Forget the winter weather and use these lighting tips to turn your home into a cosy haven…
Brrrrrr…. It’s chilly out. And wet. And generally miserable. But when the weather outside is frightful, it’s time to make the inside delightful. Who doesn’t love a snug den, a cosy corner, a blissfully hygge hideaway for when it’s brass monkeys out there? And that's where lighting really comes into its own.
Here are five clever tips for using lamps, shades and other glowy things to cosy up your home this winter…
1) Go warm with your light bulbs
Dickens pendant light in brass and glass with large 2,000K 8-watt LED filament bulb
The quality and ‘colour’ of light has a remarkable effect on how we feel. Bluish-white light is more stimulating, which is why a bright sunny day makes us feel upbeat and energised.; whereas yellow-white light is warmer and has a gentler, more calming effect – think of the lovely glow from a log fire.
It’s this warm coloured light that creates a cosy, intimate, relaxing atmosphere. And the best way to get it in your home is to make sure you have the right LED light bulbs in your pendants, floor lamps, wall lights and table lamps. Basically, you need warm white bulbs with a light colour of between 2,700 and 3000 Kelvin. (You can find out all you need to know about that in our guide to warm lighting and colour ‘temperature’ here.)
Shop Pooky's light bulbs here.
2) Illuminate those little nooks and corners with a portable table lamp
Marco rechargeable table lamp
Until now, cordless, rechargeable table lamps have been expensive or ugly or both. But no longer! Pooky’s range of portable table lamps are as gorgeous as their corded cousins, and are sensibly priced too.
One of the many wonderful things you can do with them is to light up those little spaces in your home - the shelves and mantelpieces and cosy reading corners that were previously out of reach because there was no convenient plug socket. So if you want to take your book and curl up in a window seat on a stormy night, or luxuriate in a bubble bath by warm lamplight, just pick up a Pooky portable.
Browse Pooky’s portable table lamps here.
3) Get a glow from storm lanterns
Gusto storm lanterns in natural whitewash
Well obviously candles are cosy - but if you’re going to have candles, why not do them properly? Storm lanterns are just lovely objects: Pooky’s are seriously solid and set in wood or marble bases. They’re designed to survive hurricanes but feel free to use them indoors - and you can enjoy warming your cockles in front of big, chunky, long-lasting candles.
See Pooky’s storm lanterns here.
4) Luxuriate in velvet
Straight empire lampshade in teal velvet (detail)
As well as light and colour, you can create mood in a room with texture. Texture, in interior design terms, is how something ‘feels’ to the eye, and good designers know how to mix and match materials to create different feelings.
So if you want to go really cosy in your home, try introducing soft, warm-feeling materials into your décor. And a great, easy, cost-effective way to do that is to change up the shades on your table lamps, wall lights and floor lights. How about some luxurious velvet lampshades?
5) Invest in some wall lights to help create the mood
Foliage wall fitting in brass with 16cm empire shade in Liberty's 'hera plume' in jade
The secret to good home lighting design is layering light. That’s the business of using ambient light in different combinations with task and accent lighting to create your desired atmosphere (you can read all about layering light in the home here). Now the key to being able to layer light well is to ensure you have multiple light sources around the room instead of just relying on your main overhead light.
Table lamps and floor lamps are good of course. But for real flexibility invest in some wall lights. Turn off the main light and pop on a couple of point-uppy or point-downy wall lights of a winter’s evening, and you’re well on your way to cosy-town…
Browse Pooky’s range of wall lights here.
