If a room feels flat in the evening, it’s almost never the furniture. It’s the light. Most homes come with one ceiling fixture per room, and we dutifully switch it on at dusk and wonder why everything looks a little like a waiting room.

Designers talk about layering light, and it’s one of those ideas that sounds technical but is really very simple: light a room from several places, at several heights, and you get depth, warmth and shadow — the things that make a space feel lived in.

The three layers

1. Ambient light

This is your general, overall light — usually the ceiling fixture. It’s useful for cleaning and finding a lost earring, but on its own it’s rarely flattering. Put it on a dimmer if you can; it’s one of the best small investments in a home.

2. Task light

Light for doing something: a reading lamp by the armchair, a desk lamp, a sconce beside the sofa. Task lights should be placed where your hands and eyes actually are, not where they look nice in a photo.

3. Accent light

The fun layer. A small lamp on a bookshelf, a picture light, candles, a string of warm bulbs. Accent light creates little pools of glow that draw the eye around a room and make the corners feel intentional.

A few rules I follow

• Aim for at least three light sources in a living room, not counting the ceiling.
• Vary the heights. Something low (a table lamp), something at eye level (a sconce or floor lamp), something high.
• Keep bulbs warm. Around 2700K is the sweet spot for living spaces — cosy without looking orange.
• Light the corners. Dark corners make a room feel smaller. A lamp in a corner pushes the walls out.

Good lighting is the cheapest way to make a room look expensive.

ChicFormat

In our home, winter evenings arrive early and stay long, so this matters more than almost anything else. On the darkest nights the ceiling light stays off entirely, and the room glows from four or five small lamps instead. It’s the version of the room I love most.