Unknown to most, simple lighting is one of the most essential elements of interior design. Every room in your house needs sufficient illumination, whether from an artificial or natural source. While indoor lighting is crucial in improving the space's functionality, it also kicks its aesthetic appeal up a notch, creating a cosy, inviting ambience.

That brings us to the most important question—how can you leverage different lights to develop the best interior lighting design for your home? For beginners, the entire process can be a tad tricky; but it's not impossible. In fact, with the right interior lighting ideas, you can pull it off sooner than you think. If you don't know where to begin, we've written this blog with you in mind.

Join us as we explore some of the most effective ways to use various types of lights to your advantage, enhancing the atmosphere of each room in your house. But before looking into the most crucial interior design basics, let's kick things off by first helping you grasp the process and what it entails.

Interior design is an art that involves planning and creating a functional, attractive indoor space. Professional interior designers factor in a room's architecture, furniture, décor, and, most importantly, lighting to choose a style that suits their client's needs or taste, lifestyle and budget.

There's a plethora of interior design styles you can pick for your home. From traditional, modern and nautical to industrial, minimalist, and bohemian, you're spoiled for choice! But when all is said and done, how well your plan works boils down to your choice of lights. What can you do to ensure your home's lighting aligns with your interior design style? Read ahead to find out.

As any lighting professional can attest, the secret to properly lighting your home or any other place is layering. This approach requires you to leverage different lighting techniques to create the perfect atmosphere for your space, ultimately eliciting the desired emotional and physical reactions.

Typically, we have these three layers of interior lighting:

As you might derive from its name, task lighting enables you to successfully perform different activities, such as cooking, grooming, sewing, reading and working.

For instance, think of a stylish pendant illuminating your kitchen island or a table lamp on your desk for reading and writing.

This is arguably the most used layer of lighting. Otherwise known as general lighting, it usually illuminates your entire space, allowing you comfortably navigate it and perform basic tasks.

Examples of fixtures you can get for ambient lighting include wall sconces, ceiling-mounted recessed lights and multi-arm floor lamps.

Also called design lighting, this layer of lighting is less popular than the first two, but it's just as essential. Typically, accent lighting calls attention to a particular feature in the room. It could be a wall, decorative piece of art or antique item. As an unwritten rule, the lights you install to serve this purpose should be about three times brighter than the ambient lights in the room.

But why is light layering so essential? It boosts the room's depth and dimension, adding life to the space. These light layers also create a balanced look that delivers the perfect atmosphere for everyone in your home.

Even more ideal, layered lighting makes your space more aesthetically pleasing, complementing your interior design style.

Some homeowners think installing multiple light sources with different styles and colour temperatures is the key to the perfect interior design style. But they're gravely mistaken. Simple lighting is all you need to ensure your home's lighting matches your unique décor style.

We recommend using consistent themes and colour schemes in your lighting design. Consider a few statement lighting fixtures to draw attention to various objects in the room. Using lighter tones is also advisable in confined areas as it creates the illusion of space. But at the same time, darker shades give off luxurious vibes.

As you choose simple lighting designs, remember to use the right bulbs. They should provide adequate lighting and help set your desired mood for the space. Thus, they might be the right temperature, depending on the room.

For instance, 2700K colour temperature bulbs are suitable for bedrooms because they're warm and help create a relaxing atmosphere.

At the same time, opt for LED bulbs. Experts say that over 50% of the world's light market prefers LED technology, and it's also for a good reason. To begin with, these lighting options are energy-efficient, enabling you to cut back on power costs and minimize your carbon footprint. Besides, LED lights are more durable and have better quality than other lighting fixtures.

Remember to install dimmers to enjoy instant control over your light bulbs' intensity and entire interior lighting plan. These devices let you increase or reduce your lighting fixtures, helping you change the room's mood to fit your preferences without necessarily altering the colour temperature.

Ensure the dimmers you get enable you to change the intensity of each light separately. This gives you much-needed flexibility to execute your preferred interior design style for every room in the house.

Though often overlooked, natural lighting is one of the most critical elements of any interior lighting design. According to research, it massively impacts the functional presentation of indoor spaces, the occupants' comfort and mood.

Moreover, this form of simple lighting contributes to the creation of eco-friendly and sustainable interior lighting designs by reducing the need for artificial forms of lighting. That's why we propose natural lighting strategies to increase your space's illumination and décor.

It's also worth mentioning that indoor spaces with plenty of natural lighting feel more spacious and inviting. Being in them also boosts your mood and productivity and improves sleep quality.

Having answered the popular "What is interior design?" question and shown you how to take advantage of lighting to ace the process, Toplightco is still devoted to meeting your diverse lighting needs.  Our professionals are well-versed in all interior design principles and committed to helping you properly light your space.

We know you'll need different lights to illuminate your home. Therefore, we've taken the initiative to bring you a vast range of options. Our top-rated lights shop has everything, from recessed fixtures and wall lights to pendants, ceiling lighting and track lights, all with pocket-friendly price tags.

Toplightco bagged the 2023/24 London & South East Lighting Supplier of the Year award. So, best believe we provide nothing short of the best lighting fixtures on the market.With our assistance, you can fully benefit from general, ambient and task lighting, making every moment you spend in your home as memorable as you want. And here's a piece of even better news—we're just a call away. Grab your phone and dial 0207 183 5252; let's give your lighting design the professional approach it deserves.