ways to light a staircase that create two different effects. The one you choose will depend on the lighting effect you want to produce.
Ambient lighting
Ambient lighting is a fantastic way to illuminate your stairs. It creates general lighting that will light your entire staircase area. These can be ceiling lights, like pendant lights and chandeliers. They will illuminate your stairs from above. Or, you can install wall lights leading up the stairs for a beautiful staggered lighting design.
Accent lighting
You can also illuminate your staircase using accent lighting. These come in the form of step lights either recessed into the wall adjacent to the stairs and illuminate the stairs from the side or LED strip lights underneath the steps to create a floating effect.
Types of staircase lighting
Here is our guide on the different types of typical staircase lights.
Ceiling lights
Ceiling lights are the most common way to illuminate your stairs. They offer ambient light from above and sufficiently light the stairs to avoid accidents.
Pendant lights
Pendant lights are a great way to illuminate stairs. As stairs bridge the gap between the ground and upper levels, they usually sit under the high ceiling of the upper level, leaving plenty of room to fit a long or extravagant pendant light.
Use multiple pendant lights ascending the stairs to create a symmetrically staggered and even lighting effect.
Chandeliers
Often, stairs can be a focal point in an entranceway. Complement a grand staircase with an equally extravagant chandelier. With traditional and modern designs to browse, you can find a cascading chandelier to match your stair shape.
Wall lights
Wall lights are a fantastic alternative to ceiling lights to illuminate your stairs with ambient light. Distribute these lights evenly and stagger them to mimic the ascending stairs to achieve a symmetrical effect.
Step lights
Alternatively, you can illuminate your stairs using lights that highlight and accent the stairs. These can also help illuminate narrower stairs that people may struggle to navigate.
Recessed wall lights
Recess wall lights in the wall running along the stairs to highlight each step from the side.
Under-stair strip lights
If you have a modern home interior, you may want to consider illuminating your steps with under-stair strip lights from underneath to get a shadowed, floating effect.
How to install stair lights
We urge that if you install a new light in a new location and need additional wiring, contact an experienced electrician to install the lighting safely and correctly. If you are replacing an old light fitting, take caution when wiring the new light, and if you’re not sure what you’re doing, call an electrician.
Here is our step-by-step guide on how to install stair lights.
Tools you will need:
Your chosen stairlights
A screwdriver
A drill and drill bits
A voltage tester
Wire strippers
Electrical tape
Wire connectors
Electrical junction box (if necessary)
Steps:
1. Plan your light design:
Decide where your light placement is and the type of light you’re using. Then, measure and mark where you want each light. If you’re using multiple lights, make sure the spaces are even.
2. Turn off the power:
Before beginning any electrical work, turn off the power to the staircase lighting circuit at the breaker box. Use a voltage tester to confirm the power is off.
3. Drill Holes:
If your lights require wiring, drill holes for the wires according to your planned layout. Ensure the holes are large enough so the light wires aren’t damaged.
4. Install Lights:
For surface-mounted lights, follow the manufacturer’s instructions to secure them in place using screws. If your lights need wiring, thread the wires through the drilled holes and fix the lights using screws.
5. Connect the Wiring:
Connect the wires of each light according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Typically, this involves connecting the positive (hot) wire to the positive terminal and the negative (neutral) wire to the negative terminal. Use wire strippers to expose fresh copper wire.
Then, use wire connectors to secure the connections and wrap them with electrical tape for added protection.
6. Conceal Wires (if applicable):
If you want to hide the wires, consider running them through conduits or channels along the staircase or behind the risers.
7. Test the Lights:
Turn the power back on and test each light to ensure functionality. If any lights do not work, double-check the wiring connections.
8. Secure Loose Wires (if applicable):
Use cable or adhesive clips to secure loose wires along the staircase, preventing tripping hazards and ensuring a neat appearance.
9. Seal Drill Holes (if applicable):
If you drilled holes for wiring, seal them with an appropriate sealant or plasterboard to prevent drafts and maintain the structural integrity of the staircase or wall.
