Luminous

Have you withdrawal symptoms after Strictly Come Dancing and two back-to-back episodes of The Killing, or have you been fixed by a double dose of Borgen on Saturday nights?

What is it about Danish drama that has us all fixated on it? Is it the tight story lines or the suspense? Or is it the weight of Danish design in almost every scene? Just as I started to relax into the subtitles last Saturday the scene shifted to an investigative journalist unravelling a scandal crucial to the development of the story.

I was so taken with figuring out how she, living in a grey, pokey studio flat, could afford or even want a Normann Copenhagen washing up bowl, which is designed to double up as a champagne cooler.

Minutes later I caught up with the subtitles only to espy a drool-inducing Louis Poulsen Artichoke light during a pivotal scene involving, well, I’m not altogether sure as at that stage I had completely lost the plot.

And it wasn’t just any ol’ Poulsen Artichoke, it was a model finished in currently in-vogue copper and retailing from about €9,000 if you happen to be in the funds. Worth bearing in mind, eh?

If your lighting isn’t providing you with the illumination you need this winter, or its style has lost it appeal, start thinking about what needs to change, (Poulsen anyone?). If you leave it until spring when the evenings are brighter, and that’s only a few weeks away, you’ll have forgotten the problems you had during the dark days of winter.

Pendant ceiling lights are the in-thing, and that’s a good thing in my view. The fashion for wall lights which is fading now was fine for smaller rooms where light emitted would fall as far as the centre, but in large spaces light may not stretch that far making the rooms somewhat gloomy.

Spotlights are great for focusing a light beam on a task, being particularly good in kitchens over hobs, and on surfaces where you roll out your pastry or have the chopping board sited, but they won’t throw light out to the sides.

Pendants do both, depending on the colour and density of the shade, with white and cream emitting more light than darker versions. Placed in the centre of a sitting room they provide strong main lighting, with table and floor lamps used for task lighting around the periphery.

For a modern take on using the pendant, consider hanging two, or even three, side by side. This works very effectively when placed low over dining tables, illuminating the focus of the room and throwing the perimeter into the shade. It’s effective and dramatic. If your dining room is multi-functional, being used as a study also, choosing pendants that can be lowered and raised is worth considering, as raising will shift the focus of light off the table and throw it around the rest of the room where it may be needed.

But a word of caution: do make sure the table is exactly where you want it before you call in the electrician as a move later on will leave your pendants looking pretty meaningless, with insufficient light around the rest of the room.

*Next week we’re looking at natural materials and colour tones.