As savvy 21st-century devotees of home improvement television and shelter magazines, most of us know by now that a fresh coat of paint and some inspired decor can utterly transform a home. But an often overlooked feature of any home build or remodel is lighting, which can set a mood and dramatically alter the look of your home.
Most lighting experts agree that Americans typically under-light their homes. That is why Yaacov Golan, the owner of C Lighting, said homeowners should pay attention to function before design when choosing lighting.
“Lighting has to be thought of and planned, just like anything else, and I think in this sense more and more people are conscious of it,” said Golan, who sells fixtures from his Buckhead shop ranging from $46 to $30,000.
“Lighting is the unsung hero in interior design,” said Jennifer Mador, a Morningside homeowner who redecorated her Mediterranean bungalow with an emphasis on unexpected lighting. “Lighting just elevates your senses. It puts an element in the environment that you can’t get from other design pieces.”
A managing partner at film and television company Eclipse Post, Mador and her husband, Jeremy, a graphic designer at Turner Broadcasting System, hired interior designer Julie Holloway to redo their dining room, kitchen and den. Jennifer Mador's decision to hire Holloway had plenty to do with a chandelier installed in the designer’s own Roswell kitchen Mador saw on Holloway's Milk and Honey Home blog.
“It was so beautiful. It wasn’t the focal point, and yet it just added so much romance to the room. And from that one image of that one chandelier, I asked her to come take a look at my house,” said Jennifer Mador.
“When you build a house, you put in the staple lighting of the cans and the fans, and then you spend your money on the obvious design elements. And lighting is just overlooked,” Jennifer Mador said. Holloway worked with the Madors' budget to help Jennifer and Jeremy find a dream chandelier for their own kitchen. “It’s stunning. It’s one of those pieces when you look at my kitchen, you don’t know why it’s so beautiful. It’s not a chandelier that steals the show, and yet it completes the entire design,” Jennifer Mador said.
Though Holloway and Golan said homeowners generally spend anywhere from 3 to 10 percent on lighting, Mador devoted about 15 percent of her total decorating budget to lighting, blending a variety of new fixtures with some cleverly repurposed existing fixtures. For instance, Holloway moved a wrought iron and crystal chandelier from the Madors' dining room into their den, where it was placed above a coffee table.
What initially seemed like an unusual choice to Jennifer Mador turned out to be an inspired one. “It was so simple and so unusual and so dramatic,” she said.
Holloway incorporated other unexpected lighting elements in the Mador home, including two chandeliers rather than one in the dining room to take advantage of the long room. She also added two sconces to the dining room wall to address the inadequate lighting that plagues so many homes.
“She knocked it out of the park,” Jennifer Mador said.
“Lighting is one of the most important elements in design because lighting creates coziness and intimacy,” said Holloway, who finds much of her lighting in thrift stores, and at Pottery Barn Kids, HomeGoods, www.shadesoflight.com and at Restoration Hardware Baby, which she said, “has the best lighting and it’s less expensive than traditional Restoration Hardware.”
Homeowners can transform single rooms or a whole home simply by swapping out their existing lights with some more on-trend, stylish fixtures. “And they’re relatively inexpensive fixes,” said Holloway.
Lighting advice
Atlanta lighting design experts lay out the new trends in lighting and tips for what to emphasize and what to avoid when planning the lighting in your own home.
Going green
C Lighting owner Yaacov Golan sees energy-saving lighting as the biggest trend driving the industry. Not just energy-saving bulbs and LED and fluorescent fixtures, but dimmers can make a big difference, too. “If you have a 100-watt bulb and you dim it 50 percent, then you save 50 percent of energy,” Golan advised.
Multitasking fixtures
Look for fixtures that can give both focused and diffused lighting, Golan said. “Because in a room you want to have good general light for ambience then you want to have a task light which gives you another layer of light.”
Pendant lighting
Kitchens have been pendant lighting hot spots for several years now, but Julie Holloway, owner of Milk and Honey Home, says homeowners shouldn’t be afraid to try hanging a fixture in a den or living room, one of the most on-trend ways to make a room look more contemporary. And don’t be afraid to go low. Holloway recommends hanging pendants 30 to 36 inches above the kitchen counter. “That’s one design crime that people do, is hang their lighting way too high,” said Holloway, who added that flush-mounted lighting tends to look impersonal and builder-grade.
Use adequate lighting
While restraint and editing are often advised with other decor, “with lighting, more is more,” said Holloway, who recommends homeowners use multiple light sources in each room. A variety of table lamps, overhead lighting and sconces -- even the plug-in variety that don’t require hard wiring -- provide extra lighting for reading or can highlight pictures or art on the wall, Holloway said.
Oversize lamps
“Lately, the bigger the better,” Holloway said of the move away from spindly, delicate accent lamps that for years flanked dining room buffets. Instead, Holloway said chunky, oversize lamps are the new cool. They even work in a traditional home. “You can still add in a large modern lamp that will mix the styles and make it more interesting,” she said.
Rustic chic
Industrial and barn lights, whether salvaged or reproduction, are hot, Holloway said. Homeowners can find both styles, as well as other industrial fixtures, at www.barnlightelectric.com or even at mass retailers such as Lowe’s that have picked up on the trend.
Swap shades
Just because a dowdy or low-impact shade came with a lamp doesn’t mean you have to keep it. Check out lighting stores and sources such as Antiques & Beyond (www.antiquesandbeyond.com) in Atlanta for wonderful shade selections. For a more custom touch, Holloway also recommends using a hot glue gun to add a favorite fabric to a lampshade.
Edison bulbs
Holloway changes out a lot of her bulbs for the stylish look of Edison filament bulbs, which replicate the look of early 20th-century bulbs. Edisons run about $8 and look great in see-through or linen-shade fixtures. “They add so much drama, and the bulb is a little piece of art in itself,” said Holloway.
Capiz lights
Made with pearlescent capiz shells, these add light and interest to a room. “It’s a way to bring in another texture,” said Holloway.
Table lamps in unexpected places
Instead of dangling a pendant light over a kitchen island or using a fluorescent tube to illuminate a countertop, try table lamps for greater warmth and intimacy. An electrician can drill holes in the island or countertop to hide the cord and keep things neat.