10. Reassemble:
If you had to disassemble any part of the staircase during the installation, reassemble it securely.
Staircase Lighting FAQs
How can I retrofit my existing staircase with lights?
Yes! It is possible to retrofit lights to your existing staircase. However, if you need to install extra wiring, we recommend hiring an electrician to complete the job.
You can drill holes into the wall or ceiling to run wires to install stair lighting. Or, if this isn’t possible, you can run conduit to run wires where you need them.
Are there battery-powered options for stair lights?
If you can’t retrofit stair lights, it’s too difficult to install new wiring, or you want a clean, seamless, easy-to-install lighting solution for your stairs, opt for battery-powered stair lights. These lights are easy to install and require no electrical installation.
What are the best practices for maintaining staircase lighting?
Ensure your staircase lighting lasts with these best maintenance practices.
Regular cleaning. Clean dust and debris off your light fixtures regularly to ensure they shine at their intended brightness. Use a mild cleaning solution and a soft cloth.
Check connections. Periodically check your wiring and connections for any wear and tear or looseness. Tighten loose connections and replace damaged wiring.
Test bulbs. Regularly test your staircase bulbs to ensure functionality and replace any burnt-out bulbs. The light could have a wiring issue if a new bulb doesn’t work.
Inspect regularly for damage. Examine your light fixtures, housing and surrounding area regularly for physical damage. Repair or replace damaged components to maintain the structural integrity of the lighting system.
Address flickering lights. There could be a problem with the bulb, wiring or light fixture if your bulb flickers. Check and replace faulty components to solve the issue.
Keep stairs clear. If you have recessed wall lights illuminating your stairs, ensure they are clear of objects as they obstruct the light, reducing visibility and compromising safety.
Schedule professional safety checks. Periodically hire a qualified electrician to inspect your staircase lighting. Professionals can identify potential issues and perform maintenance tasks that may require specialised knowledge.
If you follow these best lighting maintenance practices, you can ensure your staircase lighting remains in optimal condition. It will also provide safety and aesthetic interior lighting design to your home for many years.
Stair lights at Castlegate Lights
Adding lights to your staircase can help increase safety for everyone using the stars and provide design interest. We hope our ultimate guide on staircase lighting has helped you decide on the perfect stair lights for your staircase. Whatever stair type you have, we have the best lighting fitting for you, whether you have a modern or contemporary interior.
Find the perfect stair lighting at Castlegate Lights today. Browse one of the categories above or look at our hallway lighting collection for hundreds of options.
Accent lighting highlights particular features, spaces and objects, drawing your attention to them and enhancing the room’s ambience. With this in mind, adding accent lighting to your living room is the perfect way to elevate your space instantly.
Going from one-dimensional lighting to varied lighting levels will add intrigue and interest to your favourite features and centrepieces in your room, enhancing the overall feel of your living room.
If you’ve spent time beautifully decorating your living room, it’s time to add lighting to highlight your accent pieces. Accent lighting is the finishing touch to your well-designed living space. So, join us as we explore how to use accent lighting, where to place it and the primary accent lighting fixtures available to elevate your living room.
Accent lighting is any lighting used to highlight a specific area of a room, object or architectural feature. Compared to task and ambient lighting, it is purely aesthetic, contributing to a room’s interior design.
Task and ambient lighting, on the other hand, have a more practical purpose, like helping you to complete tasks at night and providing general light to a room.
What is accent lighting used for?
Accent lighting is an interior design technique where you use light to highlight spaces, objects or architectural features. Adding accent lighting to your living space creates variable light levels to vary your lighting scheme for added interest or differing effects for different purposes.
Accent lighting also provides design appeal as it frames spaces and highlights design features, intentionally drawing the eye to your room’s centrepieces and unique design choices.
Types of accent lights
Accent lighting usually has a focused light beam to highlight an object or feature. Here are the most common living room accent lighting ideas to create an accented lighting effect.
Wall sconces
Although wall sconces can produce general ambient light, using them sparingly can highlight objects and features. Uplighters or up-and-down lights create a wash of light across the wall, which accents the wall texture.
