Ever noticed the difference in your mood when stepping into a dentist’s office compared to going into a cafe at the corner of your street? Walk into a cosy cafe bathed in soft, warm light and you’ll typically feel at ease. Walk into a dentist’s office buzzing with cold, strong fluorescents and you may feel slightly on edge – nervous in anticipation.
Extensive research and study have been conducted to reveal the effects that lighting can have on your mood – especially with factors like its intensity and colour. The brighter and colder the light, the more intense you might feel in a space.
So if you’re on the hunt for lighting inspiration for your home, try not to leave lighting as an afterthought when designing your living spaces. Lighting should be addressed together with the space itself. Consider how you can brighten your home and bring in the right ambient for a warm, inviting space that you’d feel at ease in.
To help you get started, we’ve prepared our top lighting picks, from suspension lamps to portable lamps, to light up your home.
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1. Suspension Lamps – Spotlight focal points in your home
When choosing a suspension lamp, consider using them to zone specific spaces in your home. For example, if you’d like to create a focal point in your living room or highlight a particular seating zone, choose a pendant light that would bring attention and focus to that area.\
If you prefer pieces that evoke a quiet playfulness, Parachilna’s Nitō, features a subtle look and allows freedom to play with angles to tailor its form to your unique style and need.
Nitō by Parachilna
Designed by Dominic Lutz, Nitō is named after a style of traditional Japanese swordsmanship; mainly known for the use of dual katanas. While its inspiration draws from a strong, fearsome fighting style, Nitō emits a soft and gentle glow for a subtle atmospheric light.
Twist it, turn it, rotate it – Nitō allows full control over the direction of the light to your preference.
Spring Pendant Lamp by Tom Dixon
For a bold statement, play with bold or textured pendant lamps and bring contrast with varied heights best exemplified with Tom Dixon’s stunning Spring Pendant Lamps.
Extravagant and unique in design, Spring is a series of three pendant lamps made of pliant stainless-steel strips. These strips act as ribbons that were then arranged around Tom Dixon’s custom-made dimmable LED disc.
Play with a variety of silhouettes – from a flat arrangement to a flying saucer configuration or to a fuller shape akin to a pumpkin. Spring’s semi-transparent shape allows for creative fun to play with forms, light and shadow. Incorporate Spring as a focal point in your living space and you’re sure to leave an impression.
2. Portable/Table Lamps – Breathe Life into any nook or cranny
If you’re looking for table lamps, tasks lamps or portable lamps to breath life into any nook or cranny in your space; look no further! Both Louis Poulsen’s Panthella Portable and Normann Copenhagen’s Eddy Table Lamp offers soft, ambient lighting to refine your office space, dazzle your guest room or illuminate your favourite reading corner on your patio.
Panthella Portable by Louis Poulsen
The smallest edition of Verner Panton’s iconic Panthella Table Lamp from the ’70s; the Panthella Portable is perfect for the modern home.
The lamp comes in handy as it is charged in advance via USB and allows you to bring it anywhere with ease. Its transparent shade works together with the reflection of downward light on the inner side of the shade to bring a soft light for a subtle ambience.
Eddy Table Lamp by Normann Copenhagen
Designed by Simon Legald, Eddy is an elegant atmospheric lamp that plays with balance and motion. Its shade, seemingly floating above its marbled base, is connected together by a ball that can be tipped for you to control the direction of the light.
Perhaps its most unique feature is Eddy’s ability to illuminate not only its surroundings, but also itself. With its downward facing screen, its light casts down towards the marble – creating an soft, ethereal glow that highlights the texture and character of the material.
3. Floor Lamps – Make a statement!
For fans of floor lamps, don’t be afraid to make a statement with them! While it’s common to want your floor lamps to blend seamlessly with the other furniture in the space, floor lamps can be a principal feature of a room and bring an added dimension to your space.
Flos’ Arco and MENU’s Hashira floor lamps are great examples of pieces that can be principal features in any space for their monumental designs.
Arco Floor Lamp by Flos
Designed by brothers, Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni in the ’60s, Arco is an iconic and timeless design that has been featured in several Hollywood films – from classics like Diamonds are Forever to present-day blockbusters such as Iron Man.
Inspired by Parisian streetlights, Arco‘s design makes it a prominent piece that brings a classic contemporary touch to any room. An added bonus to this iconic piece is its user-friendly design; boasting a marbled base with beveled corners (designed to prevent harm should you brush against them) to the special holes at its side for easy lifting and the option to toggle between direct and indirect light for your preference.
Hashira Floor Lamp by MENU
Rising majestically from the floor, MENU’s Hashira Floor Lamp, designed by Norm Architects, is the result of a harmonious blend and balance between East and West and tradition and modernity. Combining elements of western textile lamp shades with the design of traditional Japanese rice paper lanterns, Hashira offers a perfect blend of simplicity and character.
If you’re a fan of warm, diffused atmospheric lighting, you’d be thrilled about Hashira’s translucent fabric shade. Aside from its aesthetically-pleasing qualities, its shade acts as a diffuser that projects the light in multiple directions – creating a warm, glare-free ambience that brings added softness to any space it inhabits.
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All products featured here are available in-store and as part of our special lighting sale. Enjoy up to 30% off* on selected lighting.
*T&Cs apply. *Valid 1 Oct – 31 Oct 2022. *Available in-store only. *Applicable to indent and ex-stock. *XTRA reserves the right to make any changes without prior notice.
For more information, reach us via email at contactus@xtra.com.sg, call us at +65 6336 4664 or whatsapp us at +9177 5321 (text only from 11am-8pm).
