lighting and electrical design tips

The way you light your house can alter your mood and enhance the enjoyment of your new living space. Lighting is an often neglected aspect of the build and we hope we can help you create that special look with this guide

1. Shedding Light On Costs

The cost of electrics can be greatly inflated by large numbers of spots. Having more than 10 spots fitted in a room is going to cost hundreds of pounds. Consider instead having a single designer light fitting costing a few hundred pounds, the effect can be stunning. Also if fashions change you won't have to carry out repairs to your ceiling as you will just change the fittings. Places like the kitchen and bathroom are the best places for spots but again you can have light fittings with multiple spots giving you multiple light sources. When we do fit spots we take our time as ceiling joists can cause problems with alignment. Your spots needn't always be geometric, random can look better.

2. Think In 3D

Most people only think of light as coming from the ceiling. Take time to consider uplighters, downlighters, stair lights, picture lighting and portable lighting. You should be looking at how a room will be used at various times and what moods you will want to create. Perhaps you will need bright lighting until the evening and then subdued lighting. Lighting from multiple sources makes this possible.

3. Intelligent Home Systems

These are still expensive and costs can run into tens of thousands of pounds. When done well the effect is great. A word of warning though, the more complexity you build into a system the more probable something will go wrong. This is a specialist area so ensure you use a reputable firm who come with good references and a bit of a track record.

4. Exterior Lighting

An increasingly popular trend is illuminating the exterior of your house. This can be fantastic and there is something very special about coming home to a well illuminated home. One word of warning, if you have a rendered exterior be careful with direct illumination as it can highlight the slightest uneveness in the render. Lighting to the exterior can now be solar powered.

5. Don't Forget These Items

Don't forget to allow for telephone and TV sockets. There is nothing worse than having to hack into plasterboard to add TV and telephone sockets.

6. Highlighting

It’s worth highlighting favourite pictures, books, and even plants or pieces of furniture. A simple way to show off books is to clip a small spotlight to the underside of a shelf, while pictures can be picked out with a simple spotlight, but if they’re glazed you’ll need to use an ‘eyeball’ light that swivels and can be set to a broad beam. Even your houseplants can look quite dramatic when properly lit – the best way to do it is to put a low uplighter or floor-recessed spot right behind an impressive specimen and let the light bounce off the leaves. Similarly, your best pieces of furniture can be made into even more of a focal point by placing a striking and decorative lamp alongside them.