Picture lights
Picture lights are a specific type of accent light that highlights wall art. These can elevate your living room by highlighting your favourite paintings, photography and framed wall art, adding sophistication to your interior wall decor. Enjoy your pictures and portraits after dark by installing picture lights.
Track lighting and spotlights
Track lighting and spotlights are also a great way to elevate your living room decor using accent lighting. Adjust the bright, focused beam to highlight where you want to illuminate, whether highlighting a particular seating space or an architectural feature.
Track lighting features spotlights powered by an electric current running through the ceiling-mounted track. The track allows you to reposition the lights for varied accent lighting. Alternatively, you can install more fixed ceiling or wall spotlights to highlight objects and features in your living room.
Downlights
Strategically placed downlights also work well as accent lights, producing a focused downward light beam to highlight objects, space and features.
Lamps
Lamps are a great way to add accent lighting to your living room. Use table or floor lamps to highlight a seating area, sideboard or design feature.
Accent lighting placement tips
When installing accent lighting, placement is crucial. If highlighting artwork, point the picture light towards the frame to maximise the light effect. You can also highlight artifactual features and decorative elements by focusing any directional beams towards them.
Manipulating the position of your accent lights is crucial for pointing the beam in the intended direction. Mount them on the ceiling or wall or place them on surfaces or the floor to achieve your ideal lighting effect.
Accent lighting techniques
There are various accent lighting techniques you can employ to create different effects. The obvious way to achieve accent lighting is by pointing the light beam towards the object or feature you want to highlight. Or, with some planning, you can use other techniques to elevate your living room decor.
For example, uplighting and downlighting will highlight features and create fascinating shadows to add interest to your decor. You can uplight a house plant, sculpture, bookcase or shelf to draw the eye’s attention.
Alternatively, you can use the wall-washing technique if you have a textured feature wall. As you cover the wall in light, it hits the textured wall and creates a mesmerising contrast between light and shadow, highlighting the feature.
Choosing the right accent lighting fixtures
When it comes to accent lighting, choosing the types of fixtures is crucial to get the best lighting effect. However, you have a creative licence to choose between materials that complement your interior decor.
Accent lights are usually on the smaller side or have focused beams to create a focused highlighting effect. If the lights are too big or produce a beam that’s too wide, the feature or object becomes lost in ambient light.
Matching accent lighting with decor styles
With so many lighting choices, the selection process can be overwhelming. However, with our vast array of lighting styles, you can find the perfect accent lights to suit your interior style.
Whether you have a modern minimalist interior style, live in a period property or enjoy eclectic maximalism, at Castlegate Lights, you can find accent lights to suit and enhance your living room decor.
Living room accent lights at Castlegate Lights
Accent lighting is a fantastic way to elevate your interior lighting scheme and complement your decor. By using accent lighting to highlight your favourite design features and draw the eye to your centrepieces, you add interest to your living room. Accent lighting allows you to diversify your lighting scheme rather than settle for the standard.
Whatever your home decor style, you can find the perfect accent lights to elevate your living room decor at Castlegate Lights. With so many styles and materials to browse in our living room lighting collection, you can complete your lighting scheme today.
When planning living room lights, lighting scheme designers often start with the ceiling light. As the primary light in the room, it provides general and ambient light to the entire room, so it’s the best place to start. However, your ceiling fitting offers more than practical lighting; it completes the room’s design aesthetic.
As a centrepiece in the room’s ceiling, it is the piece of interior decor that draws the eye as you first walk into a room, so it’s crucial it matches the overall aesthetic or stands out with a bold design.
Whatever your interior style, we have all the living room ceiling light ideas you need to illuminate your living room.
Why do you need ceiling lights in your living room?
Ceiling lights are an integral part of your living room lighting scheme. They create practical general lighting so you can see but also contribute to the mood and feel of the room, often called ambient light.
Even if you illuminate your living room with wall lights or lamps, most will also have an overhead ceiling light to provide sufficient lighting to see your whole living room at night.
How to choose ceiling lights for the living room
The amount of choice you have when selecting a living room ceiling light can be overwhelming. So, here are our top things to consider when choosing a ceiling light for your living room.
