Colour Me Brightly! Understanding Light in Interior Design. Part IV: Conclusion

Professional interior designers are expertly trained in the use of lighting features to create breathtaking results. In this four-part series which I call “Colour Me Brightly: Understanding Light in Interior Design,” I draw on my experience in London’s interior design community to explain this fascinating subject. This fourth article concludes my series.

Linear light patterns can focus on either the horizontal or the vertical metrics of a room. A given wall-light technique can create an immersing halo effect, if the interior designer uses concentrated super-bright light at high level that gradually fades out towards the base. Some London Interior Design consultancies specialise in choosing continuous sources, such as a miniature tungsten rack for a soft light or overlapping fluorescents for a cooler light. This is an effect that works very well in contemporary interior designs, where light can be concealed between the wall and the ceiling in a crevice in order to take the place of the traditional cornice.

The best method of illumination for interior designers to use when creating patterns will depend on the interior, and also on the direction of windows (natural light in London can be very seasonal). A smoothly plastered wall can jump into existence with a dappled arc wave from closed-offset down-lighters but if the interior design feature lies in the texture and in the structure or hue of the wall, then a more uniform spray of light will emphasise the wall’s best perspectives. A splashback tile solution at the rear of a shower or bath is a good interior design choice for the arc wave effect, as is a Venetian blind in a London kitchen. A wood-panelled hall or study is often a compelling interior design feature, and accordingly it would be better lit with an even light that does not detract from the feel of the wood.

Shifting from instant to instant and from a London dawn to a dappled full seasonal moonrise, the impacts of illumination and shadow are phenomena we almost disregard. But London’s top interior designers know that patterns of light can actually transform our emotions with respect to the interior forms that engulf us. By bringing to life walls, floors and ceilings with light-focused interior designs, pattern-making is yet another realm of illumination that can brighten our spaces and enhance our quality of life.

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Professional interior designers are expertly trained in the use of lighting features to create breathtaking results. In this four-part series which I call â??Colour Me Brightly: Understanding Light in Interior Design,â? I draw on my experience in Londonâ??s interior design community to explain this fascinating subject. This third article talks about how to create patterns using opaque materials.

The second way for an interior designer to create light-based patterns involves opaque surfaces, which reflect light back into a room. This pattern creation process is more sophisticated and can be fine-tuned for stunning interior design effects. Light portrayals impact how we understand a surface and its texture. For example, the â??standardâ? technique often seen in London residences simply involves casting a gentle play of light across a wall. The light brushes the fittings, causing the wall to appear even, flat and two-dimensional. Some top London Interior Designers know that their clients crave more drama and stylistic nuance. In such cases, placing lightwell fillings very close to the wall and angling them downwards can be really striking. Using this technique, interior design consultancies can transform the previous gentle wave into an enunciated designer style, as the photons shave the surface and build to form sturdy optical patterns, including top-level arcs and dramatic textures. A sharper, more laser-like focus will only make the pattern more conspicuous â?? recreating a look that is popular in many trendy London nightclubs.

The direct counterpoint to this interior design technique involves the use of close-offset uplighting. With this approach, floor-level filaments cause the eye to move up vertical columns of light which dance across the wall to form puddles of dappled reflected light on the ceiling. Professional London interior designers often work alongside colour consultants to make sure that the result has practical relevance as well as aesthetic appeal. In particular, some newer London residences often have uncomfortably low ceilings. Interior designers can use this lighting approach to draw attention to the vertical plane of the wall, thereby counterbalancing the hemmed-in feel of the low ceiling.

In the next and final article in this series called â??Colour Me Brightly!â? I will finish by revealing some top lighting tips from Londonâ??s interior design community.

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Professional interior designers are expertly trained in the use of lighting features to create breathtaking results. In this four-part series which I call “Colour Me Brightly: Understanding Light in Interior Design,” I draw on my experience in London’s interior design community to explain this fascinating subject. This first article is about patterns.

Ask a London schoolgirl to imagine natural patterns, and she may talk at length of curvaceous seashells, the undulating edge of waves on the shore, the grooves in a gnarled tree trunk. Interior designers know that patterns are all around us. Patterns profoundly influence all interior design schemes, transforming our appreciation of color and texture, adding fluctuations and drifts or promoting harmony and stillness. London Interior Designers will focus on soft, fluid outlines in order to create relaxing patterns. By contrast, bold graphic statements in a wallpaper stencil can be invigorating for a London discotheque or salon. Pattern is a foundational ingredient of interior design, fragmenting overwhelming shapes and plain surfaces while simultaneously lending personality and profundity to a room.

London’s professional interior designers know one big secret: pattern is created not only by fabric and wallpaper. Light also forms any number of patterns through a virtual tussle or rough-and-tumble interaction between light and shadow. Light patterns are foundational to interior design schemes – from snippeted, kinetic and frosted patterns to curvy arcs, spearhead-style lines and theatrical projections of abstract forms.

