“It’s really important to avoid blasting a whole room with light,” says Harding. “Instead, it’s about creating warm pools of light, which create a magical atmosphere, drawing you through a room or building.” For that, layering is key. Rather than relying on lots of central pendants, which Harding says swallow up lots of budget and often mean that you’re tied to a specific room layout, think about harnessing wall lights, lots of lamps, different circuits, and dimming switches. “You need to think about the effect of a light fitting, as much as the way it looks—understand how it’s going to cast light and what will spill off from it.”
When it comes to pendants, use them to light something specific, like a table: “I like to have them so they hang down low, but you can turn them right down, so they sort of create a glow,” she says. You …