Consider your living room size and layout.
When deciding on your living room ceiling light, always consider the size and layout of your living room, as this will significantly impact the size, type and placement of your light.
For example, if you have a small living room or low ceilings, you might want to avoid grand chandeliers and pendant lights with long hanging chains or wires. Instead, you might prefer spotlights, downlights or flush ceiling lights that take up less space.
Also, consider the layout of your living room when deciding on ceiling lights. Do you want a ceiling light directly in the centre of the room or suspended over a seating area to frame your cosy space? If you choose downlights or spotlights, you will need to stagger several fittings so they produce even ambient lighting across the room.
You may have a large or elongated rectangular shaped room. Therefore, you might want multiple ceiling lights to create balance and sufficient lighting.
Consider your style and aesthetic.
The style and aesthetic of your living room decor will also help determine what living room ceiling lights you should get. Whether you prefer modern minimalism, natural Scandinavian style, industrial chic, mid-century modern, maximalism, or you have a vintage period property, there are lights to suit your style in every collection.
Try to tie the living room ceiling light within the style of the room to balance the interior design.
Types of living room ceiling lights
Pendants
Pendant lights are a great way to illuminate your living room. They provide general ambient light to the whole room and create a stunning centrepiece in the middle of a room or do a great job highlighting a seating area.
Pendant lights work best in rooms with high ceilings. As the wire or chain hangs, the pendant light can protrude into the space if you have low ceilings.
With so many beautiful pendant light designs, you can choose one that will blend in with your style and aesthetic or draw the eye, creating a showstopping centrepiece that ties the whole room decor together.
Chandeliers
Chandeliers are a classic choice for living room ceiling lighting. You can’t go wrong with a chandelier in your living room, from grand, traditional styles that exude elegance and sophistication to modern interpretations that convey a flare for interior design.
Use a living room chandelier to create a gorgeous centrepiece, developing a talking point amongst your guests.
What size chandelier for the living room?
The size of your chandelier depends on the size of your living room. If you have a small living room with low ceilings, you don’t want to have a giant, cascading chandelier that protrudes into the space below. Instead, choose one with a short hanging chain and minimal arms for a more subtle look.
If you have a large living room, match the room’s grandeur with an oversized chandelier with more arms and lights. If you choose a small chandelier, your room might not be as well-lit, and the room will swallow the small light fixture.
Uplighters
Uplighters are another delightful ceiling light option for your living room. Usually a flush fitting, most uplighters are suitable for low ceilings while adding style and grace to your living room.
Many of our uplighters take inspiration from the Edwardian era and the Art Deco period, meaning these lights are perfect for keeping your period property interior design authentic or are ideal if you love vintage decor.
The downward-facing domed shade is suspended on multiple arms, almost appearing like an upside-down lamp. The shade casts light upwards, and the downward light is shaded, creating a mellow and calming light ambience, perfect for creating a cosy atmosphere in your living room.
Flush ceiling lights
Flush ceiling lights are light fixtures that sit flush to the ceiling, making them a perfect way to light your living room if you have low ceilings.
With hundreds of styles and designs to browse, you can find a flush ceiling light for the living room that matches your interior style and aesthetic.
Use one in the centre of the room or multiple to create the ideal amount of light to illuminate your living room space.
Recessed ceiling lights
Another option for your living room ceiling lights is recessed lights. Although not the most popular living room light style due to the bright LED bulbs, it is possible to make them work. With the ability to dim many of our recessed lights, the recessed ceiling lights don’t have to be so glaring.
Recessed ceiling lights are set within the ceiling to create a seamless look, perfect if you want a minimalist aesthetic in your living room.
Where to place recessed lighting in the living room
If you’re using recessed lights as your living room ceiling lighting, you’ll want to choose a few based on the size of your living room. Note the beam width and ensure it will fill the room to create the ideal light amount for general lighting. Then, evenly disperse the recessed lights on the ceiling, maybe two-by-two.
