With a summer (so far) filled with wall to wall sunshine, thinking about lighting is probably the furthest thing from most peoples minds. We however are not most people and have just had some rather nice shutters installed in our bow window (a bow window is similar to a bay window but has more equally sized panes in case you were wondering). This has led us to reconsider the lighting we have in the dining room and sitting room because the amount of natural light has changed and we’ve also been lazy, having effectively the light fittings that were in place when we moved in 12 years ago. I’ve done a lot of DIY since we moved in- last week I was sanding and re-varnishing the parquet flooring that’s been hidden under carpet for a decade- but the lights are the one thing we’ve not really looked at.
We’ve decided to get a modern pendant style light to hang over the dining room table, preferably with height adjustment, so we’ve been looking on various websites like Lights to see what we can get for a reasonable price that is still stylish (hey, those shutters weren’t cheap you know!).
The problem is, once you start looking at lights, it’s quite difficult to stop looking at them, it’s really a case of going down the rabbit hole. Yes, we started off looking at light fittings for the sitting room and dining room but soon enough we were looking at something for the hallway and the landing.
In no time at all the techy in me was pouring over the smart lighting too- it’s seldom that you see a website that deals with traditional lighting AND smart lighting well, it’s usually one or the other in my experience.
I think we’re often in danger of spending too much time thinking about redecoration in terms of wallpaper, wall colours, carpet and furniture, without remembering that lighting is the one thing that can make a massive difference, and doesn’t have to cost a fortune. The only worry I have is the six year old swinging on the lamp like Tarzan, which if you knew him you’d sympathise with me!