Designer Nyla Free will tell you that “lighting is one of the most underestimated design details of a home.” Lighting is more than just ensuring you don’t stub your toe on your coffee table and can find your way to the fridge for a midnight snack. “The lighting you choose can determine the entire mood of your home,” Free says.
Free, creative director and principal designer of Calgary-based Nyla Free Designs, says that she and her team work with more lighting specialists now than ever before, and that most lighting is determined before the framing stage (connection height, electrical box placement and switch plate design all depend on the lighting type).
“I think that catches people off guard, but being as forward-thinking as possible works to your advantage,” Free says. Read on as Free enlightens us about three recent lighting trends and how to do them right.
Layer in light
According to Free, one of the most common missed opportunities in lighting design is not varying the type of lighting for different spaces according to their use.
“It’s [often] a blanket, general lighting plan,” she says. “People aren’t looking at each individual room and how they’re going to use it.” A bedroom, for example, requires layers of light to serve different functions. Think a large main light for getting dressed, soft warm lighting for watching movies or just lounging, and a small bright light for reading. To prevent lighting congestion, Free recommends going both big and small.
“They can’t both have the same amount of strength from an impact perspective. One needs to take precedence over the other,” she says. For instance, this Scarboro home’s primary bedroom (see photo above) has a subtle, sleek reading light installed within the wall and an oversized lamp on the bedside table — all class, no clutter.
Think outside the bulb
Residential lighting has its usual suspects: pendants over a kitchen island; pot lights above the sink; a sconce on either side of the powder room mirror. But Free notes that it’s important to consider the unique design details of every space when selecting the best fixtures. One of her renovations, for example, was an Elbow Park heritage home with 11 different ceiling heights (many of them lower than a standard new build). The kitchen ceiling lacked volume, so she and her team chose flush mounts instead of pendants to draw the eye upwards instead of down.
For another project, in Rosedale, the team installed sconces instead of pot lights above the kitchen sink. The reason? “For a combination of décor and functionality,” says Free. The angular sconces add an unexpected architectural touch and their contrasting colour provides visual interest over an otherwise-utilitarian area.
Go asymmetrical
Another way to level up lighting? Putting lights at varying levels. Not every design requires balance and symmetry. Sometimes, particularly in a smaller space, deliberately askew light placement can serve up an unusual and artful ambience.
At one of Free’s downtown renovation projects, (see above photo) she reused the homeowner’s favourite existing furniture and fixtures, like the tasseled wall sconces in the powder room. The unique, textural lights were long, so Free and her team experimented with hanging them above the mirror instead of on either side. This allowed the mirror to span the full width of the wall and added a distinct sculptural element.
“It creates a little bit more of an art-piece approach,” says Free. “The offset idea was cool and played to the strength of the shape of the fixture.” When it comes to lighting, asses your needs for each room and plan ahead for them. But don’t feel limited by function and expectation.