How to light a living room with no overhead lighting
If a ceiling light in your living room isn’t to your taste, there are plenty of other options for lighting your living room with no overhead lighting. For example, you can use a selection of wall lights to create the same ambient lighting effect as ceiling lighting.
You can also use lamps to create general lighting. Select several table and floor lamps and arrange them around your living room for sufficient lighting. Just make sure to choose lamps big enough with wider shades to cast light around the entire room.
Living room ceiling lights at Castlegate Lights
Ceiling lights are a staple decor piece and provide essential lighting for your living room. They help create general ambient lighting so you can see in your living room, but they also add an interior design element that usually ties the whole room together.
Whatever your living room size or style, you can find a living room ceiling light to match at Castlegate Lights. Follow this guide of crucial considerations and browse our collection to find a living room ceiling light that matches your interior aesthetic.
The kitchen is the heart of the household. It’s where you cook, eat and spend time with family and friends. So, if you’re lucky enough to have a beautiful kitchen island in an open-plan kitchen, don’t keep it in the dark!
Kitchen lighting, especially lighting for your island, is essential to get right as it should function as task lighting for meal preparation but also create the right atmosphere for socialising and enjoying meals together.
Kitchens need to function with adequate lighting, but that doesn’t mean your lighting has to be glaring and ugly. Here are six ways to light your kitchen island to provide functional lighting for cooking, cleaning and socialising that also looks stunning.
Pendant lights are a fantastic way to illuminate your kitchen island. If they have a shade, they provide concentrated task lighting to the island to help you see what you’re doing. Alternatively, you can choose a more open pendant light for general ambient lighting.
In addition to providing practical lighting, a pendant light over an island can contribute to the interior design of your kitchen. As they usually hang low and are in the middle of the room, highlighting the primary workspace of the kitchen, it can be the first thing people see when they walk into the kitchen. Therefore, you want the centrepiece of the room to look stylish.
If you want your pendant light to be an eye-catching design choice that draws the eye and sparks interest, consider an extravagant or innovative design that looks unique. Or, go big to make a bold statement with an oversized pendant light.
Size also matters. The size and shape of your kitchen island will determine how many pendant lights you need to illuminate it sufficiently. If you have a smaller or square kitchen island, you may want to opt for a singular statement pendant light.
Or, if you have a large island or it’s more rectangular, you can create a very eye-catching look by following the rule of three. Suspend three pendant lights in a row above your kitchen island for a dramatic triplet effect. You can also find pendant light fixtures with multiple lights in one fitting to achieve this impactful look.
Whether you have a country-style kitchen, an industrial-chic interior or an ultra-modern aesthetic, there are hundreds of kitchen island lighting options in our pendant lights collection here at Castlegate Lights.
How low should a pendant light hang?
We recommend suspending your pendant light with a 76-91cm gap between the light and the kitchen island. However, there is some room for creative licence; the lower the lamp, the more dramatic the lighting effect.
However, you still want to maintain a functional workspace. The lower the lamp is, the more concentrated the beam will be, diminishing the ambient light to the rest of the kitchen and creating more shadows on the countertop.
Furthermore, you don’t want the height of the pendant lights over the island to interfere with your work. Hang the pendant light too low, and you could knock it with your hands or head.
Chandeliers
Similarly to pendant lights, a chandelier can illuminate your kitchen island surface, provide task lighting and add elegance and grandeur to your kitchen.
Chandeliers provide an eye-catching statement piece in the centre of your kitchen, perfect for highlighting the central kitchen island. Whether you have an industrial-style kitchen with brass fixings or an elegant French country-style kitchen, we offer a range of chandeliers to match your kitchen aesthetic.
Spotlights
There are other ways to illuminate your kitchen island if you don’t like the idea of a protruding hanging pendant light in the middle of your kitchen. For example, spotlights are a sleek and subtle way to illuminate your kitchen island.
We offer a selection of spotlight light fittings, depending on the size of your island and where you want to illuminate. From single spotlights to multiple spotlights mounted on a bar, you can adjust spotlights to point where you need the light most on your kitchen island. For larger kitchen islands, choose a longer spotlight bar to illuminate the entire space.
