Lighting plays an essential role in our homes, not just for providing the right level of light to see by, but for helping us to bring warmth, atmosphere, mood and comfort to a space. Designers talk a lot about layering – putting together different patterns, colours, textures and materials to create an interesting, individual look in a room - and layering light is no different. You need to combine different levels of light from different sources – ceilings, walls, floor and table lamps - to create an even balance, and particular mood. Learning how to layer light is all about mixing and matching these different kinds of light to achieve the right effect.
Read on for our handy guide on how to layer light around the home.
What is layered light?
There are three kinds of light that you need to consider when planning your lighting scheme to ensure there the right levels of brightness in a room – bright light for working and softer light for relaxing - and the right kind of lighting for creating the environment you’d like to achieve. Without them the space may feel flat and uninviting.
Layering light is all about combining these three types of light to create a successful scheme.
Ambient – the general level of light available in a room, including daylight.
Task - stronger or more targeted light for practical activities.
Accent – softer, decorative light for creating warmth, mood and highlighting features or areas in a room.
The key is understanding how ambient, task and accent lighting work together to create a balanced feel. Generally, you need to combine at least two, if not all three, of these types of light to achieve the best outcome. Remember, to ensure any room is properly lit and balanced, you need use at least three light sources placed around the space. This could be a from a combination of ceiling lights, wall lights, floor lamps and table lamps.
Ambient lighting
This is the general level of illumination you need to be able to see into the furthest corners of the room and to move around it safely. The light doesn’t need to come from a single source and generally refers to the wired wall and ceiling lights you turn on and off with the flick of a switch.
Task lighting
This is your brighter, more focussed practical light that lets you perform specific activities and tends to refer to sources that offer targeted light; a down lighter for reading by, a desk lamp so you can see your keyboard, vanity lights in a bathroom for grooming, spot lights over a food prepping area, or adjustable bedside lights for reading.
Accent lighting
This refers to decorative or additional light sources that work alongside ambient and task lights to help you to create the right mood in a room or create a focal point. You can use accent lighting to highlight architectural features, high ceilings, pictures, alcoves, to bookend a fireplace or entrance, or to illuminate shelving. Think picture lights, statement pendant lights, multi-orbed standing lamps, table lamps and floors lamps.
Why are layers of light important?
Layered light is essential for bringing a room to life. It creates the right atmosphere, helps set the mood, adds character and brings versatility and flexibility to the space so you can use it for more than one purpose. Mixing and matching multiple light sources means that the room you use for work in the daytime can be transformed into an elegant space for entertaining in the evening and a cosy nook for reading late at night.
Where do I start with layering light?
Begin with ambient light
We recommend considering the amount of general (ambient) light you need to light the space first. Remember you will need more light for functional areas like kitchens and bathrooms, and softer light for informal areas like living rooms and bedrooms.
Add tasking light
In kitchens, bathroom and cloakrooms, consider where you need the most light for prepping or cooking food, washing and grooming and put your task light here. Consider directional wall or spotlights in the kitchen and bathroom wall lights for a vanity unit or wash basin in a bathroom.
Finally layer in accent light
Finally, add in your table and floor lamps that can be used anywhere and are excellent for boosting light in dark corners, or creating softer layers of light to diffuse the brighter light from ceilings or wall lights. This is also when you can plan your decorative lighting, exploring how it works with other elements in the room.
Top tips for layering light
Natural light
Start by considering the amount of natural light there is in a room as this will determine how much electric light you need. South and west facing rooms tend to be brighter than east or north facing ones. Do you have large windows? Streetlamps? Are there trees or outbuildings nearby that might block the light?
Size matters
Think about the size of your room and how many ceiling lights you need to diffuse light throughout the space. Larger rooms may need a couple of centrally placed ceiling lights or multiple rows of recessed lights, as well as wall lights spread evenly along walls, while smaller spaces often only need to be lit by one central ceiling light or a couple of wall lights. Rooms with low ceilings often benefit from having no ceiling lights that add to the sense of enclosure, and just wall lights to create a sense of space, while rooms with high ceilings might need additional lighting to open up the furthest recesses.
Image by Chris Wakefield
@chriswakefield.photography courtesty of
Sean Symington
Do you wish to create a focal point?
Lighting plays a huge part in creating focal points in interior design as it works alongside other elements - furniture, art works, architectural features – to define a space and create a visual tableau. Because ceilings tend to be plain or sparsely decorated, there is no visual competition here, so your eye is naturally drawn up towards ceiling lights and then down to the elements beneath them creating a feeling of intimacy. Think of a seating arrangement with a beautiful pendant suspended above it, or a fireplace book-ended by wall sconces; or a kitchen island with a row of pendants hanging above.
Use multiple lights to break up large rooms
Open plan rooms are multi-functional by nature so lend themselves to being broken up into different zones. Here, you may want to use multiple lights to break the space up, combining ceiling and spotlights over worktops in a kitchen area, with accent light from table and floor lamps in a seating area, and using hanging pendants over a kitchen island or dining table.
Consider what you use the room for
Living rooms
We use this space for relaxing and entertaining, so soft layers of light is key. Avoid using a single central ceiling light as this will make for a dull, flat space. Instead, use multiple sources and play with the settings to create a different feel. You may want to use ceiling lights (ambient light) during the day but turn them off in favour of softer wall lights and floor and table lamps (accent light) in the evening for relaxing.
If you have a desk or study space in your living room, you may want to include a desk lamp or downlighter (task light) for practical purposes like reading or writing. And don’t forget to think about statement lights (accent light) to create a decorative focal point over a seating arrangement, dining table or to define different zones in an open plan space.
Kitchens
Brighter levels of light required for prepping and cooking food so tasking light is key in this important space. But don’t just relay on recessed ceiling lights as you can use a combination of spotlights, pendants and table & floor lamps for defining spaces for eating, working and relaxing and transforming your kitchen into a place of beauty.
Bedrooms
Similar to a living room in that the focus is on soft layers of light for creating a calm, relaxing space to invite sleep. But bedrooms also need to bright light to wake up to and invigorate us in the morning. Layer light with bedside table lamps and wall lights that can double up as tasking light for reading.
Dining rooms
Often one of the easiest rooms to light because the dining table takes centre stage enabling us to build lighting around it. Fit a decorative ceiling hung pendant or chandelier above a round dining table, or a trio of pendants along a long table and mix with table lamps and wall lights around the room to add flattering layers of light.
Image by Joey Kendal Brown
@joeykendalbrown courtesy of
Tara Ashwell Designs.
Bathrooms
Perhaps the only room in the home where you can get away with using a single overhead lighting source as these spaces tend to be smaller. However, it’s more visually pleasing to balance and soften your bathroom lighting with accent lights on walls and vanity units to introduce a feeling of warmth and calm.
To stay up to date with Jim Lawrence, follow us on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest. Browse our website www.jim-lawrence.co.uk to see all of our hand forged and finished lighting and homeware.
Follow us