Patterns of light fall into two main interior design categories. The first is all about objects in the path of light, casting shadows. We draw our inspiration from the natural world where, when sunlight strikes rippling water on London’s famous River Thames, flickering patterns are reflected up into the trees along the water’s edge. Similarly, if an artificial light source is directed onto water – perhaps a pool, fountain or babbling artificial brook – active reflections will dapple the surrounding walls and become an interior design feature. Sunlight may shine through the branches of a tree to create moving patterns of light and shade below, and similarly a low-voltage uplight, positioned behind indoor plants, can create beautiful interior design features on the walls and ceilings. This technique can be stunning both inside and outside the building.

In my next article, I turn to patterns that use perforations and glass.

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INTERIOR DESIGN CREATING REDESGNING THE ELEGANT BATHROOM POWDER ROOM US $6.95

Professional interior designers are expertly trained in the use of lighting features to create breathtaking results. In this four-part series which I call “Colour Me Brightly: Understanding Light in Interior Design,” I draw on my experience in London’s interior design community to explain this fascinating subject. This second article talks about how to create patterns using illuminated materials.

Any perforated textile, when lit from the back or from the inside, will speckle adjacent forms with pattern, from point strips and pirouettes to constellations and dazzling laser specks. The professional interior designer can use the trim of a window covering to create fabulous banding across a shiny floor covering in the London summer. Some interior design firms love to use ornamental metal lanterns to paint fiery asteroids on walls and furniture, while light projected through a sculpted screen can create magnificent abstract outlines in expressive contemporary interior design schemes. A factory-inspired metal stairwell with perforated treads – of the type often reinterpreted for ultra-modern interior design schemes – can throw tiny checkmarks of light onto local furniture when exposed to a bright London sky in springtime. A fabulous option with a wooden staircase would require the interior designer to specify a grit-washed tread, to deliberately throw stunning shadows from the rail onto the adjacent wall. Abstract wire-mesh sculptures by local London artists can engender powerful interior design emotions, with the pattern even becoming more important than the object itself! Interior designers can expressively use perspective to distort the pattern from complete realism, when lit front-on, to Baconesque abstract enchantment when illuminated at an acute angle. The same effect can be created by using mirrors to refocus natural light from bay windows in some of the more luxurious London residences.

Glass is another popular tool for patterns. A frosted glass table can be lit from above with a halogen downlighter to cast intricate outlines of reflected light onto the ceiling, and the interior designer can even use positioning to cause refracted light to splash abstract patterns onto the floor underneath the table. I have seen some London Interior Design consultancies deliberately illuminate trophy-style glassware on display shelves from the front so that the etching on the glass throws deep shadows that recapitulate a core design theme.

In the next (third) article in this series called “Colour Me Brightly!” I will reveal another secret of London’s interior design community: how to create patterns with opaque objects.

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1922 Architecture Interior Design Arts Crafts Era book US $2.50

BOOK OF SOFT CRAFTS191 PAGESS OF HOME INTERIOR HOW TO AND DESIGN US $5.99

Stunning MOTHER OF PEARL Dragonfly Floral Design BOX Abalone Shell Interior US $42.45

HOME INTERIOR DESIGNS LOVE IS KINDBEAUTIFUL FRAMED PRINT GR8 WEDDING GIFT WOW US $8.00

LARGE ANTIQUE PAIR SILVER ON COPPER CANDLESTICKS SHABBY CHIC INTERIOR DESIGN US $29.66

FOX HUNTING 24 X 24 FELT INTERIOR DESIGN FRENCH HORN EQUESTRIAN ENGLISH HORSE US $295.00

1953 Vintage Home Decorating Book Interior Decoration Design DECO Style 1950s US $.99

Mexico Style Mexican Interior Design Taschen Icons Art Book US $4.99

Showcase of Interior Design Midwest Edition II HBDJ Filled w Fab Interiors Pix US $4.99

The ABCs of Architectural Interior Design Drafting US $9.00

ANTIQUE BLACK LAQUERED PAPIER MACHE BOX FITTED INTERIOR SIGNED ORIENTAL DESIGN US $47.38

Mexx Hand Bag with Bow and polka dot interior design US $13.50

How to Start Interior Design Business ALL MY EBOOKS CD US $1.01

A LARGE VINTAGE BRASS SHIP DESIGN TEA CADDY WITH LINED INTERIOR LOVELY US $15.78

19th Century English Majolica Pitcher w Raised Floral Design Pink Interior US $99.99

DIY Wall Clock Modern Interior Design Deco Decal US $1.99

24 RARE LIMITED ED INTERIOR DESIGN RALPH LAUREN POLO HOME PAINT CATALOG BOOKS US $39.95

VINTAGE ARCHITECTURAL FORUM BOOK NOV 1935 MID CENTURY MODERN INTERIOR DESIGN US $15.99

INTERIOR DESIGN CREATING REDESGNING THE ELEGANT BATHROOM POWDER ROOM US $6.95