Downlights
Downlights are another excellent way to illuminate your kitchen island. They will allow you to see what you’re doing, whether cooking up a storm or serving drinks to guests, by providing bright, direct light.
Strategically place a selection of downlights above your kitchen island to get the light you need to complete your daily tasks. Or, use adjustable downlights to point light beams towards your high-work areas.
Downlights offer practical yet clean and minimalist lighting, perfect for a modern kitchen interior.
Track Lighting
Another contemporary way to illuminate your kitchen island is to add track lighting. Track lighting consists of a ceiling-mounted track which supplies an electric current to the track lights. The lights slot into the track. And because they aren’t attached, you can fully adjust their position and direction to suit your needs at any time.
Track lighting has a contemporary, industrial aesthetic, meaning it blends well in a modern kitchen design.
Under-cabinet Lighting
Lighting your kitchen island doesn’t have to be purely functional. Add light layers to your island by highlighting the underside of the countertop to create a futuristic glow.
Under-cabinet lighting around the island can add depth to your kitchen, and when you finish cooking or socialising, leave the light on to create a cosy atmosphere.
Kitchen island lighting at Castlegate Lights
Kitchen island lighting is primarily functional. It helps you see what you’re doing while cooking, eating and socialising, but that doesn’t mean it has to be boring.
Create an eye-catching centrepiece with a pendant light or chandelier suspended above the worktop and create a focal point around the room’s centre. Or, if you have a modern kitchen, use spotlights or downlights to illuminate your kitchen island with bright adjustable beams.
Whether you have a modern kitchen aesthetic or a vintage interior, you can find hundreds of kitchen lights in our collection to beautifully illuminate your kitchen island at Castlegate Lights.
Other than the bedroom, the living room is probably where we spend the most time. Whether you call it the living room, the lounge or the sitting room, it’s where we relax, wind down and spend time with the family, so it must feel warm, secure and comfortable. Sumptuous lighting can help achieve this relaxing mood. As a versatile room, you might also use it to host guests, so by adding various light layers, you can create a functional and relaxing space for multiple uses.
Whether you have modern or vintage decor, we offer hundreds of lighting styles to match your aesthetic and illuminate your living room. Discover endless options within our seven living room lighting ideas.
Most living rooms will have multiple lights, including the primary light in the centre of the ceiling, which provides ambient light to the entire room.
The perfect way to illuminate your living room is through ambient lighting. Ambient lighting refers to the overall light in a space. It gives you a comfortable brightness level without glare and ensures you can walk around your home safely. You can use ceiling lights or wall lights to create ambient living room lighting.
You can then supplement the ambient lighting with accent lighting and task lighting. For example, add a table lamp to help you read in the evening or a floor lamp to illuminate a dark corner or highlight an architectural or design feature.
Swapping between multiple lighting sources can help you alter the living room’s atmosphere and purpose by changing the mood. You will need to consider the size of your space, what you want to use it for and how you want it to make you feel when planning living room lighting.
What is the best lighting for the living room?
If you want to replicate the feeling of warmth to ensure your living room is cosy, here are our seven best ways to light a living room to suit every family member.
Ceiling lights
When lighting your living room, start with your primary light, the ceiling light. Your ceiling light will illuminate your entire room, providing a general ambience. There are thousands of options to browse in various styles to suit your home, but here are the basics.
Pendants
Pendant lights are a fantastic option for living room lighting as they provide general lighting without being too harsh, perfect for creating a mellow, low-light ambience.
Many pendant lights come with downward-facing shades, so if you have a coffee table in the centre of the room, it will perfectly highlight the room’s centre, drawing people to the hub of the home.
Alternatively, you can opt for a more extravagant design that will provide interior design interest and become a focal point in the room that people can admire.
With hundreds of styles to browse, from industrial chic to ultra-modern artistic designs, find the perfect pendant light for your living room here at Castlegate Lights.
Flush and semi-flush ceiling lights
If you still want an ambient light effect in your living room but have low ceilings, your best option is a flush or semi-flush ceiling light. A flush ceiling light will provide general lighting to your living room without protruding into your living space.
