Design Diary | Lighting Is Everything

In any room, your lighting should have both a practical but also adventurous element. Finding the balance between bringing in enough light with an appealing design that suits your taste can be anything but easy, however, in the last 5 years, this has all changed with the introduction of more playful and dynamic lamps.

2017 is a big year for statement lighting. Both our Derwent and Chessleton lights are real feature pieces and by placing them in your bathroom to frame a mirror or basin area you’ll really add a wow factor. Both lights bring the mesmerising decade of the Art Deco era to life and with such fun, geometric styles in your bathroom you’ll be bang on trend. It’s great to see bathroom lighting slowly catching up with the trend of sharp lines and attractive shades seen elsewhere in the home. Combined with spotlights, which are able to shed light into those hard to reach bathroom corners, our wall lamps will add that touch of style you’ve been looking for.

Another trend which has been growing in popularity is that for the industrial look. Our Dalby lamp uses a woven cord to hang the shade from a beautiful classic roundel. This lamp is so versatile it not only goes well as part of a classic bathroom design but can be used in an industrial look too, with the conical shade showing the bulb through the cover.

Interesting Fact: The cover in all our ranges makes the lamp IP44 rated which means that is suitable to be used in a bathroom within 600mm of a direct water source.

Creating a lighting plan is a crucial step when designing your bathroom. Keep in mind which areas you will want to light, what circuit it should go on so that you can dim specific groups of lamps and where statement lamps will create the best impact whilst remaining practical. Bathroom lighting in the UK can only be operated inside a bathroom from a pull cord, but outside of the bathroom, you can have switches including dimmers. If you want to add mood lighting it is best to look to moving the controls outside of the room to give yourself more flexibility by allowing you to move from a brightly lit makeup and hair space to a relaxed environment, perfect for unwinding. Don’t hesitate to get in touch with the Drummonds Design Service who can help you put your plans into motion.

Interesting Fact: Before you begin installing your spotlights, make a small hole and measure the depth of the joists before cutting holes to ensure they will fit. Most housings require about 210mm minimum. Look through the slot with a flashlight to check each joist space for obstructions. If you have higher ceilings it may be possible to reduce this depth which would make lighting placement that much easier.

We have recently introduced a beautiful fixed pendant lamp to our Derwent lighting range, perfect for framing a mirror and sink area or hung across a central countertop from the ceiling either on its own or in a group. As always you can choose the finish of your bathroom light such as our matt brass finish, which transforms the lamps into an extravagant conversation piece or our antique bronze finish which gives a punchy colour perfect to complete your industrial look.

Interesting Fact: Some lighting can be operated by motion sensors.  This means when somebody enters the room the lamps activate without having to switch them on.  This is particularly useful late at night when a few lamps can be activated should you need without having to worry about activating them in the dark.

Looking for more bathroom design tips and tricks? Take a look at our previous design diary post that looks at how to incorporate the trend for Kaleidoscopes into your bathroom.

Drummonds Design Diary by Senior Designer Tommy Bendall