Stuck in the thick of winter with short days and long nights? Here at The Idealist we decided to hunt out some beautiful lighting to cheer up our evenings.
The right light can have a huge impact on your overall interior design. Floor lamps can double up as beautiful and eye-catching statement pieces. Table lamps can change a desk from boring to brilliant, and a designer ceiling light can transform a room.
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With Lady Julia as our guide, she knows how creating the right ambience is crucial in any home and there’s certainly no shortage of ideas from this season’s tempting offers. She’s been out and about sourcing some of the brightest sparks to enhance the home …
Our favourite lighting finds
If you’re thinking ‘oak’, ‘modern’ and ‘bargains’ then look no further than the Wallace oak floor lamp from Habitat. Priced at just £140.00 (with £40.00 off its original price), this lamp features a modern white lampshade making it the perfect choice for either the living room or bedroom. Its funky integrated occasional table really adds the ‘wow’ factor to this piece and rated at 4.9 stars out of 5 it’s a definite hit.
Loaf have also produced a rather stunning floor lamp which again cleverly combines a French antique feel complemented by plain natural linen. Available with or without the shade, the base is made of solid mango wood and as you might expect from Loaf, has a beautifully weathered finish. See here for details of current availability and price. It’s currently on offer at £355.00 which is down from its original price of £375.00 so now’s certainly the time to grab a bargain and bring a truly French feel into your home.
Another floor lamp we particularly liked is designed by Northern Lighting and available via Cloudberry Living. Priced at £1749.00 it’s perhaps not the cheapest floor lamp on the market but it certainly makes a bold statement of its own and could easily be used in any room of the home. The outer frame is particularly striking given that it combines 32 gently curving slices of walnut and oak set around two cylinders and boasts a real Norwegian feel with minimal effort. The lamp itself can be turned in two separate directions to create different sculptures and has a dimmer switch to create that perfect ambience.
If you’re looking for something a little more subtle then we also found a dinky little table lamp over at Future and Found. Priced at just £59.00 we think you’ll agree this lamp offers a little something special in terms of design and could easily be used in any room of the house, such as a conservatory or office area.
If you’re looking to enhance a dining or living area then you simply have to see the Artemide Mercury Light from Utility Design.There’s currently a 15% saving on this, at a current price of £1,501.10 and you can choose between either a ceiling or suspension light – both of which are available in either halogen or LED options.
Designed by Ross Lovegrove for Artemide and awarded the Reddot Design Award in 2008, it’s easy to see where the name was inspired from, since it replicates large globules of mercury which quite literally float in the air. This ingenious design continues to work even when the light source is switched off since the mercury elements reflect the natural light around it and effectively creates a unique mirror image. It’s jaw-dropping, it’s a massive talking point and it’s definitely on our ‘most wanted’ list this season!
From shared living spaces to other rooms of the house, we also found a great triple spotlight plate at Habitat. Whilst it’s primarily designed for the bathroom it could certainly be used in other areas, such as a utility room or hallway since the heads can be adjusted to direct the light exactly where you need it most. Priced at £110.00 and available for delivery within 3 days this simple yet sleek plate is guaranteed to look good everywhere!
Of course, lighting is also important in the kids’ rooms too and we found a great girly design over at Loaf (). Whilst it’s available in a range of different shades this gorgeous pink finish comes with an adjustable stem making it perfect for bedtime reading and (hopefully) a bit of homework too! Priced at just £55.00 it won’t break the bank but we can’t guarantee it won’t break any hearts!
For the boys (or perhaps for your own study) take a look at the Lightyears Night Owl Table Lamp which is currently on offer at £103.70 at Utility Design.
Designed by Nicholai Wiig Hanse this versatile lamp is available in four separate colour combinations and are all reduced from the original price. Not only does the lamp offer a soft organic silhouette but also has an anti-glare diffuser, making it a great choice for use in the study – or any other room of the house where you might choose to kick back and relax with a book.
Another (slightly, cheeky!) desk lamp we found is not only a bargain at £149.00 (compared to its original price of £245.00) but definitely has the “wow” factor when it comes to charm! Designed and hand-made by M.OSS Design in the Netherlands and standing at just 40cm high it’s simply hard to resist this one!
If you’re looking for something truly different then you’d be hard pressed to find anything more quirky than Industrial Lighting by Skinflint Design Priced at £320+ VAT these industrial pendant lights are from a former Czechoslovakian factory. They have substantial two part aluminium lamp enclosures, glass domes and manufacturers plaques. The original worn factory finish has been retained providing an interesting surface patina to the product. It’s quirky, it’s fun and would look great in any kitchen or utility room.
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