Many flush lights feature a frosted diffuser to prevent a harsh glare from ruining the relaxing atmosphere in your living room.
Flush ceiling lights also have a more subtle quality. They can blend better into your decor without drawing too much attention if you have other interior features you want to showcase. Equally, your flush lighting doesn’t have to be boring. We offer hundreds of intricately designed flush lights that will pique your guests’ interest, look elegant and tie your living space together.
From modern and innovative designs to vintage-style crystal flush ceiling lights, find the perfect flush living room lights for low ceilings at Castlegate Lights.
Chandeliers
If you have a grand home or want to elevate the aesthetic of your living room, go all out with a chandelier. Elegantly hanging in the centre of the room, a chandelier will provide an exquisite centrepiece for your living room while also offering general lighting.
You can go extravagant and choose a chandelier with crystal beading and multiple arms, or opt for a more subtle light fitting.
Any of our chandeliers will create a “wow” factor in your living room if you use your living room as an entertaining space. From intricate and loopy designs fit for a ballroom to contemporary geometric patterns to complement your modern home, we have an extensive range of chandeliers to illuminate your living room at Castlegate Lights.
Wall lights
Another way to illuminate your living room is using wall lights. Depending on the light type and where you place them, wall lights can produce ambient light to the entire living room if you have enough dotted around. They can also act as accent lights. From candlelight fittings to up and down lights, create a mellow and relaxing atmosphere in your living room with wall lights.
Uplighters
Sometimes called wall scones, uplighters are a fantastic way to illuminate your living room. To use them as ambient lighting, strategically place multiple uplighters around the living room walls to create a welcoming and relaxing atmosphere.
Uplighters cast light upwards to create a low-light glow so you don’t have harsh lighting where you want to relax. If you have unusual texture on your wall, they can also highlight that texture.
From modern and sleek styles to art deco concepts, choose uplighters that best suit your living room decor from Castlegate Lights.
Picture lights
Picture lights are another fantastic way to use light in your living room. Use picture lights if you have any wall art, family portraits, paintings or photography you want to highlight.
Picture lights are accent light that subtly illuminates your framed art to draw the eye towards it without adding glare. Add another light layer to your living room and showcase any beautiful art you have in the evening and the daytime.
From sleek, minimalistic lines for contemporary homes to maximalist detailing for a vintage or traditional aesthetic, there is a picture light for every living room aesthetic at Castlegate Lights.
Lamps
Lamps are a great way to soften the mood in your living room. If you want a diffused, mellow light to help you relax and wind down after a long day, turn off your ceiling or wall lights and turn on the lamps. They also have illuminated dim corners that the ambient light might not reach. Lamps also provide task lighting where you need extra light to read.
Table lamps
Add multiple light layers to your living room with a table lamp or two. They will illuminate an end table or a console unit beautifully. With hundreds of stunning and innovative designs, the table lamp you choose will also add to the interior design of your living room.
Whether you’re relaxing and watching TV with the family, need extra light for reading or create a warm and welcoming atmosphere for guests, table lamps are essential for altering the mood of your living room.
From classically designed table lamps with pleated shades to ultra-modern table lamps with unconventional designs, there is something for every interior style in our table lamp collection at Castlgate Lights.
Floor lamps
Floor lamps also help add varying light layers to living rooms. Similarly to table lamps, floor lamps can beautifully brighten a dull corner of the living room, for example, by the side of a sofa or console table. Choose a floor lamp that complements the style of your living room. Many of our brands offer unusual and stylish floor lamps that add to your interior design besides being functional.
Floor lamps provide a more mellow light to calm the mood, perfect for relaxing in your living room with the family. Depending on the beam angle, floor lamps can also provide concentrated light to help complete tasks like crocheting or reading, especially a mother & child lamp, a miniature task light attached to the floor lamp neck.
Change the lighting atmosphere of your living room depending on your mood with a selection of floor lamps. With so many styles to choose from vintage designs to modern innovations, browse our floor lamp collection at Castlegate Lights and complete your living room lighting today.
Living room lighting at Castlegate Lights
Given how much time we use our living rooms, we need a space that works for multiple occasions. Whether winding down after a long day, cuddled up with a book or entertaining guests, you need multiple light layers to transform the mood of your living room for each occasion.
When planning your lighting scheme, always choose your ambient light first, then your accent and task lights to add varying layers. To start planning your living room lighting, visit our living room lights collection at Castlegate Lights.
Summer evenings are upon us, and if you’re looking for ways to maximise the time you have outside, our ultimate garden lighting guide will give you an ideal burst of inspiration. Whether we’re lounging after a long day of working, or spending evenings outdoors entertaining friends, having an ambient, inviting space to enjoy is more appealing than ever before — and outdoor summer lights are one of the quickest, easiest ways to achieve this!
Ready to spruce your space up with some outdoor lighting? Read on as we share some of our favourite, ultra-stylish options!
Minimalist lighting fixtures
If you enjoy the ever-popular scandi decor style, then some sleek, minimalist style outdoor lighting might just complement your existing decor perfectly.
When it comes to minimalist light, the positioning of the lights you choose is important. Position them cleverly around your porch to enjoy a cosy, ambient glow as the evening draws in, or if you’re revamping a small balcony area, add these types of fixtures to either end of your space.
For true minimalist allure, opt for matte black finishes — summer lights can be stylish and fit in with your existing decor! Alternatively, choose a finish that contrasts the area that the light will be fixed to, making a subtle focal point out of your minimalist outdoor summer lights.
If you are looking for a stand-out brand, then Astro Lighting is the ideal destination for enthusiasts of this particular style, crafting a selection of cylinder and cube-shaped fixtures, capturing the clean-cut, low key appeal that defines minimalist lighting styles.
Outdoor table lamps: Al-fresco centrepieces
Outdoor lamps are a must-have for any garden dining table, illuminating your space and keeping conversations flowing long after the sun has set.
Make your outdoor lamp the centrepiece of your garden dining area, or if you are working with a more enclosed area, why not create an inviting, cosy corner by adding it to a side table accompanied by outdoor plants.
Swedish lighting manufacturer Konstsmide designs beautifully distinctive outdoor lamps, so if you’re looking for sophisticated summer lights, take a look at this selection. Add an elegant, efficient accessory to your garden, and let your dinner party run late into the evening, or unwind in style in an inviting, perfectly illuminated corner of your yard — perhaps keep a cosy blanket or two within reach!
Create a cosy glow with ceiling lights
Adding outdoor ceiling lights to a balcony will not only keep the area lit up as the sun goes down, but it’ll also free up plenty of space, too. Inner-city living can feel like a haven if you turn your balcony into a bohemian paradise, so fill your space with practical furniture and adorn it with outdoor plants. Outdoor ceiling lights will give you the freedom to make the most out of a smaller area, but they’re also a practical addition to gardens of any size,
The selection from Edit Lighting captures a versatile range of styles with its outdoor ceiling lights, from traditional inspired fixtures to contemporary finishes in ultra-modern stainless steel.
Savvy-solar decor
Solar outdoor summer lights are one of the most versatile ways to light your garden. They are powered by sunlight, so they’ll create a warm glow in your garden. If you’re adding all-important final touches to your space, choose solar LED string lights or stake lights. Alternatively, add vintage-inspired solar lanterns to focal points around your garden, this will help you to light your garden or outdoor space effectively and draw attention to the more appealing areas of the space.
Take a look at the stunning solar collection from Suri; you’ll find everything from quirky colour changing egg lights, to chic lanterns and rustic-inspired stake lights. The beauty of solar outdoor summer lights are their ease and low maintenance design, so if you are looking for something that you won’t have to look after – this is the perfect choice for you.
Make your garden the hub of your home and add features that’ll enable you to enjoy your space for longer this summer, with some functional, stylish outdoor lighting from Castlegate Lights today.
Discover some of the world’s leading outdoor lighting designers and choose from a wide array of styles and functionalities specifically designed for your outdoor space.
